Sequoia can’t seal the deal

On top of that emotional beginning, the Ravens had a chance to wrap up their first-ever Peninsula Athletic League Bay Division championship when they took on visiting Hillsdale.

It was Sequoia’s second crack at clinching the crown and the Ravens are now 0-2. They had a chance to finally eliminate second-place Burlingame last Friday, but battled the Panthers to a scoreless draw.

Tuesday, not only did the Ravens not win, they had to rally late in the second half to forge a 1-1 draw with the Knights.

“I’m glad we got one in,” said Addi Haws, Sequoia’s midfielder/wing and co-captain.

It was Haws to the rescue for Sequoia (6-0-3, 21 points PAL Bay, 10-3-4 overall), as she surprised everyone with the game-tying goal in the 71st minute, eight minutes after Hillsdale (2-3-3, nine points PAL Bay, 7-7-4) had taken a 1-0 lead against the run of play.

The Ravens were hemmed in along the left sideline when Haws received the ball about 40 yards from goal. After a touch, she swung her right foot through the ball.

It wasn’t very powerful, but well placed as the shot found the far right side of the net to knot the game at 1.

“Once I took my touch … I noticed it as a little far out,” Haws said. “It did surprise me (it went in). But you have to take your shot.”

The Ravens had plenty of opportunities to notch the win. They outshot the Knights 17-7, with nine of those shots on frame. Hillsdale can thank backup goalkeeper, Paige Floro, for keeping the Knights in the game. Making just her second start, Floro finished with nine saves — including a game-saver in the 75th minute when she pushed aside a hard Haws shot.

“That was a really, really good save from that keeper,” Haws said.

It was a case of could, woulda, shoulda for the Ravens. They were buzzing around the Hillsdale penalty box for most of the game and were peppering the goal, but kept coming up empty.

“So many near-misses,” said Sequoia head coach Melissa Schmidt. “To only score one goal is definitely frustrating.”

Hillsdale, meanwhile, was simply absorbing the Ravens’ offensive onslaught and was looking for the perfect counter-attack. Nicole Moita de Deus had shown enough dangerous touches that it was evident the Knights were one pass away from sending Moita de Deus in on goal.

And it finally happened in the 63rd minute. Moita de Deus gave the ball up to Lauren Davis just past the midfield stripe, who one-timed a ball over the top and into space. Moita de Deus ran on and from the left corner of the goal box, beat the Sequoia goalkeeper to far right corner for a stunning 1-0 lead.

“We knew about her. We dealt with her pretty well,” Schmidt said. “It was really one mistake that led to the chain-reaction goal.”

Sequoia wasn’t the only team playing for something Tuesday.

“We’re also trying to fight to get into CCS,” said Hillsdale head coach George Pineda. “For us, this game was equally, if not more, important (to us than Sequoia).”

After the Knights’ strike, the Ravens ramped up the pressure even more. It looked like they got the equalizer three minutes later when they received a free kick just over the midfield line. Charlotte Dugoni sent a long ball into Hillsdale penalty box, where Haws seemingly made a perfect run and hammered a one-timer into the top right corner of the net.

But she was flagged for offside, wiping off the goal.

Sequoia had several more chances, but just could not convert.

“That happens,” Haws said.

The tie became tougher for the Ravens to swallow when the news came after most of the team had left the game that second-place Burlingame had beaten Menlo-Atherton, 4-2. The Panthers’ win pulled them to two points behind the Ravens going into Friday’s finale. A Sequoia win over Carlmont would give the Ravens the outright title. A Sequoia tie, coupled with a Burlingame win over Hillsdale, would give both teams the same amount of points. While they would officially share the championship, tiebreakers will be used to determine the Bay Division’s top seed for the CCS playoffs.

But none of that will change the Ravens’ approach to their game against the Scots.

“We keep the mindset of finishing it off,” Haws said.