CLAYTON - Middle Creek played for its one chance to get any advantage for 100 minutes Tuesday night. The Mustangs got that chance at the start of the second round of penalty kicks and senior defender Hope Hanson delivered the difference, converting on her shot and sending Middle Creek into the second round of the playoffs.

The loss ended Clayton's most successful season in school history, which included their first conference championship, with their third straight first round playoff loss.

The Mustangs who have gotten used to hanging on for their lives this season in the stacked Tri-Eight 4-A Conference and concentrating on defense, planned to do use the same tactic against the Comets.

"We knew what they were going to do all night," said Clayton coach Sena Maziarz said. "They play four who are committed to defense all night and try to get whatever offense they can out of six people."

But freshman forward Heather Carew gave Middle Creek a rare lead eight minutes in. The Mustangs worked the ball inside of the 18, then Carew dribbled by a Clayton defender and to the far post before stabbing the ball back in the other direction and by Clayton goalie Olivia Baumgartner for a 1-0 lead with 32:55 to play in the half.

The Comets had few chances to score in the first half but a one-timer by senior Cali Mudd in the 21st minute sailed high. Then, with just three minutes to go in the half, Mudd and Erin Parris worked the ball to Libby Orsega in scoring range but her shot sailed wide of the mark.

Orsega got plenty of attention all night from the Mustangs' defense, often drawing two markers in range of the goal. But that didn't deter her from getting scoring chances. Her best chance of the second half was deflected away by a Middle Creek defender before it could get to Mustangs' keeper Katie Broadwell.

But just when Clayton's season seemed to be slipping away in regulation, Skylar Poole let loose a 25-yard blast in space that got over Broadwell's outstretched hands and into the upper right corner of the net, forcing extra time.

The Comets outshot the Mustangs 3-1 in the 30 minutes of overtime and sudden death but couldn't keep the game out of penalty kicks.

"We controlled the match but didn't get goals, that's what frustrating about this loss," Maziarz said. "If we'd been outplayed tonight, that would be different. But we should have won and we didn't get it done.

"We couldn't put the ball in the net. ... It's really frustrating but that's the way it goes sometimes."

Mudd, Hubbard, Orsega and Sarah Hiney converted their kicks, matching the four Middle Creek converted on, sending the game into sudden death PKs where the first team which takes an advantage after a round advances.

Clayton's first real bad break of the night came at the most inopportune time. Taking the first kick, Kathryn Kunzmann sent a solid high shot which Broadwell was able to just get her fingertips on. The slight redirection was enough to forced the ball to bounce off of the crossbar and back into the field of play.

Hanson followed with an ideal penalty kick, it went high and to Baumgartner's extreme right just inside of the goal net, advancing the Mustangs and ending the prep careers of seven Clayton seniors: Orsega, Parris, Lane, Hubbard, Mudd, Lindsay Carney and Rebecca Furr.

Editor's Note: This is a special early release story from next week's print edition of The Herald.