Holy Family completes heartbreaking comeback in OT – Longmont Times-Call

Holy Family’s Katie Willetto makes a save against Pueblo West during their first-round Class 4A playoff game at Holy Family High School on May 7, 2024. (Alissa Noe/BoCoPreps.com)

BROOMFIELD — In the world of playoff lacrosse, “sudden death” takes on a new meaning.

Sarah Vail gave the Holy Family girls one last gasp Tuesday night in their Class 4A playoff home opener against Pueblo West, which will keep their collective hearts beating into the postseason.

Vail played hero not once, but twice, in the final seconds of both regulation and overtime, giving the 14-seed Tigers the 17-16 win over a team that had just previously had them in every facet of the game dominated.

She missed several free shot attempts in the final 45 seconds of regulation, finally sinking a shot as the clock read 9:33. The officials awarded her another free shot with 2.23 seconds left in an otherwise scoreless overtime period.

She didn’t waste it and scored her seventh goal of the afternoon.

“I couldn’t get (the free shots) in,” Vail said. “I was a bit in my head, to be honest. I was kind of on my own, but then I saw that it was completely open. I was like, ‘It’s going in, we’re going to work overtime.’ And I just knew we could do it.”

While Cyclones No. 19 brought the ungodly winds to Broomfield, it was Vail who proved herself to be an unstoppable tornado in the second half. The senior leader himself wanted the Tigers to victory after a shaky first half that saw the Cyclones beat them on ground balls, draw controls and clean passing.

“We were a little off,” Vail explained. “I can’t even put my finger on what it was, but the dynamic was a little off. We just really had to be able to turn it around. The break really got us going.”

Pueblo West led 9-4 at halftime. Then Vail came into the chat again.

She came out of the gate to put up two quick scores in the first two minutes of the third quarter, then teamed up with freshman forward Emma Brusate and junior forward Kendall Jones – who finished the game with three and five goals, respectively – to to punish. Pueblo West in the fold.

The Tigers kept the drama alive throughout the fourth quarter, but mustered just enough energy to force OT and give themselves one last chance. Now they will make the treacherous drive to Edwards to take on No. 3 Battle Mountain on Thursday.

“I wasn’t sure if we were going to get (the free overtime opportunity),” Vail said. “The time was so short, but when I was able to sneak in there I was very happy. I felt it was going in. I didn’t want to play another extra period.”