Buffalo Grove’s clock-beating title a blur

The final seconds of Buffalo Grove’s Class 3A girls soccer regional championship game were a blur to Kelli Zickert.

Especially the one the BG sophomore saw after she made one last, long-distance bid to end the match before it went to a shootout at Grant Blaney Stadium against Fremd.

“She’s really fast,” Zickert said of classmate Megan Gardner. “I saw a white flash go by and there’s Megan.”

There was Gardner after Fremd keeper Shannon Norris made a dramatic and acrobatic save of Zickert’s blast. The ball deflected off the crossbar and Gardner knocked it in with her left foot from 6 yards with a half-second remaining in the fourth overtime to start a wild celebration as second-seeded BG (14-5-1) won 2-1 for its first regional crown in eight years.

“I wasn’t sure where it was going to go,” Gardner said of Zickert’s shot. “I saw it bounce off …”

And Gardner ended up with just her second goal of the season to put the Bison in Tuesday’s 7 p.m. Palatine sectional semifinal against No. 3 Stevenson, a 1-0 winner over Prospect.

“I’ve never experienced winning a regional and I don’t think I’ve ever seen one as an observer like that,” said BG coach Pat Dudle just before he was hit with a water-cooler shower. “Fremd is an exceptional side and they played great. (Defender Emily Basten) was everywhere.”

Basten assisted Mary-Kate Schiffer on a goal 9:02 in as No. 7 Fremd (7-10-3) looked to extend its streak of regional titles to eight. BG’s Elizabeth Chan tied it off a scramble in front at 17:48 of the first half.

Both teams had chances from there but the match seemed destined for a shootout when Zickert started to race up the left sideline.

“I knew there wasn’t much time left and I just shot the ball,” Zickert said. “Megan followed it up and she’s a little champ.”

And it gave the Bison a long-awaited championship.