Stampede players celebrate after advancing to the Southern Conference Finals.
Photo Credit: Austin Aztex
AUSTIN, Texas — Retribution, it seems, is sweeter when the prize comes at a price.
After failing to scratch out a postseason win after earning trips in 2021 and 2021, the Ocala Stampede removed a rather large gorilla off their collective backs with a 1-1 (5-3) penalty-kicks victory over Laredo in the USL Premier Development League’s Southern Conference Championship semifinals Saturday at steamy House Park in Austin.
The win allows Ocala, the champion of the PDL’s Southeast Division, to continue the most successful campaign in the team’s three-year existence. The Stampede will play the survivor of Saturday’s late match between Austin, the defending PDL champion, and SW Florida, which was completed after press deadlines.
Ocala (10-1-4) found a way to bounce back with an equalizer after giving up the match’s first goal in the waning minutes of regulation play, then outlasted Laredo through a scoreless overtime period to force penalty kicks.
The Stampede were deadly in the PKs, going first and scoring on all five opportunities, the final of which — by midfielder Alex Clay, an 83rd-minute substitution — closed the door on Laredo. Stephen Walmsley, Lewis Hilton, Ilija Ilic and Ben Knight preceded Clay with successful conversions in the penalty-kick round.
Laredo (7-4-3) had eliminated Ocala in last year’s playoffs, making the win that much more sweet for the Stampede players.
“It was difficult to lose the way we did last year, so this win gives us quite a lift,” Ocala coach Cheyne Roberts said. “We had a lot of chances to win this game in regulation, but the Laredo goalkeeper stopped us on some breakaways. We feel like we are a much better team this year than last, but we know our work is far from done.”
Clay, who missed a penalty kick earlier in the season against Orlando City, said he was “confidently nervous” over his kick to win the match.
“It was a little hard to swallow, but we spend a lot of time practicing penalty kicks and that was something I could fall back on,” Clay said. “It was sweet to be able to get this win in the playoffs because we’ve worked so hard. We believe we have a team that can win the league championship, but first things first.”
If Clay was finding it hard to swallow, he likely wasn’t the only one. The two teams battled through 120 minutes of end-to-end action in sunny 101-degree heat on the pitch’s field-turf surface in a virtually even match — both squads had 16 shots on goal and seven corner kicks apiece.
The win allows Ocala to extend its unbeaten streak to 13 matches, the longest active such run in the league.
After an ebb-and-flow game for both sides through most of regulation, Laredo drew first blood. Forward Salvador Luna got loose on a long run down the middle of the pitch after a pin-point pass from Miguel Fernandez and shrugged off two Ocala defenders before pushing a right-footed shot past goalkeeper Lex Craggs and into the goal in the 86th minute.
That was only the second second-half goal allowed by the Stampede in the past 13 matches.
But Ocala didn’t hang its collective head. The Stampede answered back just a minute later when Lewis Hilton ripped a pass from Karamba Janneh from the top of the 18-yard box for the equalizer, sending the match into overtime.
Neither team scored in the two 15-minute overtime periods, though both had good scoring chances.
It remains to be seen if the heat and the extra time played in the win against Laredo will be a factor in tonight’s conference championship game.
“We feel good about our training and we’ve come out of this match well,” Roberts said. “If we are affected by what happened out here today, then it’s our own fault — we will do what we need to get ready.”
Article courtesy of Ocala Star Banner Correspondent Steve Habel
Facebook
Twitter
YouTube
