DURANT — With less than two minutes remaining in a tie game, Durant appeared on the verge of hanging the first blemish on Newsome’s perfect record.
The Wolves Shayna Zajac, though, wasn’t about to give up on her dream of an undefeated season.
The sophomore lined up a 35-yard free kick and lofted a high, arcing shot over Durant goalkeeper Sam Wenrich for her second goal of the night in a dramatic 2-1 Newsome victory.
“I was nervous. I thought (the free kick) was going to go over. I was trying to shoot, and if it didn’t go, hopefully have someone get a head on it,” Zajac said. “Three years ago, (Newsome) was undefeated and made it all the way to states. I wasn’t there because I wasn’t in high school yet, so I’m just trying to do it again.”
In the 21st minute, Durant (6-3, 1-3) had its first scoring opportunity cleared away from the open goal at the last moment by Wolves’ sweeper Taylor McNeff.
Newsome (12-0, 4-0), which has outscored opponents 59-4 this season, hit the crossbar twice in a scoreless first half.
“Durant’s defense saved them four or five times in the first half,” Newsome coach Kelly Townsend said.
In the 53rd minute, Zajac finally put a shot into the back of the net, another long-distance looping shot that tucked inside the far upper corner of the goal.
“I was trying to pass that, but it ended up going in,” Zajac said.
Durant tied it in the 69th minute when Morgan Jones controlled the rebound on a blocked shot attempt and shot into the open goal.
“You hate to lose on a dead ball,” Durant coach Dick Sheffield said.
In the boys game, Newsome salvaged a 2-2 tie against the Cougars on a late-minute, 30-yard free kick from Connor Fitzgerald. Freshman Jesus Pina had both goals for Durant (6-2-2, 2-0-2), which led 2-1 at halftime and saw goalkeeper Logan Whitney save a penalty kick in the second half. Jacob Chadwell had the game’s first goal in the 18th minute to give Newsome (7-2-2, 3-0-1) an early 1-0 lead.