TAWAS AREA - May 9, 2005 - After 94 minutes of scoreless soccer, Tawas Area's Sarah Klenow was simply golden.

The with less than six minutes before the game would end after two overtimes as a scoreless tie, Klenow took a pass from teammate Kadra Stec and hammered it home, the first of 28 Tawas shots on goal that could get past SSC goalkeeper Leanne Golimbieski.

"Their goalkeeper played great," said Tawas coach Ken Cook. "She kept them in the game. We did a nice job of passing and working the ball around, but we just couldn't get the ball by her."

Golimbieski had about a dozen challenging saves, which may have explained how Tawas missed a penalty kick in the second half.

"That's the second time this year that has happened," said SSC coach John Rudberg. "I think it's probably because the opposing players know how good Leanne is and try to hit the perfect shot."

Despite being outshot by a huge margin (the Braves' Ashley Krumm had to make just four saves), the Panthers' defense helped keep the Panther in the game.

"Rebecca Beckers, Rebecca Lowry and Whitney Rokosz were all outstanding," Rudberg said of his defenders. "Victoria Hankins and Candace Campau played good games at midfield to help us keep Tawas off the board (until the end).

"I'm proud of how the girls have responded to what could at best be called a challenging year. They're not giving up and neither am I. We will continue to work hard to improve our game and generate some offense."

The narrow victory kept the Braves' slim NEMC title chances alive. Tawas (7-5, 6-2 NEMC) can help its own cause on Wednesday, May 11 when the Braves host front-running John Glenn. Glenn (6-0) and Ogemaw Heights (6-1) face off on Friday in West Branch.