“We had good passing,” coach ….

“We had good passing,” coach Tessmann said. “The girls did amazing keeping their shape. We got them offsides a couple of times. It was definitely a physical game. The refs were letting them play. When one goal was scored we knew the game was nowhere near done because it could’ve been anyone’s game yet.”

That score fired up the Falcons, who answered with heavy offensive pressure in the next five minutes and paid it off with Tap’s goal at 57:40, which came on a 20-yard lob that got over Brunner and found the net.

The Raiders weren’t able to convert on a couple of corner kicks, but they got their big break with just under five minutes left in the game. A foul just inside the boundary of the 18-yard goalie box gave them a penalty kick. Gabby Brunner took it and buried it, going to her left, to knot the game at 3-3 and ultimately send it to the two 10-minute overtime periods.

Pernsteiner had the first good look in period one, but sent it high. But Medford capitalized on another break at 83:30 with a handball 23 yards away from the goal. Tessmann’s arcing shot was misplayed by the defense and bounced its way in to give Medford a 4-3 lead.

Right off the ensuing kickoff, Amherst made a big push and Sophia Brunner defl ected a well-placed shot by Barthel. The Falcons couldn’t pounce on a loose ball in front of the net about a minute later but, at 85:39, Barthel got her hat trick, scoring off a perfect feed from Tap.

Brunner made a nice save in the final minute of the period on Pinter and the Falcons came close to scoring on a corner kick with 10 seconds left, but the period ended with the teams still tied. Brunner’s big save to start the second period was the closest shot either team had in those 10 minutes.

The Raiders bid farewell after the game to a big core group of seniors. Gabby Brunner, Doyle, Pernsteiner were varsity players for four years and were key pieces on the 2019 sectional final team. Szydel, Kelsey Jascor, Emma Eckert, Maddie Eckert, Maddie Williams arrived on the scene later on and Eszter Nagy joined as an exchange student this year.

The Raiders, though, should bring back a sizable group that saw lots of varsity minutes this spring.

“We’re losing a lot of seniors but the ones we’re keeping is an amazing group of girls,” coach Tessmann said. “They’re going to be juniors so we have a couple of years left with them. We’re really looking forward to next year.”