Erin Droste/KANSAN

Elyse Brisko, St. Louis freshman, races after the ball flanked by Kassia Meinholdt, Liberal freshman. The girls played each other at the women’s intramural championship game yesterday evening at the Shenk Sports Complex, located at 23rd and Iowa streets.

Sudden death wasn’t so sudden in the women’s intramural soccer finals.

Kappa Delta scored the winning goal during the 33rd minute of what was supposed to be a 20-minute game. The team defeated 9th Floor Ellsworth by a score of 2-1.

Emily Hirsekorn put in the winning goal. She was the only player on either team who was not a freshman.

“It wasn’t too tiring, because we play on a short field,” Hirsekorn, Lenexa sophomore, said.

Three-on-3 soccer is played with smaller goals, a reduced field and no goalies.

It was the first tournament game for both teams, who got to the finals by forfeit when their opponents did not show.

The first half hinted at a high-scoring game. Within the first few minutes, 9th Floor Ellsworth put itself on the board.

Kassia Meinholdt, Liberal freshman, was blocked on her first shot attempt, but got the ball under control and kicked the ball in the net from just feet away.

Meinholdt scored another goal just seconds later, but it was disallowed because she was standing in the crease in front of the goal, a rule violation.

Kappa Delta tried to retaliate by taking shots almost every time it touched the ball.

Brittany Fellers, Salina freshman, struck gold when she fired from just steps in front of halfcourt.

“I like the long shots,” Fellers said, “and I just decided to put one in.”

The goal evened the score at one, and neither team saw many shots on goal for the rest of the half.

Coming out of the halftime break, 9th Floor Ellsworth dropped out of its man-to-man defense and had Meinholdt play a defensive position.

Kappa Delta played with one defender back during the whole game.

In the first minute of the second half, Kappa Delta had two uncontested shots but did not convert on either.

The game took on a faster pace, with both teams trying to hurry their offenses.

The increased speed resulted in more shot opportunities for both teams, but no goals.

Ninth Floor Ellsworth scored on a kick from across the court, but the goal was disallowed. In 3-on-3 soccer, only goals made from halfcourt or closer count as points.

As the game approached the 20-minute mark, neither team was able to break the 1-1 tie.

The teams went to a three-minute sudden death period. Within the first minute, 9th Floor Ellsworth had a breakaway.

Shea Fairchild, Maize freshman, passed the ball downcourt to Meinholdt. She held off on the shot opportunity for a split

second, which allowed the Kappa Delta defense time to run down the shot and block it.

Because this was the championship game, the teams played sudden-death periods until a winner could be determined. Kappa Delta created shots with its passing in the second half, but missed all of them.

“We had a lot of shots,” Hirsekorn said, “They just weren’t going in.”

With 10 minutes elapsed in the sudden death, Hirsekorn got the ball on a breakaway. She unleashed the shot, a slow roller that found its target.

“I knew I had a clear shot,” she said, “and I didn’t want to let my teammates down.”

The team celebrated victory while simultaneously catching its breath.

The statistics made this final look like a professional soccer match — there were lots of shots, but only three goals.

Men’s open: Cotton Balls 2, Goodfellas 1

For a golfer, Shane Ewing adjusted to soccer quite well.

He put in both of the Cotton Balls’ goals, leading them to an intramural 3-on-3 soccer championship.

“This was my first time out here,” Ewing, Boulder, Colo., junior, said after the game.

The game started slow, with both teams trying to adjust to the fast style of play.

Most passes ended up out of bounds, creating more whistles than shots in the first half.

Both teams employed a man-to-man defense and sometimes double-teamed the player with the ball.

The second half started the same way as the first, and at the 15-minute mark no one had scored.

The Goodfellas’ Erik Broxterman broke free of his defender and had an open shot from about 10 yards away. Broxterman, Overland Park freshman, scored, putting his team on top 1-0.

It was a short-lived lead, however. Two minutes later, Ewing controlled the ball at midfield for the Cotton Balls.

He spun off of his defender and attempted a long shot that bounced into the net.

“We knew we could get something going if we took enough shots,” Ewing said.

The Cotton Balls weren’t done. About 30 seconds later, Chris Bystrom, Ames, Iowa sophomore, sent a pass downfield to Ewing, who had beaten his defender.

It was the second goal of the day for Ewing, and enough to put the Cotton Balls in the lead for good.

In the final minutes the Goodfellas attempted frantically to tie the game.

With just 20 seconds left, Broxterman had the team’s final shot.

It was blocked on a sliding tackle by the Cotton Balls’ Mike Kutz, preserving the victory.

“I was just trying to keep the ball out of the net,” Kutz, St. Louis junior, said.

It was two victories in one day for the Cotton Balls, who defeated Bluth FC 5-1 in a semifinal earlier in the evening.

Intramural Notes:

Two other 3-on-3 soccer championships were played last night. In the Men’s Greek division, Sigma Nu defeated Beta 3-1. The Grasskickers, who defeated the Wolverines 4-1, won the CoRec championship. All games were at the Shenk Fields on West Campus.

— Edited by Austin Caster