Overtime Loss in Finals Ends PaliHi’s Great Season

The stage was set for an epic showdown last Saturday night in the girls’ soccer City Section final—and the game lived up to its billing to the bitter end. On one side was defending champion and top-seeded El Camino Real, winner of nine of the last 10 City titles, which outscored its first three playoff opponents 21-0. On the other side was Palisades, the challenger and No. 2 seed, which was riding a 17-game winning streak and had not conceded a goal in its last 14 games. Between the dynamic Conquistadores offense and the impenetrable Pali defense, something had to give. It took 107 minutes for that to happen. Regulation was not enough. Neither were the two 10-minute halves of the first overtime. Nor was the first seven minutes of double overtime. But amidst a scoreless tie, just three minutes from a penalty shootout, El Camino Real struck. Sophomore forward Jackie Altschuld controlled a bouncing clearance, chipped the ball over a Dolphins defender and raced down the right side. She settled just inside the box and unleashed a punishing strike into the top left corner of the net that no keeper could have stopped. And in a flash, the Conquistadores rushed the field, taking home the title, 1-0, to advance to the state playoffs. The finish marked the first time this decade that El Camino Real was pushed to overtime in a City final, a silver lining that summed up what an incredible effort—and season—the Dolphins put together.   ”Both teams kept fighting, both teams wanted it,” Pali High Coach Tianna Oliver said. “It was about which team finished, but we came together and battled. That was the most important thing, that we stayed together as a family and continued to work hard for each other.”  Perhaps no Dolphin worked harder than senior keeper Kiki Bailey, who had 21 saves and was brilliant in goal. No player impacted the game more, as she combined confidence coming off her line with great shot-blocking instincts to bat away numerous El Camino opportunities.   In the 69th minute, Bailey was alone with junior midfielder Dylann O’Connor, the reigning City Player of the Year, right in front of goal, but she stepped out to deny O’Connor’s point-blank shot.   Then in the 104th minute, O’Connor’s header across goal looked to be the winner. But Bailey dove left, stretched out to tip the ball and then pounced on it just before it rolled over the line. “Kiki was a beast back there,” Oliver said. “She’s our gangster in goal. She made some great saves and was one of the biggest reasons why we were 0-0 for so long.”   Such a performance was even more impressive considering it was the first time since December that El Camino Real (20-2-3) was held to only one goal, not to mention the Conquistadores’ 48-1 record in the City playoffs since 2001. “I’m glad we played them,” Bailey said. “It shows that we can keep up with them, especially since we took them to double-overtime. It’s always a huge honor to lose to a team like that. But I still wish we would’ve won. Or at least gone to PKs.” In all, the Dolphins (22-2) got off five shots, including two from defender Deborah Abber, and one each from Zoie Aliado, Melisa Tallis and Katie van Daalen Wetters. Fifteen minutes into the second half, van Daalen Wetters looked like she might break the deadlock. She took a pass at the top of the box, spun and fired a searing shot low and to the left end of goal. Goalie Emily Ortiz dove to her right, deflecting the ball just enough to knock it off the goalpost and out-of-bounds.   The remaining chances mostly belonged to El Camino, but Pali’s defense stood strong. Central defenders Tiffany Falk and Sarah Thorson battled all game against the likes of O’Connor, Altschuld and Zoe Fishman.   Meanwhile, Pali seniors Sam Elander and Kathryn Gaskin did their best to create chances against a tough defense. Elander’s speed and playmaking on the wing, as well as Gaskin’s resolve and creativity, worked to keep El Camino honest.   That duo, as well as Bailey and Falk, are among the eight graduating Pali seniors, including defenders Nicole Savage, Brittany Aliado and Christina Stapke and midfielder Meredith Kornfeind.   In the end, though, the entire Pali team could be proud knowing they fought from start to finish and, by playing the Conquistadores to a near stalemate, proved they belong alongside the best teams in the state.  ”A loss is a loss,” Oliver said. “But I’m so proud of my girls, we worked our butts off. And we have everything to look forward to next season.”