NORTH RICHLAND HILLS – Keller goalkeeper Lennon Kauchak made two saves during Tuesday night’s shootout and Emma Moreau hit the game-winning penalty kick as the Indians edged out LD Bell (0-0, 4-3 SO) in their Class 6A Region 1 bi-district game at Birdville.
The Indians advance the Thursday’s area round where they face Wolfforth Frenship at 6 pm from Shotwell Stadium in Abilene. Bell, which finished second in District 3-6A, ends the season with a 21-4-2 record.
After both teams went scoreless for 100 minutes during regulation and overtime, 10 players lined up for penalty kicks for the right to move on in the postseason.
Skylar Henley and Ashlynn Winborne scored for Bell. Meanwhile, Keller got its first from Skylar Belanger, but on its second attempt the ball hit the left post leaving the Blue Raiders with a 2-1 advantage after two rounds.
Kauchak then made back-to-back saves and Presley See and Holly Storer both scored to give the Indians a 3-2 lead heading into the fifth and final round. Bell got its attempt in that tied it and Moreau came up for the game-winning kick.
During the first half, the Indians had the heavy advantage in possession. They had two corner kicks and multiple chances to the net while Bell struggled to find any rhythm on offense. The Raiders only had possession across the 50 a couple times and never got a shot off before the intermission.
However, Bell keeper Sydney Eiserloh was impressive in goal along with her back line to keep Keller scoreless as well. The Indians got a pass off in the box with Eiserloh securing it in the 23rd minute. Keller got a cross off near the box but Bell cleared it in the 30th minute.
The Bell offense was on the move in the 33rd minute but Keller’s Riley Hewitt stole the ball. Then Keller had a scoring chance, but Eiserloh was there for Bell. Keller continued the pressure early in the second half inside the box, but Bell cleared the ball. The Raiders’ first good opportunity came in the 48th minute when they got into the box looking for a foul, but it never came.
It did lead into a corner, but nothing came out of it.
Storer, a 2025 commit to Texas A&M, had a free kick from the 17 that came after a corner, but it was wide. Then Keller was hit with a yellow card in the 53rd minute. Bell set up the free kick from about 40 yards out. The ball got to the box, but Keller’s D was able to clear. Storer sent a corner in the 64th minute and Claire Garritson sent a header that was just wide left of the goal. Storer then hit a wide shot a minute later.
Garritson had a nice move and sent one 20 yards away but it hit the football post with 13 minutes left in regulation. Belanger hit a free kick from the right side 25 yards away that was about 10 feet off the net. Keller nearly scored in the 73rd minute when a pass was headed to Garritson past the 10, but Henley played good D and Eiserloh was there to fall on the ball.
Storer hit another free kick from the 18 toward the upper right 90, but Eiserloh deflected the ball out in the 76th minute. Bell was hit with a yellow and Keller’s free kick was caught by Eiserloh in the 86th minute. A minute later and Belanger’s free kick from the 25 went about two feet over the top post. The best look of the night came in the 89th minute when a pass went to Belanger, who beat her defender, but her attempt from the 5 went high and hit the bottom of the football post. Eiserloh caught one last attempt at the end of the first overtime.
Bell got inside the 20 in the 93rd minute, but Keller’s Mariela Lopez stole possession. Hewitt had space and sent one that hit the top post in the 95th minute. Storer dribbled on the right side across the 10, but Henley played her well and Eiserloh secured the ball with 2:25 left in the second overtime.
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BOYS: Bell 5, Central 2 OT
In the second game at Birdville, the Bell boys team scored three times in the overtime periods to knock off Keller Central in their 6A R1 bi-district contest. Bell advances to area where the Blue Raiders will face Odessa Permian 5 pm Friday at Shotwell Stadium in Abilene. Permian won its game on Tuesday 3-1 in OT.
Bell scored in the opening minutes to take a 1-0 lead.
Central hit a shot point blank, but it was off to the right in the 18th minute. The Chargers got another shot off in the 24th minute from 7 yards out, but Bell keeper AJ Rosen knocked it away. Rosen is also the star kicker on the Bell football team.
Bell led 1-0 at halftime.
The Chargers applied pressure early in the second half. A shot was caught by Rosen followed by a cross that was cleared. Another shot was high – all of that coming within the first six minutes. Bell took a 2-0 lead in the 48th minute. Maddox Olatunde sent a through ball to a striding Quinn MacLeod, who proceeded to beat his man to the ball. Then MacLeod had a 1v1 against Central’s keeper Isaiah Dixon, made a move to get past him and booted the wide open goal inside 10 yards away.
But the Bell lead quickly vanished as Central scored twice in the next seven minutes. The Chargers pulled within 2-1 in the 51st minute. Then they drew the foul in the box and Jasper Knight scored the PK to tie it at 2 in the 55th minute. Just two minutes after that, Bell was the one that drew the foul and PK attempt. But Dixon made the right move on Olatunde’s try and knocked it away to keep it tied.
Central had two more chances in the 67th and 68th minutes, but Rosen made the stop and secured the ball both times. Rosen then made his save of the night when Central got another close shot off. Rosen deflected it and Central’s try off the deflection went over the goal in the 72nd minute.
The ball got to Rosen in the 83rd minute and he dribbled it well out of the box and near his 25. The all-district kicker showed off his leg with a kick that traveled over 60 yards. The ball took one bounce to the 5 and Mehdi Dif beat a man and Dixon to head the ball into the open net for a 3-2 lead. Marcos Salcido added an insurance goal in the 86th minute for a 4-2 edge. Central hit a long free kick from 55 yards out that hit a Central attacker and two Bell defenders about 7 yards away and Rosen secured the bounce in the 97th minute. Bell scored its fifth one minute later.
