Santa Fe stuns Edmond North

Santa Fe sophomore Grace Hepner rattled a left-footed shot off the right post in Edmond North’s southern end zone. The ball careened into the back of the net. Santa Fe’s prize: A 4-2 penalty kick win for the Edmond Santa Fe Lady Wolves. The first of its kind in almost two decades. Hepner’s winner was the culmination of a team effort: A firing squad of Santa Fe legs that came alive in the final five shots of the night. Previously, a goalkeeping combination of Edmond North’s Sakura Wilson and Ashlyn Lonberg had held the Wolves scoreless through the first 80 minutes. After regulation time, though, the Wolves were unstoppable. Taylor Dashney, Kayleigh Haygood and Sydney Arneson all hammered in their tries to take a 3-1 penalty-kick lead. Then, obviously, Hepner’s winner went off and in. “In the end, it came down to PKs, and we actually practiced those yesterday. You know, just in case,” said Santa Fe head coach Melissa Thompson through a smile. Then, admittedly, she said all five girls ran through the same circumstances just 24 hours prior about four miles across town. They even ran in the same order. And, on Friday, they executed perfectly. The first four right-footed kickers went east with the ball, and — after senior Grace Markwell’s emphatic , game-winning look missed high — the left-footed Hepner banged it off the western goalpost. Thompson agreed. Everything went by design. But Hepner shooting southpaw wasn’t the sole reason why she shot fifth Friday night. “She is calm, and she is collected,” Thompson said of her sophomore anchor. The profound penalty kick performance did more than just outscore North’s goals from Lauren Hill and Maddie Holub — it validated a stand-out performance from Santa Fe keeper Baylee Hensley. Hensley dueled with North’s Wilson and Lonberg for the greater part of Friday’s time. Thrice Hensley shut down North run-out tries in the first half alone. Once, she gobbled a North-numbered advantage with 12 minutes left in the half. Then, she shut down a Desi Abney one-on-one try. Finally, Hensley fell on a spinning ball after a North 3-on-2 try — punctuated by another Abney shot on goal — fell squandered. “She was amazing,” Thompson said of her goalkeeper. “She had so many big stops in the first half. For normal keepers those would have been goals. She’s continuing to get better every year.” North’s freshman Ashlyn Lonberg was just efficient in her first half performance, though, and Sakura Wilson combined to hold the prolonged Wolves attack scoreless throughout regulation time — just as Hensley did to the Huskies. That prolonged attack might have seen some help from Mother Nature. Maybe tempted by Santa Fe’s green-accented jerseys, the wind sat at the Wolves back for the first 39 and a half minutes. Bringing in muggy, warm temperatures, the southern wind suddenly flipped to opt into a northern-based cold front just as the two teams swapped sides on the field. That led to two halves of prolonged, exhausting attacks from the Santa Fe offense Friday night. And, though exciting and plentiful — and ultimately unsuccessful — it limited North’s attacks to run-out tries. The regulation tie was all Hensley needed. Twice she thwarted North penalty kick tries — sent from Rylee Orgill and Abney — over the top of the net. The performance held North, the potential city champs, to just 50 percent conversion rate from the tie-deciding rules. A set of rules that, at times, disproportionately favors the shooters. “This sets a really good statement for our program,” Thompson said, highlighting the youngness of her team. For the Wolves: Friday’s prominent names were all there last year, and, because they’re a team made heapingly of sophomores, Thompson thinks this will benefit them in the years to come. “We’re still young and we’re developing that confidence and attitude. It’s fun, they’re fun to coach and they love the game. They just want to play and I appreciate that." Santa Fe’s win over North was the first in Thompson’s cap since she took over the helm at Edmond Santa Fe. In fact, Thompson — who spent time west of town with Deer Creek before donning the green of Santa Fe — couldn’t even tell you the last time the Santa Fe girls had beaten Edmond North. That had to come from Santa Fe’s resident historian — and athletic director — Andy Rasmussen. Over 17 years was the verdict. Counting back through two sets of coaching staffs, none could remember the last time Santa Fe was victorious. That ran all the way back to 2004.

THE OFFICIAL SITE OF
Edmond North High School Athletics

SANTA FE STUNS EDMOND NORTH

AARON ALBERTSON

Edmond Sun | 3/30/2019

PHOTO CREDIT: North Athletics