Published: November 09, 2008 12:43 am      

Nitro caps remarkable late run with state title

Don’t call Nitro a Cinderella team.

The hard-charging, physical Wildcats might hurt you.

Despite owning the worst record (8-7-5) of any team going in the state high school soccer tournament, the Wildcats capped a run of upsets with a 1-0 (2-1) victory over University in the girls Class AAA championship game Saturday.

“We believed in ourselves,” said senior goalkeeper Lindsey Kerns, who was last scored upon in the sectionals. “We never got down as a unit. We brought each other up.”

Kerns was magnificent in goal, just as she had been in victories over No. 4 Cabell Midland, No. 6 Woodrow Wilson, No. 7 George Washington and No. 16 Parkersburg South.

She made seven saves in regulation play and overtime against the Hawks and two more in the shootout.

Coach Kim Aurelio had full trust in Kerns.

“You never go into penalty kicks thinking, ‘Oh, we’ve got this,’” Aurelio said. “You never know which way they’ll kick the ball. But we know Lindsey’s an excellent keeper and we had confidence in her.”

Kerns actually gave her team the lead, taking the Wildcats’ first PK of the shootout and drilling it past University freshman keeper Hillary Dewitt.

The next two University players to shoot (Alex Cranston had missed earlier), Kylie Spahr and Ashley Ramsey, fired right at Kerns.

Hillary Johnson, fourth in line, put a shot past Kerns to the right, tying the count.

Kaitlyn Gilham answered for Nitro with successful shot to Dewitt’s left.

The final shot-taker for University, Whitney Cavender, snagged a post, sealing the Hawks’ fate.

“You can practice penalty kicks until the cows come home, but you have a situation where fans are rattling the fences and you have 16-17-year-old players,” University coach Ray Petrisin said.

“You saw quite a few $10 million men miss PKs last summer in the Euro Cup. It’s a roll of the dice.”

Kerns, 5-foot-9 with long arms, said she was fairly confident going into the shootout.

“I believe in the team and I believe in myself,” she said. “Ever since the eighth grade, when we went to a PK shootout, I’ve lived for them.”

No. 2 University (20-3-2) controlled possession for much of the game and held an 8-4 advantage in shots on goal going into the shootout.

“We had opportunities and we came close,” Petrisin said. “We penetrated their defense a little bit, but not as much as we’d liked. They have a very good goalkeeper.”

Nitro, ranked 23rd in the final West Virginia Soccer Association standings, concluded at 10-7-5.

“We played a lot of fantastic teams this year,” Aurelio said. “University moved the ball well and talked well, but we shut down their best player (Cranston). That was one of our main points.

“I told them at halftime we were not the weaker team, and we had to play our game. We got our confidence back up and showed it on the field.”