The No. 14 Huskies postseason hopes were dwindling in the second half of their regional against the No. 3 Olathe East Hawks. With only minutes left in the game, BVNW trailed Olathe East, 2-1, at the College Boulevard Activity Center on Monday, May 14.

Though the Huskies road to state seemed to be coming to an end, two BVNW juniors rewrote the script of the game.

With just under three minutes left, the Huskies offensive attack was in full swing as they were desperate to score a goal. Junior Hollan Phillips found herself in perfect position as a deflected ball ended up at her feet just outside of the box. Phillips quickly put a foot on the ball and buried it in the back of of the net to score the equalizing goal and tie the game at, 2-2.

Instead of letting up, the varsity girls soccer team was determined to win the game outright. As the clock ticked down, BVNW made a run deep into Olathe East territory. Junior Lindsay Collier was able to receive a cross from the corner of the field. Collier possesed the ball on the opposite end of the box and scored with only 1:29 left in the game.

“I knew I had to touch it and I thought it was supposed to be really quick, but I had time take it down and spot the goalie and be able to put it in the back of the net for my team,” Collier said.

This late goal by Collier gave the Huskies a 3-2 lead over the Hawks and ended up being the game-winning goal for No. 14 BVNW.

Although the Huskies were able to mount a huge comeback against the No. 3 Hawks, BVNW struggled at the start of the second half. The opening minutes of the second half were filled with near-misses by Olathe East.

Eventually, Olathe East was able to be the first team on the board as they scored with 24:29 remaining in the half.

As Olathe East appeared to be gaining momentum, senior Avarie Howard quickly halted the Hawks. Just after East’s goal, Howard received a ball from senior Lily Reid in the middle of the field and took a shot from well outside the box. Howard’s shot flew into the upper corner of the net to quickly tie the game back up at 1-1.

“Lily gave me a ball right across the middle, and it had enough pace on it, so I didn’t have to hit it that hard,” Howard said.

Backed behind a much needed goal from Howard and two late goals by Phillips and Collier, the Huskies advance to the regional finals on Wednesday, May 16 at 7 p.m.