Penalty kick goal and key saves sends Buchanan to girls soccer regional championship
Buchanan High girls soccer coach Jasara Gillette is hoping her team can make history.
The Bears are one win away from doing that.
Logan Nidy converted on a penalty kick in the 68th minute, giving the No. 3-seed Bears a 1-0 victory over No. 7 Saint Francis-Mountain View in the CIF Northern California Division I regional semifinals on Thursday.
The Bears are looking for the school’s first regional NorCal championship, but it will be tough against top-seed Oak Ridge. The Trojans defeated No. 4 Mountain View 3-0. Last season, the Bears won the SoCal Division II championship.
The Bears and Oak Ridge will play at 5 p.m. Saturday.
“Our defense was huge,” Gillette said. “The team we played came out super strong. They have some really great players and our defense was able to keep us in the game. I don’t think we came out our best, but we made some adjustments at the half and I thought the second half we started to be on the offensive and our defense kept us in the game up until that point. They had eight corner kicks. They had opportunities. Our keeper had five legitimate saves.”
That would be goalkeeper Hailey Hartsburg.
The match was scoreless until late in the second half when Nidy was sandwiched between players inside the box. The referee blew the whistle and the Bears were awarded a penalty kick that Nidy converted on.
In another girls match involving Fresno-area schools, No. 4 Kerman lost to No. 1 Christopher-Gilroy 4-2 in Division IV.
On the boys side, No. 4 Reedley season came to an end after a 4-2 loss to Whitney-Rockllin 4-2.
This story was originally published March 3, 2022 at 8:48 PM.
