Class 3A girls soccer: Community Christian beats Casady for first state title

Elle Canty catalyzed the offense.

Preslee Hartsock broke the tie.

Tomie Ann Crawford sealed the victory.

Although Casady stormed into the Class 3A girls soccer state finals with 13 straight shutout wins, Community Christian had three scorers to dismantle the defensive fortress. The Royals rolled past Casady, 3-1, on Saturday afternoon at Taft Stadium for their first state title in program history.

“Our fans obviously supported us,” Canty said. “But the odds – I heard everyone was telling us, ‘Oh, Casady has no problem winning it, no worries.’ We wanted it, and we gave it (our) all. I was so honored to be captain of that team.”

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Recent history showed Casady (14-2) was the favorite, emerging as a powerhouse in its Oklahoma Secondary School Activities Association debut. On the way to a district title, the Cyclones’ shutout tour included a 2-0 victory against Community Christian on April 9. They spoiled the Royals’ senior night, handing them their sole loss of the season.

Freshman forward Crawford didn’t forget that heartbreak. She said she used it to motivate her seven senior teammates – including Canty, who is graduating a year early to play soccer at OU – as they entered the state championship.

Then Crawford finished the match for them.

She found herself with the ball at her feet only seconds after junior forward Hartsock scored the go-ahead goal. The Royals (16-1) hadn’t fully refocused from their celebration when Crawford created another, blasting the ball into the net with 2:21 left.

“I wasn’t paying attention at all,” Crawford said, “and I just went.”

Hartsock and Crawford had open space as the Cyclones zeroed in on Canty, the Royals’ leading scorer. Casady had limited Canty’s opportunities in their regular-season match, but she put CCS on the scoreboard in the first half of the finals, launching the ball high into the net.

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“We talked about taking more chances from outside the box,” said Don Rother, the Royals’ second-year coach. “And obviously, she did that. I think she wasn’t as involved in the first game, and we kind of let them mark her out of the game a little bit. I thought she was the best player on the field today, and we had to have that for us to win.”

Defensively, the Royals focused on junior forward Helen Olszewski, who slipped a goal past them in the regular season. CCS shut out Casady through the first period, but junior defender Molly Shepherd created some second-half suspense with a goal off a corner kick, firing it through a jumble of players at the net with 15:36 left.

As minutes dwindled in the second period, the possibility of extra time grew likely, but Hartsock and Crawford shut it down. The purple-clad fans counted down the final seconds – “3 – 2 – 1” – before the Royals rushed onto the pitch in celebration.

“Lots of teamwork here,” Canty said. “It was insane. We’ve never played better here. We all left it on the field, so it was a great feeling.”

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Class 3A girls soccer: CCS beats Casady for first state championship