In a close to the season, the Pratt Community College women's soccer team took on Hesston College. The Beavers and Larks went all out for their last match of the year by going the distance in a double overtime. As the end of the second overtime period conclude, Pratt found themselves victorious 1-0.
Pratt went out in style. PCC finished with a win that included 34 shots on frame, a last-minute goal, and a season sweep of the Larks.
Many of the shots on goal came from midfielder Kori Staley who had nine shots on the day. The Beavers leading goal scorer Quemberli Merida and midfielder Isabella Battaglia also put up seven shots apiece. Even with a remarkable 34 shots, no effort was great enough to put the ball past the goal line.
Neither team managed to score in the regular 90 minutes of play. A draw at the conclusion of both halves resulted in an overtime period where each side went scoreless yet again. The second overtime looked as if it was going to end in similar fashion until the one hundred-sixth minute when the Beavers found the back of the net. After being awarded a corner kick, Battaglia crossed in a ball to forward Avery Villines for a game-winning header. The 1-0 victory will represent the last competition of the year for PCC.
The 2018 season saw many program bests from the Lady Beavers. Head Coach Ashley Burnett and her team achieved the most wins in the history of the women's soccer program at PCC. The blue and white gathered a total of seven wins with five of the victories coming against conference foes.
The year also included the program's fastest goal ever recorded. Villines earned the honors of the quickest feet on the team with a 56-second goal against Hesston earlier in the season.
Many individual achievements became prominent for the Beavers as well. Merida netted eight goals in the 15 games she participated in. As a freshman, Merida is now on pace to shatter the PCC women's soccer record for the most goals ever scored by an individual. She has tied the record with her performances this year and will have another season to build on her numbers. A single goal will make history for her and the team.
A 5-9 conference record means that the Beavers will unfortunately not participate in postseason play. Pratt managed to lock down a middle of the pack standing in the conference table. PCC finished in fifth place out of eight different teams in the Jayhawk West standings which is only one spot out of the playoff picture.
"I am proud of this team and what they accomplished. We had a goal set to win the most games in the history of the program and we managed to accomplish that, which is a huge step. We did have some results that were simply not good enough, but finishing fifth has made us a competitive team in this conference, and now we can start building on our next season," said Burnett.
PCC soccer will continue to improve next season where they look to update the records set this year. Stay tuned to gobeaversports.com for all women's soccer related news and updates during the offseason.