Girls Soccer: Avery Solomon, Batavia best Neuqua Valley in final seconds

BATAVIA – Never mind Neuqua Valley’s equalizing goal. Batavia senior Avery Solomon knew she still had time to spare.

Neuqua Valley freshman Alexis May had just scored a game-tying goal to make it 3-3 with 2:02 remaining after not giving up on the play.

The Bulldogs had one more run in them.

With time winding closer to zero after Bulldogs goalie Addie Cooper’s last punt to about midfield, Batavia junior Brooke Carlson corralled the ball and managed to skip it up to Solomon.

Solomon, after a bunch of strides, was able to finesse past Wildcats goalie Alicia Fabian with 15 seconds left to score the winning goal in Batavia’s 4-3 nonconference victory April 8.

“[The ball] kind of ricocheted off [Carlson’s] leg. I heard the energy from the bench and I’ve got to take this touch,” Solomon said. “I saw the goalie come out, so I took the opportunity to take a touch around her and I just did a calm pass into the goal.

“My team didn’t give up. The momentum was there. Everyone just kept with their energy and I’m so proud that we kept on, kept pressuring them and kept finding the open places to get us through.”

Batavia (3-2) built a 3-1 halftime lead after two nifty goals from Carlson and another from Natalie Warner. Neuqua Valley (1-2) struck first on Safa Jeffery’s boot, which was answered by Carlson about eight minutes later.

Warner scored Batavia’s second goal on a flukey play in which Warner and May met nearly instantaneously on a rush, but the ball’s momentum from Warner’s attempt was enough to glide into the net for a 2-1 Batavia lead with 9:35 left.

Bulldogs starting goalie Natalie Dean exited the game two minutes later after a collision in the box and being hit in the face during a Neuqua Valley rush, which prompted Cooper’s insertion in goal.

“It is a bit of a jump-scare, nerve-wracking,” said Cooper, who had five saves in relief. “Knowing I can support her while she’s hurt gets me pumped up and excited [to play].”

Carlson’s second goal came with 2:18 left in the first half for a 3-1 Bulldogs lead.

Neuqua Valley, however, kept up the pressure.

Selma Larbi blasted in a goal with 30:30 left in the second half to kick-start the Wildcats, who sustained an aggressive offensive attack. Both teams traded impressive defensive stops to preserve goals within 10 minutes of each another, and Neuqua Valley nearly cashed in on an equalizing goal by Anna Yuccas in traffic, but she was ruled to have interfered with Cooper on the save by making contact.

May’s goal and Solomon’s game-winner capped the seesaw finish.

“I saw a chance to get the ball. I second-guessed myself by running at it, but I knew I had to,” Cooper said on May’s tying goal. “I also think I just didn’t get my body behind the ball, but I did get a slight grip on it.”

“From my point of view, it was a bad punt,” Cooper said of the game-winning goal. “I was like, ‘That’s not going anywhere.’ I looked down for a hot second and Avery kicks it past the goal. She shoots and I was like, ‘Oh, my God, we won.”

May scored her first goal of the season at a crucial moment.

“I think I was more excited for her,” Neuqua Valley coach Arnoldo Gonzalez said. “The way we were playing, I know [Batavia] had two unlucky goals in the first half, so it wasn’t really an indication of the way we were playing. So just to be able to get back to that 3-3 was awesome. I mean, good for her. I think if it had been anyone, I guess we would’ve been just as happy.”

“[May] is a natural forward, but she also likes to come up as an attacking midfielder, so she’s a striker, but she can also attack the middle. She’s good at it.”