WPSL: St. Croix upsets sixth-ranked Oklahoma City FC to win Central Region championship
- Dan Stickradt
- 2 days ago
- 2 min read
NATIONAL SOCCER NEWS: www.nationalsoccernetwork.com
MUSTANG, Okla. – One by one they fall.
St. Croix Legacy made sure another top 25 squad would see its season come to an end in the Women’s Premier Soccer League.
The unranked Legacy – known for one-goal wins this season – scored bookend goals and defended like crazy and ended up ousting sixth-ranked Oklahoma City FC 2-1 Sunday night at Mustang (Okla.) High School Bronco Soccer Stadium.
It marked the fifth one-goal victory this season for St. Croix never trailed and advanced to the Final Four next weekend for the first time.
In less than two weeks, St. Croix knocked off No. 4 FC Milwaukee Torrent (2-1) in the Northern Lakes Conference finals to advance to the Round of 16, where they edged formerly-ranked Union KC (3-1) on Saturday and came back some 24 hours later to upend one of the preseason favorites Oklahoma City FC – a side ranked inside the top 10 all season and the highest-ranked team that remained in the WPSL’s version of the Elite Eight.
Amara Smith opened the scoring in the fourth minute with an unassisted tally, as St. Croix Legacy never trailed.
Oklahoma City FC was doused with some bad luck in the 62nd minute when Elle Abbey was shown a red card and her team had to play short-handed for the remaining 28 minutes plus stoppage time.
Still, the hosts netted an equalizer in the 63rd minute when Hannah Voskuhl banged in a cross from Jenna Munson.
But things turned for the worse in the 85th minute when St. Croix earned a penalty kick and Smith stepped up to the spot and buried her opportunity for what proved to not only be the go-ahead goal but the eventual game-winner.
Up a player, the Legacy held on for the win which propelled them into the WPSL national semifinals. St. Croix (9-1-1) will play No. 13-ranked Sports CT – an undefeated side and a formerly No. 1-ranked team – at 7 p.m. July 18 at Oklahoma State University.
The game will be live on the National Soccer Network’s YouTube and Roku TV channels.
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