By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
The Washburn Ichabods were the drama queens on Sunday at Yager Stadium, rallying from a 2-0 halftime defict to stun Central Missouri 3-2 in double overtime and move on to the third round of the NCAA Division II Soccer Championships.
https://www.topsports.news/news/washburn-rallies-from-2-0-deficit-in-ncaa-soccer-championships-to-stun-central-missouri-3-2-in-ot
Washburn's Khloe Schuckman (11), who scored two goals, including the game-winner, and her teammates celebrate the goal by Aubrey Tanksley (9) that forced overtime Sunday against Central Missouri. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
The Ichabods, who improved to 18-3-1, forced overtime on a goal from sophomore Aubrey Tanksley with just two seconds remaining in regulation and got the game-winning goal with just 1 minute, 25 seconds remaining in the second 10-minute overtime period on an acrobatic shot from junior Khloe Schuckman, her second goal of the game that capped an improbable comeback.
"We just focused on ourselves and they produced an incredible effort,'' Washburn coach Davy Phillips said of the Ichabods' performace in the second half and the overtimes. "I've been telling them all year, when we do what we're supposed to with high energy, we're as good as anybody in the country and I think for certain periods of the game today we showed that quality.''
Central Missouri, which finished its season 16-5-2, drew first blood 25:41 into the match on a goal from junior Ashleigh Martin off an assist from junior Caroline Cole and went up 2-0 on an unassisted goal from junior Andree Orcutt at the 35:07 mark.
The Jennies' 2-0 lead held up through halftime before Schuckman got Washburn on the board at the 61:01 mark of the match off an assist from sophomore Lakin Rold.
The Ichabods pressed the issue the rest of the way and had some near misses before Tanksley put the ball in the net in the closing seconds out of a scrum in front of the net after a corner kick from freshman Mackinly Rohn.
Washburn begins its celebration as a shot by Aubrey Tanksley (right) goes in the net with two seconds left in regulation to force overtime. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
"That was so exciting,'' Tanksley said. "Mac's corner was just absolutely insane. I thought it was really impressive how she seemed so composed and I thought it was a really good effort from Ana (Muruzabal) getting her head on it and I feel like I just got lucky to be in the right spot at the right time.''
After a scoreless first overtime period Washburn and Central Missouri appeared to be headed to penalty kicks before Schuckman found an opening and scored on what appeared to be a perfectly executed bicycle kick after being set up by junior Jadyn Allen.
"Obviously you're trying to get to every ball and trying to get a foot on anything,'' Schuckman said. "That's a thing you do in practice. You like do a little bicycle kick and you're like, 'Ha ha, this will never happen,' and then it does. Obviously, it felt incredible.''
Schuckman scored the game-winning goal in overtime for the second straight NCAA tournment game and she also scored the lone goal in the Ichabods' 1-0 regular-season win over the Jennies on Oct. 15 at Yager Stadium.
"What a great college game,'' Central Missouri coach Lewis Theobald said about Sunday's nail-biter. "Full credit to Washburn. They were resilient obviously, scoring late in the last seconds and really had us on the back foot the last 20 minutes of that game.
"I think full credit also to Davy Phillips, who's done an amazing job building his program. This was tough to swallow for us, but we've been on the good side of some of this stuff, too.''
WU star senior goalkeeper Raegan Wells played all 110 minutes in the match, recording six saves with a clean sheet over the final half of regulation and in both overtime periods. With her first save in the match she became the all-time leader in saves in Washburn history with her 334th stop.
With Sunday's win Washburn advances to the third round of the NCAA tournament to face rival Emporia State for the fourth time this season on Dec. 1 in Ashland, Ohio. The Hornets hold a 2-1 edge entering that game, with all three previous Hornet-Ichabod games this fall being decided by a single goal.
"We play them twice every single year, it's part of the pod, so we're well-versed with each other,'' Phillips said. "I think every game we've played has been a really tight one so I expect another really tight game.
"It's going to be up to us executing in our game model and doing what we do.''
WASHBURN 3, CENTRAL MISSOURI 2 (2 OT)
Central Missouri (16-5-2) 2 0 0 0 -- 2
Washburn (18-3-1) 0 2 0 1 -- 3
Central Missouri -- Goals: Ashleigh Martin, Andree Orcutt. Assist: Caroline Cole.
Washburn -- Goals: Khloe Schuckman 2, Aubrey Tanksley. Assists: Lakin Rold, Jadyn Allen.
