By Blake Colston
Sports Editor
NEWCASTLE – Jordan Hahn said her nerves couldn’t handle penalty kicks.
So, when Piedmont’s junior forward sensed an opportunity to score the game-winning goal in the 97th minute of the Class 5A state championship game on Friday night at Newcastle, she made her move.
Hahn raced past a McGuinness defender to get possession of a loose ball, swerved around the Irish goalkeeper, then calmly fired a shot into the back of an empty net to lift Piedmont to its first state championship in program history. Hahn scored both of Piedmont’s goals in the Lady Wildcats’ 2-1 win in double overtime against the previously unbeaten Fighting Irish.
“I was thinking I have to score. I have to win this,” Hahn said, “I did not want to go to PK’s. They make me so nervous.”
Seconds after Hahn put home the most significant goal in the history of Piedmont’s soccer program, she was at the bottom of a dogpile as the Lady Wildcats celebrated a triumph 12 years in the making.
Piedmont wins it! Jordan Hahn with the golden goal to give the Lady Wildcats a 2-1 win for their first state championship. #OKpreps pic.twitter.com/BSbFQMaGMg
— Blake Colston (@CBlakeColston) May 13, 2023
“We’ve been working, and digging and fighting and clawing for 12 years, and these kids…I knew it was their year,” said head coach Brad Brucker, who has been with PHS for all but one season since the program’s inception in 2011. “It feels so amazing to know that all that hard work has paid off.”
Brucker’s message to his team during the lead-up to Friday night’s game was that unity and resilience would be the key to beating a McGuinness squad that had won seven straight against PHS, including a 1-0 victory in last season’s state title game.
As the game neared the 100-minute mark on a night when heat indices neared 95 degrees, Hahn embodied Piedmont’s collective will-power to break its slump vs. the Irish with one final and decisive push.
“We’ve wanted this for so long. We deserved this win and I’m so proud of us,” Hahn said.
Hahn put PHS in front in the 27th minute with a smooth finish off a well-placed set piece from Evelyn Sydnes. Bishop McGuinness surrendered only four goals this season and Hahn accounted for three of them.
“She showed her mettle tonight,” Brucker said. “We could not be more proud of her and this whole group.”
Though Hahn netted the game-winner for the Lady Wildcats, PHS sophomore goalkeeper Hattie Morris saved the day more than once. Under constant attack from a relentless McGuinness offense throughout both halves and in overtime, Morris never flinched.
She made a diving save to prevent a goal in the first half and leaped high to deflect away another scoring opportunity for the Irish in the second half. Even when Reese Roberts chipped home the equalizer for McGuinness in the 60th minute, Morris kept her cool.
“That was just a good shot. Kudos to them, but I knew I had to play my hardest,” she said while fighting back tears. “I just really wanted to win.”
When McGuinness had to have a goal in overtime, Morris proved to be unbeatable.
“Hattie had the game of her life and we don’t win that game without her,” Brucker said. “She was absolutely amazing. The diving save she made in the first half was the absolute best save I’ve seen in the women’s game in 12 years.”
Morris didn’t play in last season’s state championship game, but she took in the atmosphere on the sideline at Taft Stadium. That helped her to smooth out any pregame nerves on Friday night, she said.
“I got to experience it last year, so I had a feel for it and I felt like I was prepared,” Morris said. “I was just ready to get after it.”
She credited teammates Jacqueline Stovall, Fallyn Brock, Ali Daugherty, Brekyn Cope, Rylie Burnett, Braxtyn Turner, Brianna Butler and others for giving her the confidence to play her best game at the most important time.
“They were able to provide structure for me and they were able to get the ball out when I needed them to get it out,” she said.
Morris was on the opposite end of the field for Hahn’s game-winner but was able to see Hahn break free.
“I was thinking go Jordan, go Jordan, go Jordan,” Morris said.
Droves of Piedmont fans made the trek to Newcastle Friday evening. The visiting side stands overflowed with blue and yellow-clad supporters. Hundreds more PHS backers lined a chain link fence that ran from one end of the field to the other.
“I’d love to tell every one of them thank you personally,” Brucker said. “Tonight doesn’t happen without their support.”
