Park Hill South senior Mackenzie Wright (#17) hugs Lily DiBernardo (#25) - as teammates come in to celebrate - after her kick deflected off a Park Hill defender and went into the goal in overtime for the game-winning, sudden death score on April 2.
PARKVILLE – In the aftermath of 80 minutes of scoreless rivalry soccer through regulation, it only took Park Hill South (9-0) 73 seconds of extra play to send Park Hill (1-6) home with its third overtime loss of the season on April 2.
As overtime started and Park Hill kicked off into its territory, Park Hill South regained possession 50 seconds in. Lily DiBernardo dribbled the ball across midfield and crossed it to Olivia Clemons who charged towards the goal.
Subsequently, Park Hill goalkeeper Maggie Peterson ran out towards Clemons to try to stop the ball, leaving the goal vulnerable. Clemons reversed it back to DiBernardo who got a clean shot from the left side, and it bounced off a defender and into the back of the net.
“We built out a great defensive play; built out to play the outside back, play through the midfield, play the wing,” Park Hill South head girls’ soccer coach Jared Byrne said. “We still found Clemons’ feet, who knocked it through, and other girls stepped up to that final goal. It was a great shot, DiBernardo buried it.”
With overtime rules being sudden death with 10 minutes on the clock, that goal ended the game. Park Hill battled all night long and kept Park Hill South off the board in regulation despite having many chances.
“It’s easy to get frustrated in a game like that when you feel like you’re the aggressor, putting that pressure on, and you just can’t get that goal. Then it’s easy to kind of start forcing things right and start just playing long balls in and we didn’t do that, so I’m proud of them,” Byrne said.
Each of the last five times these rivals have played, Park Hill South has won. Counting this one, the last three matchups were decided by two or fewer goals.
“We always say respect all, fear none. We know that every time we play Park Hill, no matter what, it’s going to be a battle – it doesn’t matter if they’re number one in the state and we’re not doing good or vice versa. I’m proud of our girls and how they kept that resilient effort,” Byrne said.
This was the second straight season that the Lady Panthers won their first eight games of the season – having started off 2023 off 10-0 before their first loss – and that was extended to nine with a 5-2 victory over St. Teresa’s Academy (1-4) on April 4. Since coming out on top in the Platte County Invitational, Park Hill South has notable victories over Staley (4-4), Nixa (7-1) and Kickapoo (8-4).
Park Hill, on the other hand, has dealt with a polar opposite start to the spring with additional overtime losses to Lee’s Summit West (3-2) and Shawnee Mission East (3-2). Following the rivalry game, the Lady Trojans went to Lee’s Summit (4-2) and fell 5-0 on April 4.
Next up for Park Hill is a conference matchup with Liberty (4-5) on April 11. Park Hill South will head to Lee’s Summit on the same day.