Lopez, Crabtree come up big late
By Mike Ramczyk
Burlington junior Amelia Crabtree waited patiently for a moment like this.
Two long, hard months of injury kept one of the Demons’ best soccer players out of the lineup, and in her second game back Tuesday at home during the first game of the Southern Lakes Conference tournament, Crabtree got her redemption.
With her team up 3-2 in a shootout against third-seeded Elkhorn, Crabtree calmly connected for a goal in the left side of the net to clinch the victory.
Crabtree skipped in excitement before placing her hands over her face in joy and trotted back to her teammates, where the Demons smothered her in hugs as the home crowd roared.
The clutch kick helped the No. 2 Demons win their fourth straight match overall, thanks to a 4-2 shootout after a 1-1 tie, and advance to Thursday’s SLC championship game.
Burlington improved to 8-3-1 and will face the winner of Union Grove-Waterford for the conference title Thursday.
“It was pretty great for Amelia, who isn’t up to game speed yet,” said head coach Joel Molitor. “We just pushed and pushed. We scored with five minutes left. We attacked more up the wings, and Elkhorn played really good defense.”
It was a game Elks squad, as leading scorer and Division 1 recruit Olivia May was back after injury kept her out most of the season.
May opened the scoring on a penalty kick in the 10th minute to give Elkhorn a 1-0 lead, and that held until late in the game.
Freshman takes over
Then, freshman Janelle Lopez, who tore it up scoring on the junior varsity level earlier in the season, notched a goal in the 82nd minute to tie the game at 1-1.
“Janelle ran a weak side cross, and she just finished it,” Molitor said. “She started the season on JV and scored a ton of goals, and she’s scored at least two for us. She’s a good talent.”
Lopez was excited after the victory.
“I’m feeling pretty well,” she said. “This is my first varsity shootout, and it was pretty exciting.”
“On the goal, I was thrilled and was assisted by Morgan (McCourt). I was like, ‘Oh, my God, I’m going to score.’ I had a perfect, open shot and I just winged it.”
Lopez said the transition to varsity has been smooth.
“All the girls support me,” she added.
Lopez said the team passing has been strong, but it will take more to beat a team like Union Grove, which beat Burlington this season.
“Our one-touches needs to be a little better, and we need to communicate a little more, but I think we can win,” Lopez said.
In the shootout, the Demons and Elks were tied 2-2 after a diving Cora Anderson save and two Burlington goals. Then, after another Demon goal, Elkhorn missed high above the net.
Finally, Crabtree walked off with the winner.
Molitor was proud of the fight his team showed.
“We just got to beat Grove,” he said. “We didn’t have Castillo or Crabtree last game, and now we have a few more injuries. If we’re healthy, it’s going to be a really tight game.”
Crabtree finished with seven saves.
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