Sometimes momentum is overrated.

In the state sectional soccer game between Republic and Carl Junction, the team with the momentum could never quite hold on, and in the end, it was a late Carl Junction goal that spelled the difference in a 3-2 Lady Bulldogs victory.

In the first half, a goal by Carl Junction gave them the early momentum just three minutes in. The Lady Bulldogs dominated play in the first half, and just 13 minutes later, Taylor Beck headed the ball over the arms of Republic keeper Taylor Patton to give Carl Junction a 2-0 lead.

In the second half, Republic overcame the Carl Junction momentum by picking up the intensity, but couldn’t get on the board until Sara Marcotte dribbled from the left wing and launched a crossing shot into the right side of the net to make the score 2-1.

A few minutes later, Sierra Casagrand arched a shot from right to left over the Carl Junction keeper from about 25 yards out, and the teams were tied with 15:45 to go.

With about 12 1/2 minutes left, Republic appeared to catch the break of the game, when one of Carl Junction’s players earned a red card for pushing Sara Marcotte to the ground from behind. But playing short-handed in the final 12 minutes, the Lady Bulldogs managed to maintain control.

With about 30 seconds left, they scored the game-winner on a 25-yard shot that crossed left to right just out of reach of Taylor Patton, rolling into the back of the net to send Carl Junction to the quarterfinals.

Carl Junction advances to play Helias in Jefferson City in the quarterfinals Saturday.

The Class 2 District 11 All-District soccer team has plenty of Republic Lady Tigers on it. Six Lady Tiger made the first team, and three others made the second team.

The first team included sophomore Lesleigh Fenton, juniors Sara Marcotte and Sierra Casagrand, and seniors Samantha Minor, Mikayla Jester, and Taylor Patton.

Seniors Haley and Hannah Willis and sophomore Jocelyn Carpenter made the second team.

Republic captured its second straight district title with a win over Willard, and will meet Carl Junction at 6 p.m. in Republic Wednesday.

For the second year in a row, the Republic Lady Tigers toppled a #1 seed to win a district soccer championship. This year, the victim was Willard in a 2-1 Republic victory. It was senior Taylor Patton in goal for Republic, under pressure all afternoon, who took a starring role. Patton says she expected to be under attack before the game began.

“Honestly, yes, because I knew they’re such a good team, and have such a good record,” she says. “But I tried to stay positive and keep my team up, so I could keep it out of my box as much as possible.”

Willard peppered Patton with shots for much of the opening 15 minutes. But with 24:14 left in the half, Sierra Casagrand’s booming free kick from more than 30 yards out hooked just beneath the crossbar, over the outstretched arms of the Willard keeper, to give Republic a 1-0 lead. (See video.)

Nine minutes later, the Lady Tigers caught a break when Sara Marcotte tried to center the ball from the left corner. The ball arched high into the air, and somehow floated over the Willard keeper, bounding into an open net for a 2-0 Republic lead. That’s where it stayed until halftime.

Less than five minutes into the 2nd half, Lindsey Owens brought Willard back within a goal, and Willard used the momentum to put more pressure on the Republic defense. But Republic wouldn’t break, and even mounted a few scoring chances of its own, despite failing to score again.

Willard’s closest equalizing opportunity came in the final five minutes, when a shot bounded off Patton’s hands and rolled toward the goal line. It got within a foot of the goal before Hannah Wilson came out of nowhere to kick it away and save the victory.

“What I think about with Taylor at this moment is her coming to me this fall saying ‘Coach, I want to play goalie. I think I can do it,’” says coach Mike Hines. “She’d never played goalie before. So she started working in the offseason and (assistant) Shane Kennard came out and he has done a miraculous job.

“Her play in the final 5-8 minutes of this game, we wouldn’t have won it without her.”

Patton’s performance recalled a similar game last year by senior goalie Amanda Snider in the district semifinals against Carl Junction. She had what Hines calls “the game of her life” to help Republic advance.

The Lady Tigers advance to sectionals for the second time in the three-year history of their program. They’ll meet Carl Junction at home next Tuesday.

Mountain View-Liberty jumped ahead 1-0 just two minutes into their district semifinal game against Republic. But that was the last bit of good news they’d get all night.

Republic (17-6) answered quickly and decisively, dominating the game from there on with relentless pressure on Liberty’s defense. Republic pelted the Liberty keeper with shot after shot, until Sarah Marcotte got Republic on the board with 30 minutes left in the half, breaking through the left side of the defense and shooting from about 15 yards out.

Five minutes later, after another flurry of action in the goal box, Marcotte kicked home a rebound on a shot by Jocelyn Carpenter to make it 2-1 Republic.

It took another five minutes for Marcotte to complete the hat trick, as she scored on another rebound to make it 3-1.

Forty seconds after that, Sierra Casagrand got loose on a breakaway and sent the ball sailing past the goalie for a 4-1 lead. It stayed that way until Marcotte scored her fourth goal on a penalty kick after being pushed from behind on a shot attempt 5 yards from the goal. That made it 5-1 at halftime.

After the break, Casagrand scored her second goal of the night on a shot that crossed left to right, just beyond the Liberty keeper’s reach.

Marcotte scored on a penalty kick with 33 minutes remaining to make the score 7-1.

And Tara Chapman got in on the action with 16 minutes left, scoring a goal to account for the final margin.

The game was delayed by lightning before the finish. That also pushed back the start of the second semifinal game, won by Willard (14-3) over Hillcrest (6-16) 3-2.

Republic and Willard will play at Republic for the district title Friday at 3:00 p.m.

Eleven seniors started the game for the Republic Lady Tigers on Senior Night, and they wasted no time asserting themselves in a 4-0 win over Webb City. Just 1:15 into the game, Samantha Minor found Shelby King streaking toward the goal, and King put the ball in the back of the net to make it 1-0 Republic.

That was all the Lady Tigers needed, but they got more before the end of the half, after the regular lineup returned to action. Sara Marcotte scored three quick goals in a 3 1/2-minute stretch, starting at with 13 minutes remaining in the half. Her first goal came after she split the Webb City defense and punched it past the Lady Cardinals goalkeeper from the middle of the box. Her second goal came on a corner kick lofted into the box by Sierra Casagrand. And her third came on a rebound after a shot by Minor was deflected near the goal.

At halftime, the Lady Tigers honored 12 seniors. The only one who didn’t start the game was Emily Cremeans, who’s injured. Besides Cremeans, the Republic seniors are Terra Chapman, Haley Willis, Hannah Willis, Shelby King, Samantha Minor, Mandi Peavler, Mikayla Jester, Laci Smith, Taylor Patton, Brandy Glessner, and Lexie Burns.

“We’ve had these girls now for three years, and it’s been pretty cool to watch them develop as players and as young ladies. We wouldn’t be here without them,” says coach Mike Hines.

“I don’t think any of them, with the exception of Sam Minor, had played any soccer before they walked out here for the first time. That’s an amazing thing to think about, because for our class, we’re pretty competitive,” he says. “It’s due to these girls. They decided they liked it and they wanted to work on it in the off-season, and make it a year-round thing.”