The Greenwood girls’ soccer team fell behind early to Bowling Green in the District 8 Tournament championship, but came back to tie the game and eventually won on penalty kicks.

The Lady Gators trailed 1-0 at halftime, but got a goal in the 65th minute that eventually sent the match into overtime.

&#8221I brought them in at halftime and told them that the one thing we were lacking was intensity,“ Greenwood coach Amy Helliwell said. &#8221They came back out in the second half and stepped it up and played great the whole half.“

After four scoreless overtime periods, the game was decided by penalty kicks with Greenwood winning 4-3.

Greenwood’s senior goalkeeper, Meagan Dillihay, turned away a pair of the Lady Purples’ penalty shots to secure the win.

&#8221This means a lot because we put so much time into this one game,“ Greenwood senior Whitney Babcock said. &#8221Half the team is seniors and we really wanted to win our last district tournament.“

With the victory, the Lady Gators earned their fifth district title in the past six years. Last year’s district tournament championship also came down to penalty kicks with Greenwood beating BGHS.

&#8221Dillihay has been solid for us all year long,“ Helliwell said. &#8221When it came down to PKs, I told her to just do it like she did last year against Bowling Green.“

Bowling Green coach Lisa Correa said she was proud of her team’s effort.

&#8221I’m happy overall with the way my team played,“ Correa said. &#8221They showed a lot of heart. Anything can happen when it comes down to PKs.“

Babcock scored the Lady Gators’ only goal of regulation on a long free kick.

Bowling Green goalkeeper Sarah Poston got her fingertips on the ball, but was unable to stop it from going in.

&#8221I just tried to place it in the top corner and luckily it just went there,“ Babcock said. &#8221When I first hit it, I thought it was going wide and then the goalie got her hands on it – I just got lucky, I guess.“

The Lady Purples took the lead in the 21st minute when senior midfielder Sarah Parrish blasted a long shot that hit the turf in front of Dillihay and bounced over her head and into the goal.

&#8221I knew as soon as she hit it that it was going to go in,“ Helliwell said. &#8221This surface is really hard and the bounces were just getting us.“

It was the only shot on goal for the Lady Purples in the first half, but it was enough to give them the lead at halftime.

&#8221That was big, but there was still a lot of soccer,“ Correa said.

Both team advance to the region tournament, which begins Monday.

Because they won the district title, the Lady Gators get to host the region and play Muhlenberg South – the runners-up in District 7- at 5:30 p.m.

&#8221That’s really exciting, because we’ll be on our home field,“ Babcock said. &#8221I’m really glad to get to play at home.“

Bowling Green plays District 7 champions Muhlenberg North at 7:30 p.m.

Babcock was named the District 8 tournament MVP.

Other members of the all-tournament team include Holly Lawrence (Warren East), Page Minton (Bowling Green), Maddie Oldham (Warren Central), Megan Renfro (Greenwood), Katie Porreca (Warren East), Liz Grant (Bowling Green), Devin Dewitt (Greenwood), Heather Claywell (Barren County), Charlotte Hunt (Bowling Green), Nicole Aviles (Warren Central), Stephanie Ray (Glasgow), Krista Carter (Greenwood), Meagan Craddock (Barren County) and Charli Fant (Glasgow).