Penalty kicks were the order of the day in the girls’ 7th District semifinal tilt on Monday. And the last one was the game-winner for Hopkins County Central.
Priya Holmes knocked home the final PK of a shootout as the Lady Storm advanced with a 2-1 victory over Caldwell County.
Hopkins Central (11-8) will face top-seeded Madisonville-North Hopkins (13-5-1) in Wednesday’s 7:30 p.m. title tilt in Madisonville.
Both goals during regulation play on Monday also came as a result of penalty kicks.
Holmes gave the Lady Storm a 1-0 lead in the 43rd minute following a foul in the box.
The Lady Tigers drew even in the 70th minute when Laken White converted a PK following a hand-ball.
Caldwell outshot Hopkins Central 12-7 in the first 80 minutes. The Lady Tigers held a 5-1 advantage in shots in the 10-minute overtime.
But Caldwell couldn’t take advantage of those stats as the teams went to the shootout tied 1-1.
White put the Lady Tigers up in the tiebreaker when she made good on the very first attempt.
But Caldwell was denied on its next four tries.
Meanwhile, Hopkins Central sent its first attempt over the net and had its next two shots stopped by Caldwell keeper Rachel McClung.
But the Lady Storm made its last two attempts.
Ashdyn Dugger tied the shootout on Hopkins Central’s fourth attempt.
Holmes then ended the match when her PK found the net. That gave the Lady Storm the shootout 2-1 while ending the match by the same score.
Caldwell ends the season 7-13.
McClung had five saves in 90 minutes of action and had the two saves during the shootout.
Kire Peyton recorded 11 saves during regulation and overtime for Hopkins Central, then made three stops in the shootout.
The Lady Storm beat Caldwell 2-0 during the regular season.
