By By SCOTT NOVAK / Dowagiac Daily News
Buchanan's Amanda Wynn lifted a shot just over the outstretched hands of Dowagiac goal keeper JoJo Pickar and just under the cross bar in the upper right corner to give the Lady Bucks a 2-1 overtime victory in the Division 3 semifinals on Thursday.
Wynn's goal came with 29 seconds remaining in overtime and advanced Buchanan to Saturday's championship game at Niles High School against Paw Paw.
The Lady Redskins edged South Haven 1-0 in the other semifinal on Thursday night.
Saturday's final will be the second meeting between the two schools. Paw Paw defeated Buchanan 3-1 earlier this year.
Dowagiac grabbed the early 1-0 lead as Kelsie Primley scored off a corner kick from Jessica Krueger in the 10th minute of the match.
The Lady Bucks scored eight minutes later as Morgan French knotted things up with an unassisted goal.
The score remained that way through the rest of the opening half and the entire 40 minutes of the second half.
After a five minute break, the teams resumed the match and it appeared that it was headed to a second overtime when Wynn lofted her shot into the wind and it eluded Pickar and the cross bar.
"I told them when they came in for the overtime, that all the conditioning that we done over and over again is going to pay off and it showed," Buchanan coach Chris Froelich said. "We just kept pushing and pushing. We got some good shots and we got some not so good shots and they just kept going and got a good goal with about 30 seconds left.
"There were two where I didn't know if they were going in. She (Wynn) hooked it in there and I said to myself it's got a chance and then I got the back peddle going and when it hit the back of the net I was just ecstatic."
"It was exactly what I thought it was going to be," Dowagiac coach Mike Williams said. "We did what we wanted to do. We were unlucky in many cases. We had opportunities we didn't capitalize on. But her shot floated in there, you have to give them credit."
Dowagiac was outshot 18-15 in the match that was evenly played throughout the nearly 90 minutes of action.
Buchanan…2
Dowagiac…1
Halftime Score
Buchanan 1, Dowagiac 1
First Half
D – Kelsie Primley 10th minute (Jessica Krueger assist)
B – Morgan French 18th minute
Second Half
No scoring
Overtime
B – Amanda Wynn 10th minute
Shots on Goal
Buchanan 18
Dowagiac 15