Chad Newman of Lee’s Summit North had a few choice words about how he felt after teammate Michael Oakley’s potential game-winning penalty kick in the first overtime against Rockhurst bounced off the goal and back into play.
“We work on PKs every day and Oakley is pretty much money every single time,” Newman said of the emotional explosion unfit for a community newspaper. “Just from the miss I was like, ‘Is that our only chance because this is Rockhurst – they put away their chances.’ ”
Fortunately for Newman and the rest of the Broncos, “Money Mike” Oakley was spot-on, nailing the decisive goal in a 5-4 penalty kick shootout that gave Lee’s Summit North an improbable and remarkable 2-1 sectional win over the two-time defending Class 3 state champion Hawklets Tuesday at Staley High School.
“I probably should have made that one,” Oakley said of his miss in the first overtime. “I’ll take responsibility for that one myself. I could have ended it earlier for us. I’m just glad my team kept me in it and telling me that is was going to be OK.
“They kept telling me through both overtimes, ‘Keep your head in it, we’re going to win this.’ We came through and we did it.”
Oakley scored the first goal of the game on a header in the 21st minute. After Rockhurst tied the game at 1-1 in the 47th minute, the teams played scoreless soccer the rest of regulation and through two 15-minute sudden-death overtime periods. Just as he did Thursday in the Broncos’ 2-1 District 14 championship win over Blue Springs, Oakley came up big in the shootout.
“Oakley is a strong player,” Lee’s Summit North head coach Tim Richardson said. “He hadn’t missed any PKs all year and he’s taken quite a few of them. It was just a few inches wide. It hit the post or it’s in.
“We believe in our players and we always go back to them. It’s a habit of mine that if a kid misses a PK, we give them another shot at it. Fortunately it came down to that again.”
The Hawklets had knocked Lee’s Summit North out of the playoffs each of the last three seasons. Before Oakley’s heroics, Broncos goalkeeper Jacole Turner made the save of the night, diving to his right to stop a penalty kick from Rockhurst’s next-to-last shooter, Paul Pisani.
“I’m feeling really excited,” Turner said. “We are really happy right now. We finally got Rockhurst. We beat the defending champions.”
Richardson said he was not only impressed with Turner’s penalty kick save, but the sophomore’s overall game on Tuesday.
“It took a lot more saves than just one,” Richardson said. “Jacole came up very, very big in this game. He made some tremendous saves that kept us in the game. Rockhurst had some quality opportunities.”
Asked how he felt after Oakley nailed the game-winner, Newman said, “On top of the world.” Newman credited Oakley with being one of the players who the Broncos look to most when they need a big play.
“I think everyone is a leader out here,” Oakley said. “Our whole team – I don’t think there is any one of us that we rely heavily on. It was a total team effort today. Everyone worked their butts off.”
The Broncos (17-6-1) advance to Saturday’s quarterfinal game against Park Hill, a 2-0 winner over Winnetonka on Tuesday.
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Chad Newman of Lee’s Summit North had a few choice words about how he felt after teammate Michael Oakley’s potential game-winning penalty kick in the first overtime against Rockhurst bounced off the goal and back into play.
“We work on PKs every day and Oakley is pretty much money every single time,” Newman said of the emotional explosion unfit for a community newspaper. “Just from the miss I was like, ‘Is that our only chance because this is Rockhurst – they put away their chances.’ ”
Fortunately for Newman and the rest of the Broncos, “Money Mike” Oakley was spot-on, nailing the decisive goal in a 5-4 penalty kick shootout that gave Lee’s Summit North an improbable and remarkable 2-1 sectional win over the two-time defending Class 3 state champion Hawklets Tuesday at Staley High School.
“I probably should have made that one,” Oakley said of his miss in the first overtime. “I’ll take responsibility for that one myself. I could have ended it earlier for us. I’m just glad my team kept me in it and telling me that is was going to be OK.
“They kept telling me through both overtimes, ‘Keep your head in it, we’re going to win this.’ We came through and we did it.”
Oakley scored the first goal of the game on a header in the 21st minute. After Rockhurst tied the game at 1-1 in the 47th minute, the teams played scoreless soccer the rest of regulation and through two 15-minute sudden-death overtime periods. Just as he did Thursday in the Broncos’ 2-1 District 14 championship win over Blue Springs, Oakley came up big in the shootout.
“Oakley is a strong player,” Lee’s Summit North head coach Tim Richardson said. “He hadn’t missed any PKs all year and he’s taken quite a few of them. It was just a few inches wide. It hit the post or it’s in.
“We believe in our players and we always go back to them. It’s a habit of mine that if a kid misses a PK, we give them another shot at it. Fortunately it came down to that again.”
The Hawklets had knocked Lee’s Summit North out of the playoffs each of the last three seasons. Before Oakley’s heroics, Broncos goalkeeper Jacole Turner made the save of the night, diving to his right to stop a penalty kick from Rockhurst’s next-to-last shooter, Paul Pisani.
“I’m feeling really excited,” Turner said. “We are really happy right now. We finally got Rockhurst. We beat the defending champions.”
Richardson said he was not only impressed with Turner’s penalty kick save, but the sophomore’s overall game on Tuesday.
“It took a lot more saves than just one,” Richardson said. “Jacole came up very, very big in this game. He made some tremendous saves that kept us in the game. Rockhurst had some quality opportunities.”
Asked how he felt after Oakley nailed the game-winner, Newman said, “On top of the world.” Newman credited Oakley with being one of the players who the Broncos look to most when they need a big play.
“I think everyone is a leader out here,” Oakley said. “Our whole team – I don’t think there is any one of us that we rely heavily on. It was a total team effort today. Everyone worked their butts off.”
The Broncos (17-6-1) advance to Saturday’s quarterfinal game against Park Hill, a 2-0 winner over Winnetonka on Tuesday.
YOUR TAKE:
How does it feel to beat Rockhurst to move on to quarterfinal play of the state playoffs?
SHANE BOWLEN
Junior midfielder
“It feels amazing right now. I can’t even explain it. I’m at a loss for words.”
BRANDON GREEN
Senior defender
“There is no better feeling than beating the state champs. We haven’t been able to beat them for three years in a row and we finally got it done.”
ETHAN DELANEY
Freshman midfielder
“This win is just awesome. I can’t even explain the joy that I feel right now. We’ve lost to them three years in a row. Just to beat them – especially on (penalty kicks) – feels so good.”
CLASS 3 SECTIONAL SUMMARY
LEE’S SUMMIT NORTH 2, ROCKHURST 1 (2OT)
(Lee’s Summit wins 5-4 in penalty-kick shootout)
LS North Rockhurst
7 Shots on goal 10
9 Saves 6
4 Corner kicks 8
16 Fouls 15
2 Yellow cards 4
LS NORTH 1 0 0 0 (5) — 2
ROCKHURST 0 1 0 0 (4) — 1
Keepers: Jacole Turner, Lee’s Summit North; Dustin Abnos, Rockhurst.
Scoring
First half
LSN — Michael Oakley (unassisted), 21:00.
Second half
RHS — Kyle Huber (unassisted), 47:00.
Penalty kick goals
Lee’s Summit North: Sebastian Esquinca, Shane Bowlen, Chad Newman, Randon Schleiden and Michael Oakley.
Rockhurst: Bryan Jantsch, Grant Wilson, Douglas Stevenson and Kyle Huber.
