Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

TIFFIN – Wes Quinlan admits that luck plays a large factor in a goal keeper having a small degree of success in penalty kick shootout.

Luck may have had a role but on Tuesday but it was the quick thinking of Quinlan that helped Clear Creek Amana in its latest shootout with WAMAC rival Solon.

Quinlan came up with a key save and Gunther Sandersfeld converting the clinch penalty kick as Class 2A No. 13 Clear Creek Amana (11-4) edged 1A fourth-ranked Solon 2-1 at soggy Clipper Field.

“The first two shots I was just guessing but then after that I noticed if they were left-footed they were hooking their shots that way so I just read it on the last one,” Quinlan said. “All it is is luck. If I don’t figure that out who knows we could still be taking pks right now.”

The win was the second consecutive penalty kick shootout victory for Clear Creek Amana over Solon and the third straight match between the two teams to come down to penalty kicks.

Solon won in a shootout in 2016 and the Clippers won 1-0 after besting the Spartans in penalty kicks in the last meeting in 2019.

“Every time we play it seems like we are going straight to pks,” Solon coach Jeremy McMurrin said. “It’s just a knock down, drag out slobber knocker is what they called it back in the day.”

This season was no different.

Two teams with nearly identical records and resumes on paper played essentially even soccer for 100 minutes.

“We are just evenly matched teams,” Clear Creek Amana coach Tim Benson said. “We are both good teams, we aren’t great teams we can’t really finish each other off. I looked at our records and we’ve beaten the same teams and even the margin of victory was really close every time. I told our guys we are going to come out and play a close game and that’s all I knew.”

Both teams scored goals in a wild six minutes of regulation to send the game to overtime even at 1-1.

Clear Creek Amana appeared to take control when senior Taylor Christensen booted a left-footed shot from the left side of the box into the upper left corner of the goal with 5:30 left.

Solon answered almost immediately as Gabe Yetley converted a penalty kick following a foul inside the box with 4:04 left.

“Emotionally it wasn’t our best game today, we weren’t dialed in and this is the result of it but it took for us to let that ball in but we responded quickly,” McMurrin said. “We put that pk away and then we responded again had an opportunity or two to put balls away. Not to take anything away from them, they did their jobs and got the result but we had chances.”

Solon (11-5) had the best opportunity to win in overtime when Yetley got behind the Clipper defense for a breakaway but his shot from the right side of the box rolled just left with 7:07 left in the first overtime.

“It’s just putting your chances away,” McMurrin said. “Both teams had opportunities and nobody could put them away and that’s where you end up.”

The teams were even at 3-3 in penalty kicks when Quinlan came up with a huge save.

The senior goal dove to his right and stopped a low shot from Solon junior Owen Erusha.

“We’ve practice it in practice a lot and I know if I make one save my five guys are going to do their jobs,” Quinlan said. “That’s the biggest thing is being able to have each other’s backs.”

Sandersfeld followed by blasting a shot into the net to secure the win.

Clear Creek Amana converted its final three penalty kicks as Christian Withrow, Ben George and Sandersfeld all were successful.

“Our last season ended in a pk shootout that we lost and you never want it to get to that point but if it gets to that point you want to be prepared and we’ve been preparing,” Benson said. “I feel like we wear our goalies out but they were ready to do it and our guys got it done.”

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