Sacred Heart had its chances throughout the second half versus Clarkdale. At every turn, it seemed as though Clarkdale would keep denying strikes from the Crusaders. With the minutes dwindling in regulation, Joseph Falla Sr. told some of his girls, "if we go over the top I like our chances."

Over the top is where they went. In the 79th minute, Gracie Falla found the 'Mamba Mentality' as she clutched up to score the go-ahead goal on a header.

"That's World Cup stuff there," said Joseph Falla, "That's the best you can get from anyone at that moment."

Sacred Heart put the opening point on the board early in the fourth minute of play when Bailee Bennett was assisted by Lauren Jones on a lightning-fast strike.

Four minutes later, Clarkdale broke free to send the ball past the keeper and into the net.

Bennett found the net six minutes later in the 14th minute, pushing Sacred Heart's lead to 2-1 before many in the stands could get settled.

Clarkdale trailed only two minutes though when their striker pushed a goal in to tie things up 2-2.

Both teams traded field position and closed calls throughout the rest of the first half of play.

The second half saw more of the same as both teams traded momentum and close shots. Near the 75 minute mark, Sacred Heart began to push with attacks downfield, putting pressure on the Clarkdale goalkeeper.

With two minutes to play, Falla who had watched multiple shots stray to the side of the goal or blocked out of play found the net after a corner kick. The sophomore striker bounced it in through the goal to give Sacred Heart the 3-2 lead and win just moments later.

"I heard them say a couple of times late in the game that I was choking. That just fires me up and makes me want to get it the next time. We got that corner kick and I looked at my dad and saw him say 'this is a header', and it floated in. I did it for everyone on this field. My sister, she's a senior, and it has been our mentality to play for somebody," said Gracie Falla.

"The plan was to send the ball to Gracie. So we told our attacking center mids to send it over to her. I knew she could challenge and get it done," explained Falla about the final goal.

What's next

Sacred Heart moves on to the South State Championship where they will travel to play Our Lady Academy Tuesday evening.

Notes

The Sacred Heart boys defeated Forest 5-0 and will square off with Clarkdale Tuesday evening for the South State Championship.