HADLEY — Tia Fyden held her hands above her head just outside the touch line, gripping her right wrist with her left hand.
The Hopkins Academy senior needed to catch her breath. A collision with a Matignon player knocked her out of overtime in the Division 5 girls soccer state preliminary round Thursday.
“A hard hit, yes but too much emotions and it was just anxiety. A lot of anxiety,” Fyden said. “That kind of thing is really difficult to overcome, especially when it just happens it usually takes me more time. But soccer is something that always got me through those types of tings. Knowing that this could be our last game, I can take a two-minute panic attack and I will risk it all and be right back in there. I don’t care if it happens again, I just want to be back in.”
Fyden signaled she was ready to return with a few minutes left in overtime and immediately brought down a free kick to move the Golden Hawks into a dangerous attacking position. Matignon’s defenders gave her some room to operate, and Fyden burst past them looking for an angle to score. Once she got past, a Warriors defender tripped her from behind, contacting her foot after Fyden was past. The referees awarded Hopkins Academy a penalty despite protests from Matignon coaches and players.
Fyden took the ball for the kick in the final minute of overtime. There wasn’t any debate. She scored the two goals to put Hopkins Academy in the position they were in and has more than 30 goals on the season.
“I think deep in my head I question myself, but I know that I can do it. It’s the little thought in my head,” Fyden said. “But I hear all my teammates and my coach in my head telling me I can do it.”
She spins the ball just the right way before she places it, but more than that, Fyden visualizes where the ball should go. In her head, she laced it by the Matignon keeper into the top left corner. Her actual attempt drifted more central but still evaded Warriors keeper Cecce Yee’s outstretched hand and nestled in the back netting. It completed a hat trick and won the game.
“The pressure was all off of me,” Fyden said. “It felt calming. I felt so relieved.”
The golden goal delivered a 3-2 overtime victory for No. 27 Hopkins Academy over No. 38 Matignon. The Golden Hawks will travel to No. 6 Lenox in the Round of 32 for a 1 p.m. Saturday kickoff.
Goal: tia Fyden wins it for the golden hawks with a penalty. Gives her the hat trick. She was tripped in the box to earn the penalty. Hopkins 3, matignon 2 in OT to advance in the division 5 girls soccer state tournament pic.twitter.com/9ZAefMxoeT
— Kyle Grabowski👑 (@kylegrbwsk) November 4, 2021
“I knew she would bury it,” Hopkins Academy coach Vinny Catania said. “It’s more than what we’ve ever wanted. Our goal from Day 1 this season was to make it to the tournament, period. Bein here was a bonus, we’re making the best out of the chances we get.”
Hopkins Academy (14-5) capitalized on those chances early. Fyden put the Golden Hawks ahead 1-0 in the 18th minute from Helen Vissas. Then in the 38th minute she tapped home a rebound from an Anna Dyjach shot with a looping chip.
“We wanted to score right away. We just wanted to connect passes,” Dyjach said.
Hopkins Academy carried that 2-0 lead into halftime, but the Warriors pulled one back on a counter attack four minutes into the second half. Kyliegh Green brought down a long ball and beat the Golden Hawks back line up the field to create a one-on-one opportunity with Hopkins keeper Cassidy Fyden. Green chipped it over to make it 2-1.
Then Matignon earned a penalty 13 minutes later when one of its players was pushed down in the box. Kelsie McNamara converted it to tie the game with a low shot to the left corner.
“The first one was more of a wake up call. The second one, it was time to get it together,” Catania said. “Every time we’ve gotten scored on this year, we’ve responded really well.”
Hopkins Academy kept finding opportunities over the game’s final 20 minutes. Vissas created several chances with her movement and pressure, linking with Tia Fyden and fellow forward Megan Jolly. Many of them went over the bar, and Yee turned away 23 shots to force overtime.
“I don’t think anyone put their heads down,” Fyden said. “I think in a tournament game you don’t really know what to expect. That showed today that a 2-0 lead means nothing.”
Cassidy Fyden stopped six shots, and defenders Cassidy Mushenski and Marlee Higgins ended most of the threats before they reached the penalty box.
“We didn’t stop. We still stuck to it,” Dyjach said. “I remember Marlee’s in the back saying ‘go on, go on, you guys can do this.’ I think the positivity always sticks for this team.”
Kyle Grabowski can be reached at kgrabowski@gazettenet.com. Follow him on Twitter @kylegrbwsk.