Stars align for Hiland’s fearless duo in stirring shootout win

What shouldn’t have been was in Hiland’s Division III girls tournament shootout win over Tuscarawas Valley.

In an alternate world, Hiland junior keeper Bryn Yoder shouldn’t have been standing in net, with the weight of a season standing on her shoulders.

In an alternate universe, junior Miah Miller could have been lamenting her penalty on a handball in the box that allowed Tusky Valley to tie the game that sent it into a lengthy shootout.

But on the evening of Oct. 21, Hiland posted a 2-1 victory that ended not just after regulation, or two golden victory overtime periods, or after five players had taken a stab at scoring during a shootout, but only after Miller knocked home the game-winner, allowing Hiland (10-9-1) to celebrate a revenge victory over the Trojans (13-5).

Hiland senior Emily Gingerich gave the Lady Hawks a 1-0 lead in the 27th minute off an assist from Italee Mullet, but Miller’s handball in the box in the 57th minute allowed TV to score on a penalty kick to even things up.

The two teams then played to a stalemate over the final 23 minutes of regulation, and there was no scoring to be found in either of the 15-minute overtime sessions, and so it would boil down to a shootout.

After both teams missed their opening salvo, Hiland’s Lydia Mast and Kaitlyn Miller gave Hiland a 2-1 advantage. TV quickly tied the shootout at 2-2, and Hiland, kicking last, had a chance to seal the deal but couldn’t.

Each team misfired a potential game-winner in the sixth kick, and after Yoder swatted away the seventh kick, it set the stage for Miller to avenge her unfortunate penalty earlier.

She lined up and fired a low burner to the left side of the net. TV’s keeper dove that way, but her shot was so well placed it didn’t matter.

Before her shot even settled into side net, her teammates were charging after her to celebrate.

What may have made things easier for Miller was she wasn’t slated to take a kick in the top five.

“I had no clue I was kicking until coach turned to me and told me I was up next,” Miller said. “It’s probably for the best that I didn’t know.”

She said she focused on making a solid strike on the ball and wanted to go left. Surprisingly, for a kid who wasn’t supposed to be there in that moment, she handled herself well.

“I was surprisingly calm,” Miller said. “I just tried to stick with what we practice every day.”

That set off a wild celebration, and Miller said it took her a moment to realize what she had just done.

“It was unreal,” said Yoder, who took her very first shootout kick ever. “There’s nothing like celebrating a victory with your team, especially in that fashion. It was just so intense. It was this gigantic relief.”

Among those to join in the fray was Yoder, who flung her arms around Miller with one simple word: Thanks.

“I didn’t want to go back out there again. It was time for that game to be over,” Yoder said. “It was very nerve-racking. I was so ready for it to be done.”

In an alternate world, Yoder wouldn’t have been standing on that island, with all eyes on her, all alone. But there she was, the emergency keeper giving it her all for her team.

Plus, Yoder said she wasn’t alone.

“My teammates were awesome,” the first-year keeper said. “They were so supportive and encouraging, and that helped me.”

She said they practice PKs all the time, but this was different. This one was to stay alive.

Mullet said it was actually easier for her to focus with the pressure on.

“It was time, and I had a job to do,” Mullet said. “I felt good about making four stops (the fifth went off the post).”

Hiland assistant coach Paul Money, a former keeper in his playing days, said the pressure on a keeper in the shootouts is a massive weight.

“She made two great saves late in the shootout to give us a chance,” Money said.

Money said one of the things they discussed prior to the shootout was for Yoder to visualize herself being successful before each shot and to picture something positive happening.

“That’s a nerve-racking situation for a high school kid,” Money said. “I told her to do the best she could because they were supposed to make these shots. She wasn’t supposed to stop them, so any stop is a bonus.”

Money said Yoder is an incredibly intelligent kid who has improved vastly over the course of this season.

The reason she has had to do so was because three games into the season starting keeper Allie Hershberger was injured and done for the year.

Yes, Yoder was an emergency keeper thrust into a critical role this fall.

How she responded was nothing short of impressive.

“She never complained about it. She said she knew it was a possibility and did what her team needed her to do in taking on the challenge,” Money said.

For two players, this was an especially precious moment, one they won’t soon forget.

In an alternate universe, things could have been so different for each player.

But in this universe, they helped the Lady Hawks live to play another day.

Epilogue

To cap off this stunning win, two days later the Lady Hawks defeated another district foe, Youngstown Cardinal Mooney 1-0 to advance to the East District finals. An Emily Gingerich goal off an assist from Kaitlyn Miller in the fifth minute was the lone goal in this defensive gem.

The kicker? Just like Tusky Valley, Cardinal Mooney (8-8-2) had beaten Hiland (11-9-1) earlier this season.