Meadowdale’s Emily Crichlow and MLT’s Sam Romanowski fight for ball control. (Photo by Joleen Sims)

The highly ranked Lady Mavs soccer team Tuesday was handed their first loss of the year from an unlikely source: the Mountlake Terrace Hawks.

After a long defensive struggle, Maddie Powers scored the first goal of the game for the Hawks in the 67th minute off a throw-in. Since the defense had done a great job of shutting the Mavs down most of the match, that looked to be the decider until Alyssa Navlet drilled a free kick right by the top corner of the box over goaltender Amanda Aversano and under the crossbar to tie the game at 1. In the fourth minute of overtime, Lily Hart dribbled near the box and got the ball knocked away from her and to a defender. But then Hart got the ball right back when the defender tried to clear the ball, and she had a straight shot on net from the top of the box which she buried into the bottom right corner of the net.

The match started slowly and was defense-centered. It seemed that the Hawks were content with having extra defenders back in the first half to break up crosses and stop breakaways, instead of going forward and pushing the tempo. The Hawks got the first chance of the match in the 7th minute when Maddie Kristjanson got the ball 40 yards out and took a long shot that Ashley Routh easily saved. Lots of the shots and chances in the match came from 30-plus yards since the defenses were concerned with preventing ball movement in the goal box. Back the other way, Emily Crichlow fought through the defense on the sideline and sent in a low cross to Kearstin Franco in the box. Franco settled the ball down but had no angle on net, and dropped it back to Hannah Taylor. Taylor hit a low shot just wide of the net, and the game remained scoreless.

In the 9th minute, Crichlow tried to track down a through ball sent into the goal box, but as she chested it down to her feet, Aversano challenged her and took the ball away. Three minutes later, the Hawks Hart got an open shot from the top of the box, and sent a low challenge that Routh easily saved. Back the other way, the Mavs earned back to back corner kicks but Navlet’s crosses didn’t find any blue, and the ball was cleared eventually. In the 22nd minute, Allison Lorraine sent a through ball past the MHS D for Hart, and she tried a shot at the top of the box. The shot was blocked, but rebounded straight to her, and her second chance was saved by Routh. The last chance of the half came in the 34th minute. Kendall Raecker tried a through ball to get past the line of Hawk defenders that Crichlow settled coming into the goal box, but her shot was hit just over the crossbar. The game was tied nil-nil going into the second half.

In the 43rd minute, the Hawks’ Lorraine got to the edge of the field and sent a low cross into the goal box that was easily cleared by the MHS defense. The next minute, Taylor got open 25 yards from goal and attempted a shot that was saved by Aversano. In the 56th minute, Crichlow managed to snake through the defense and sent a low cross through the box to Franco. Franco hit a shot on net that Aversano saved again. Three minutes later, Raecker hits another through ball to Crichlow. This time, she gets past all the defenders and has only the goalie left in front of her. Instead of trying to dribble around Aversano, she attempted a chip shot that instead went straight into Aversano’s hands. The game remained tied.

Finally the Hawks broke through in the 67th minute. A throw-in by Mountlake Terrace went into the MHS goal box and bounced around for a little bit before Powers settled the ball down. Powers hit a low shot past Routh, and the Hawks took a 1-0 lead. On the kickoff that followed, Crichlow marched down the field and got into the goal box before attempting a shot that went wide. In the 74th minute, Hart took a low shot from the same place Powers took her shot, but this time, Routh made the save. When it looked like the Hawks had won and the game entered into stoppage time, the Mavs drew a foul by the top corner of the goal box. Navlet set up to take it, as she does for all set pieces, and sent a beautiful floater that went above the leaping Aversano and below the crossbar. Even if the Hawks set up a wall to block the shot, it still would’ve gone in. The game went into overtime tied at 1.

Neither side was able to do anything for the first three minutes of overtime until Hart stole the ball away from a Maverick defender’s errant pass and then had a great look on goal. Routh seemed to be caught off guard and wasn’t able to come out and challenge the lone forward as usual. Instead, she tried to save the low, hard shot from Hart, but the ball bounced off her left hand and went into the back of the net, giving the Hawks the 2-1 upset victory. The Mavs walked off the pitch as Hart’s teammates mobbed her.

With the win, the Hawks improve to 3-0 (1-0 in conference) and will play again on Thursday against Glacier Peak, at 7:30 p.m., at home. With the loss, the Mavs fall to 2-1 (0-1 in conference), and play again on Thursday at Shorewood, also at 7:30 p.m.

– By Quint Turner