A slim lead in a fast-paced girls's soccer match left St. Mary's goalkeeper Gina Barbieri little room for error Tuesday at Spiegelberg Stadium.
The sophomore responded with a shutout and a memorable save that siphoned all the momentum from North Valley in a 3-0 District 6 victory, the Crusaders' first ever over the Knights.
"(Gina) played one of the matches of her life," said St. Mary's coach Dave Potter. "It was an up-and-down field event and a great conditioning soccer game between two teams that like to go up and down in a hurry."
While Barbieri was making stops for the Crusaders, Mackenzie Krieser was making her presence felt on the offensive end.
Krieser tallied two goals and assisted another. Her goal in the 17th minute on a pass from Sarah Seus gave the Crusaders all they would need to get by.
Barbieri made six saves and thwarted several scoring opportunities for the Knights, but none were bigger than her stop midway through the second half.
Clinging to a 1-0 lead, Barbieri was caught in a one-on-one situation with North Valley's Mia Robles, who had stolen the ball and was all by herself on a breakaway.
"At this point, all you could think was, 'OK, we're gonna be tied here in a couple of seconds,'" said Potter.
Barbieri came out from under the net to close ground and stuffed Robles' shot to protect the lead.
"It was a big one," said Potter of the save. "North Valley had a very good opportunity to score there, and Gina made a spectacular save on it. She timed her movement to the ball perfectly.
"(North Valley) had all the momentum at that point, but that sent it back to us. It was a match where momentum went one way or the other in a hurry."
Barbieri finally got some breathing room 75 minutes into the game.
Seus gathered a pass from Krieser in the box, turned and blasted a shot over the top of the keeper.
Three minutes later, Krieser was taken down in the box and awarded a penalty kick, which she connected on to slam the door on the Knights.
Despite the scoring differential, the Knights outshot the Crusaders 9-8 and were even on corner kicks with one apiece.
CASCADE CHRISTIAN 4, ROGUE RIVER 2, OT — At Rogue River, Cascade Christian got overtime goals from Carly Smith and Shayla Hagemaier in the District 6 opener.
After a scoreless first half, Rogue River's Dannie Hansen scored in the 46th and 48th minutes for a 2-0 lead. Smith then went to work, passing to Kaitlyn Emard and Molly Kautz for goals to tie it in regulation. After Smith, a freshman forward, scored in OT, she then notched her third assist on Hagemaier's score.
The Challengers are 1-1 overall.
HENLEY 4, PHOENIX 0 — At Klamath Falls, Claire Whitmore had a goal and an assist to lead Henley past Phoenix (0-2) in the District 6 opener.
Also scoring for the Hornets were Melanie Johnson, Megan Conley and Karli Berg.
HIDDEN VALLEY 7, MAZAMA 1 — At Klamath Falls, Hidden Valley raced to a 6-1 halftime lead in the District 6 romp.
Jessie Hanger scored three goals for the Mustangs, including two two minutes apart late in the first half.
Ariana Fleishman added two scores and Carlee Nelson and Dana Powell had one each for Hidden Valley (2-0).
Nonconference
NORTH MEDFORD 4, CRATER 0 — Freshman Sarah Chambers scored the first three goals as North Medford won its first game in three tries in nonconference action.
Chambers' goals came in the first half, one on a cross from Kate Folsom, another on a breakaway and the third on a 45-yard free-kick cross from Olivia DeBetta at Hoffbuhr Field.
The Black Tornado's other goal was in the 47th minute by Carissa Arnesen on a ball that ricocheted off a post.
The North defense was led by sophomore sweeper Alex Kummer.
ROSEBURG 3, CHURCHILL 3 — At Eugene, Cynthia McElmurry and Hannah Russo scored unassisted goals to give Roseburg a 2-0 lead but the Indians needed a goal in the 59th minute by Russo to salvage a tie.
Churchill scored three straight goals in a 21-minute span to take a 3-2 lead into halftime.
McElmurry earned an assist on Russo's game-tying goal for Roseburg (0-2-1).