When Liberty’s Erin Hobbs stepped up to the penalty-kick line, the Lions’ stadium was remarkably quiet.

Century’s Summer Morrison’s sudden-death penalty shot had just been blocked by Lions goalie Caitlin Mulholland and the pressure to secure the next goal was all on Hobbs. She took her shot at the sound of the whistle and it sailed to the back of the net, untouched by Knights goalie Jordyn Vanarsdale, to give Liberty a 7-6 advantage in penalty kicks.

The Lions’ shooters in the field and the sideline rushed to congratulate Hobbs for sending the team home with a 1-0 victory over Century in a Class 2A West Section I quarterfinal.

“We played OK. We started to put our string of things together in the second half and started to dominate a little bit on both ends of the field,” Lions coach Danielle Prietz said. “Taking it into overtime, we just had to continue to fight and play hard. We’ve been in this situation several years now so we’ve been here before and it’s nice to come out victorious this time.”

Hobbs could hardly believe what had happened.

“I just stood there and stared and all my teammates were running toward me,” Hobbs said. “I’m still very shocked.”

Each team took its chance at taking shots early, but Liberty’s Alanna Wray had the closest chance of getting one past Vanarsdale with 26 minutes, 31 seconds left in the first half. She briefly carried the ball up through the middle in an attempt to challenge Vanarsdale, but two Century defenders pulled in to stop her.

The teams each took a pair of free kicks but the attempts were eventually pushed out by the defense. The defensive units on both ends remained solid, despite close chances from a pressuring offense.

Knights senior midfielder Lisi Hurst and Morrison each had a pair of close scoring chances late in the second half. Morrison took a shot but Mulholland pressured out of the goal. The ball fell to Hurst’s feet but her shot was too high over the net.

“I think we played really well tonight. We just connected so well,” Knights senior defender Kaylee Titus said. “There were a lot of injuries and people out but other people stepped up like we were expecting and they played a game like no other. Macy Hamlett back there, she was solid. I think it was a win for the defense because overall. We kind of had a shutout except for the PKs, but I’m very proud of them.”

No goals through two 10-minute overtime periods sent the game into penalty kicks. Century and Liberty’s student sections each gathered at the end of the field as each team’s shooters lined up at midfield.

Mulholland recorded 17 saves for the Lions (8-3). She blocked two of Century’s penalty kicks in the process.

“I just know I can rely on my teammates to be there whether we win or lose,” Mulholland said. “I know they’re going to put their all into it.”

Vanarsdale made 10 saves for the Knights and also blocked two penalty kicks. Knights coach Sara Figuly said she was proud of the resilience her team showed.

“All season we’ve been waiting to see them come together to play as one unit and tonight they looked amazing out there, I mean, we possessed the entire game,” Figuly said. “They worked hard, they battled, they supported each other and unfortunately it didn’t go our way. If we were going to go out, I’m glad we went out with leaving everything on the field.”

mwoodward@carrollcountytimes.com

twitter.com/mwoodwardCCT