Girls soccer: Burzlaff, Harvest Christian win first regional crown

Harvest Christian had only 1 shot on goal in the second half, but the Lions made it count.

Ellie Burzlaff scored on a free kick with just over 10 minutes left to lift the Lions to a 1-0 victory against St. Edward in the final of the Class 1A Westminster Christian girls soccer regional.

The regional title was the first in program history for Harvest Christian (8-6-2). They will play Willows Academy on Tuesday in the Marian Central sectional.

The Green Wave, playing its second game in as many days, dominated play for much of the game. The Wave outshot the Lions 11-5, but couldn't find the back of the net.

Madison Knott had a chance to put the Wave ahead late in the game, but her shot from close range hit the post. About 5 minutes later, Burzlaff put the Lions ahead to stay.

Taking a free kick from about 30 yards out, she launched a high, knuckling shot that gave St. Edward keeper Anissa Gomez no chance.

"I just got a good approach originally," Burzlaff said. "I got my foot under it and hoped for the best. That's kind of what I do on every shot, just pray that it's the right hit and do my best."

The Lions, who lost to St. Edward 4-1 in a tournament earlier in the season, knew they needed their maximum effort to advance.

"Before the game we said, no matter what happens, whether we're way ahead, whether we're way behind, never anything less than 100 percent," said Harvest coach Nate Baron. "And that's exactly what happened. There's games where nine players give 100 percent and two give 85 or 90. And in this case it was 100 percent across the board and that was amazing."

"We just wanted to come out with intensity and confidence," said Burzlaff. "The team was like, 'it's your senior year, we want to win for you.' Everyone played so aggressive and so hard."

Burzlaff got 4 shots in the first 10 minutes for the Lions, who had outshot St. Edward 4-1 at that point. The Wave started shadowing her with Ashley Lopez, and the Lions didn't get another shot on goal until Burzlaff's game-winner.

But St. Edward, despite getting 10 shots in a row in the middle portion of the game, couldn't take advantage. Madalynn Duffy had 3 shots at the net in the early part of the second half. She just missed wide right on one attempt, and Lion goalkeeper Isamar Garcia stopped the other two.

"Some days it's just not going in," said St. Edward coach Tim Brieger. "The girls gave everything they've got. Playing (Thursday) in the rain and the mud and the wet, their legs were heavy. Their legs were heavy and you could tell, we just could not seem to put it through that last little bit."