Girls Soccer: Chloe Brecht’s header in overtime lifts Olentangy Liberty over Upper Arlington
Saturday, November 4, 2023
By Scott Gerfen
info@cbussports.com
Olentangy Liberty’s Chloe Brecht (10) and Ava Petrucci (4) celebrate the Patriots’ 2-1 overtime victory over Upper Arlington to capture a regional title Nov. 4. Photo: Lorrie Gardner
Chloe Brecht went to the ground early in overtime of the Nov. 4 Division I regional final at Big Walnut and felt the pain in her right ankle.
Olentangy Liberty girls soccer coach Chris Allen kept asking his senior forward/midfielder if she needed to come out.
“I saw we had a corner kick, so I knew I had to stay in for this,” Brecht said. “I was like, ‘One goal and we’re done, so I just need to get this one goal in.’”
As the ball flew to the front of the Upper Arlington goal, Brecht rose above a crowd of players to get her head on the ball, which got past goalkeeper Sally Paton, giving the Patriots a 2-1 victory with 13 minutes, 41 seconds left in overtime.
The victory improved Liberty to 18-2-1 overall and sent the Patriots to the Division I state semifinals for the first time since 2017, when it lost to Loveland 2-1 in overtime.
Upper Arlington’s Sophie Khelashvili (left) and Olentangy Liberty’s Audrey Kalmar battle for the ball during the Patriots’ 2-1 overtime win Nov. 4. Photo: Lorrie Gardner
“I’m really confident out of the air; I feel like I have a good header,” said Brecht, whose right ankle was wrapped in ice after the win. “I knew I needed to get my head on it, and that’s what I did.”
Liberty, which plays Cincinnati Seton in a state semifinal Nov. 7 at Wright State University, has grown accustomed to winning in overtime, defeating Olentangy Berlin 2-1 in overtime in an Oct. 31 regional semifinal and surviving against rival Olentangy in a 4-1 shootout in the Oct. 28 district title contest.
“I told them they haven’t been here, and we’ve been here a few times, and, hopefully, that works in our favor with the resiliency that we’ve shown in our last two games,” Allen said he told his team before the overtime period started. “It proves itself again.”
Brecht put the Patriots up 1-0 with 26:43 left in the first half.
Upper Arlington goalkeeper Sally Patton (0) makes a save in front of Olentangy Liberty’s Audrey Kalmar during a regional final match Nov. 4. Photo: Lorrie Gardner
“I knew a lot of our success would come from crosses this game, so when is saw Avery (Hilvert) driving end line, I knew I had to get across front post and my foot just got there before the defender did,” she said.
Upper Arlington, which finished 19-3-1, tied the match with around 10 minutes left when junior defender Maren Degenhart scored on a header assisted by Katie White.
The two teams played to a 2-2 tie on Sept. 19 and shared the OCC-Central Division championship.
“We fought hard,” Upper Arlington coach Andrew Kessinger said. “We felt like we had a couple of calls go against us, but we’re not going to dwell on it or blame the officials. Both teams are so close, and we know them very well. Chloe Brecht had a heck of a leap and a great goal … a credit to her.”
Allen added, “It’s always a battle with them. We had moments, and they had moments in this game. The difference was we just scored more goals than they did.”