MHS - Women's Soccer / May 26, 2021 By Kasey McDowell
It was a long and brutal game for the Mulvane Wildcats ladies soccer team against Buhler in the State quarterfinals at Mulvane yesterday, but the girls came together and pulled off the miracle 2-1 win after 4 overtimes and a penalty kick shootout. This marks the first time the ladies have made it to the state tournament since the program's inception in 2001-02.
Both teams were missing some key offensive players, so the game turned into a defensive battle after Karlie Kanaga scored the Wildcats only goal and Buhler answered before the halftime break. 
The Mulvane defense, anchored by sophomore goalkeeper Rylie Schiffelbein, and senior Haley Hughes, juniors Michaela Anderson and Kamryn Nolan, and freshman Teagan Garrison had a phenomenal game in keeping the ball out of the goal for the second half and 4 overtimes. Rylie was instrumental in the win as she blocked all of Buhlers penalty kicks in the shootout.
Freshman Kasey Dillon got the start at midfield along with seniors Emma Anderson and Sean Neptune and the three did a great job helping the defense keep the ball out of Mulvane territory as much as possible. With such a long game, junior Grace Malanchuk, sophomore Haley Shaw, and freshman Ashlyn Alumbaugh got lots of minutes from the bench and did a great job.
After 4 overtimes and the score stuck at 1-1, the game moved to a penalty kick shootout. Emma Anderson went first for the Cats and her shot bounced off the right goal post. Karlie was next and even though the Buhler goalie got her hand on the ball, Karlie's hard shot bounced off and went into the net. Teagan and Emma Hoffman's shots were blocked and Senior Cassidey Coon was the last Wildcat. 
Limping on her left leg after a long brutal game, Cassidey summoned up the strength for one last kick, which hit the top bar of the goal and bounced straight down. After a short talk, the refs concluded that her shot broke the plane of the goal, giving the Wildcats the 2-1 win.
Coach Jesse Myers summed up the game saying “I was joking during the overtimes that this could be a Disney, made-for-TV movie or something, and then Cass gets up there and it was like, Oh my God, this really is our Disney movie.
"It’s been an amazing season with an amazing group of girls,” Myers said. “They showed up every day and worked hard. We don’t have a lot of depth, so a lot of these girls are on the field for the whole 80 minutes every game. But they have so much heart and I’m so proud of them.”
The Wildcats were led by Karlie Kanaga who finished with 1 goal for 2 points. Rylie Schiffelbein guarded the Wildcats net and finished the game with 18 saves with 19 shots on goal.
1 2 O1 O2 O3 O4 PK Final
MHS 1 0 0 0 0 0 2 2
BUH 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
* Karlie Kanaga - 1 goal, 0 assists
* Rylie Schiffelbein - 18 saves (19 shots on goal)
Pentaly Kick Shootout:
* Emma Anderson - Miss
* Buhler - Rylie Schiffelbein Block
* Karlie Kanaga - Make
* Buhler - Rylie Schiffelbein Block
* Teagan Garrison - Miss
* Buhler - Rylie Schiffelbein Block
* Emma Hoffman - Miss
* Buhler - Rylie Schiffelbein Block
* Cassidey Coon - Make
* Buhler - No Shot
The Wildcats will travel to the Stryker Complex in Wichita on Friday and face Louisburg at 5:00 PM in the 4-1A State final 4 bracket. The other two teams are McPherson and Bishop Miege.
