One hundred eight minutes were required to settle a defensive battle for the Upper State girls soccer final yesterday, May 11. At the end of the game, Christ Church pulled out a 1-0 victory over St. Joseph’s in overtime.

The game featured the top two seeds in the Upper State. Christ Church, as the one seed, earned the home field advantage.

During the regular season, these teams met twice. Christ Church defeated the Knights 2-1 in both encounters. However, last night, scoring was much more limited.

The score was tied at 0-0 after 80 minutes of gameplay–the end of the second half. The first overtime ensued. The first overtime consisted of two ten minute halves, and again, neither team was able to score. The second overtime was “golden goal”, meaning the first team to score wins. Late in this overtime, forward Sitton Furman caught the St. Joe’s goalie out of position. Furman took advantage and scored from the edge of the box, ending the game in dramatic fashion. The Christ Church student section stormed the field to celebrate with the players.

The girls advance to play Academic Magnet for the fifth consecutive year in the state championship. In their first matchup, in 2012, Christ Church was victorious, winning their second state championship in school history. However, in the past two state championship games, Academic Magnet has beaten the Lady Cavs.

This year, the girls are led by first-year head coach Terry Archenhold and six senior starters. Senior defenseman Sarah Robinson has been a crucial part of the Cavalier defense. Robinson has helped starting senior goaltender Taylor Pearman, in her first ever year of soccer, protect the Christ Church goal. In yesterday’s game, Robinson made an outstanding play in the waning minutes of the first half when she sprinted nearly half the field toward the Christ Church goal to block a St. Joe’s shot. Senior Sitton Furman has been the Cavaliers’ most valuable player on the opposite side of the field. Furman scored the game-winner against St. Joe’s and also had a goal in the Upper State semifinal against Woodruff. Furman was named to play in the North South Soccer Classic for her play this season.

The A/AA state championship game will be played this Friday, May 15 at River Bluff High School in Columbia at 3 pm.