Thanks to a stoppage-time goal by visiting Placer in the second half, the seventh-seeded Hillmen forced overtime where they made four goals to just two for No. 6 Ripon and handed the Indians a 2-2 (4-2) loss in the semifinal of the Sac-Joaquin Section Division IV girls soccer playoffs. 

“That was very painful,” Ripon coach Bryce Perkins said. “The girls are really broken up. They played their hearts out and they came within a whisker of winning it in regulation. That was stoppage time they scored in and that was just terribly disappointing to give up a goal that late in the game.

“But it happens. It can be a cruel game, sometimes that’s how it bounces.”

Midway through the first half Madelyn Reedy gave Ripon (16-9-1) a 1-0 lead on a penalty kick. Katie Martin made it 2-0 in stoppage time when she took a pass from Rylee Agbayani over the head of the Placer goalie and booted it in the net.

After a first half that saw the Indians with eight shots to just three for the Hillmen, Placer (8-8-3) of Auburn stepped it up in the second half with a total of eight shots to just one for Ripon. Emily Pierce got both Hillmen goals, one on a penalty kick and one just before time ran out.

“It was an even matchup until the second half,” Placer coach Cole Cotton said. “I had to get some heads turned and focused.

“I felt like we were more focused in the second half and got things done as much as we could.”

Ellena Parenti posted seven saves for the Indians.