State of denial: Pirates’ Turner turns away PK attempt, stymies Blue Devils in tourney victory

QUINCY — The Quincy High School girls soccer team looked poised to take the lead, but Ava Turner had other ideas.

With Quincy and Hannibal deadlocked at 1 with 24:11 left in the second half of Friday’s QHS Kickoff Tournament game at Flinn Stadium, Quincy junior forward Lanee Schuette stepped to the penalty spot after getting fouled by Hannibal junior defender Kegan Greening inside the 18-yard box.

As Schuette approached the ball, Turner — Hannibal’s senior goalkeeper and all-time wins leader — knew exactly where Schuette’s shot was going.

“I saw her look,” Turner said. “I just read her body language.”

Turner sprawled to her right to save Schuette’s low, right-footed drive and deflected the ball toward the corner and out of harm’s way.

“Part of it is being able to read where you think the player is going to go, but another big part of it is actually getting there,” Pirates coach Eric Hill said. “You can know where they’re going to go all you want, but if you don’t get there, it doesn’t matter. It was a pretty well-placed PK, and Ava did a great job of having that quick step to get there, getting down low, and not only that, but pushing the save off to the side to where it wasn’t a dangerous rebound opportunity for them as well.”

The Pirates recaptured the momentum Quincy was building. Six minutes later, Malia Stolte netted her second goal of the game to give the Pirates a 2-1 lead, and Macy Behrens added an insurance tally from 30 yards out with 1:03 left to give Hannibal a 3-1 win, its second over the Blue Devils in program history.

“I don’t know because I’m not a field player, but I feel like sometimes when field players see a PK, they’re like, ‘Oh, this is a goal,’” Turner said. “You get that save, then they’re like, ‘OK, this keeps us in the game. We’ve got to go now. Our keeper stepped up, now we have to step up for her.’”

Behrens confirmed Turner’s notion that her save gave the Pirates a jolt.

“It was so stressful for us to get that PK against us,” Behrens said. “The momentum would have shifted completely their way if they were to get a goal, but Ava saving it just boosted us and made us want to work harder.”

Still, the Pirates had to capitalize on that momentum. With 18:27 left, Hannibal senior forward Abbie Martin crossed a ball into the box that deflected off Quincy defender Maddy Kuhl and came to Hannibal sophomore midfielder Aly Falconer’s feet. Falconer drew multiple defenders, leaving Stolte open to her left.

Stolte settled Falconer’s short pass and rifled a shot inside the left post and past Blue Devils goalkeeper Ashley Walbring to give the Pirates the lead.

That was not the first time Falconer and Stolte connected for a goal on Friday. Seven minutes into the game, Falconer sent a through ball to Stolte, who dribbled into the clear and around Walbring and hit the wide open net for the game’s first tally.

“We work on that a lot — in the middle of the outside wing and middle defender, just getting that ball through so I can either run onto it and either cross it or shoot it myself,” Stolte said. “When it works, it’s awesome. I’m really proud of Aly.”

That 1-0 lead stood until Quincy sophomore Alexa Mosley corralled a loose ball in the box and scored the tying goal amidst a mass of players 10 yards in front of the goal.

“I’ve said all along, ‘Don’t get outworked,’ and we didn’t get outworked tonight,” Blue Devils coach Travis Dinkheller said. “It wasn’t going to be pretty at times, but our girls battled, and I thought we did a lot of really, really nice things.”

After Stolte’s go-ahead goal, Quincy did not register a shot on goal, but Dinkheller said the young Blue Devils, who only feature three seniors, showed moxy in battling the Pirates.

“I really loved the growing up that our team did tonight,” Dinkheller said. “We graduated 10 seniors last year, and to come back and battle the way they did, I could not be more pleased. I don’t like the result, but I love the effort.”

Behrens’ goal came off a deflection following a Greening free kick from near midfield. Behrens settled the ball at the football field’s 20-yard line and uncorked a right-footed shot that sailed just under the crossbar and over Walbring’s outstretched arms.

“It was kind of just like, ‘Go for it,’” Behrens said. “Sometimes I’m not the best at hitting the goal, but I was just like, ‘Why not?’”

Hannibal’s only other victory over Quincy came in the 2019 season-opener when the Pirates outlasted the Blue Devils 1-0 in two overtimes.

“It feels really good. Really good,” Behrens said of beating Quincy. “We work really hard for this every year, and being able to do it and prove to everyone that we can do it feels really good.”

Both teams will wrap up tournament action on Saturday. Hannibal will take on Springfield at 11 a.m., while Quincy will play Gateway Legacy Christian Academy at 1:30 p.m. in the final game of the tournament.