FAIRMONT — As the clock ticked under one minute to play in regulation late Thursday night at East-West Stadium, the North Marion Huskies and Fairmont Senior Polar Bears girls soccer teams were tied 0-0.
It had been a back-and-forth defensive battle all night, and in the final minutes, the Huskies had a little trouble cracking through Fairmont Senior’s defense and getting a clear shot at the goal. So when Rysa Besedich saw just 32 seconds left on the game clock and found the ball in her possession, she knew she had to take her best shot.
“You breathe, take a touch, and then pray it goes in,” Besedich said of taking the shot.
It turned out that one shot would be enough to win the game. The ball sailed diagonally across the pitch before tightly landing into the top left corner of the net sending the Huskies back to the Regional Final for the second straight year against defending Class AAA State Champion East Fairmont, and bringing Fairmont Senior’s season to a disappointing end.
“I saw that we had less than a minute on the clock, and that we needed to give everything we had, because we didn’t want to go into overtime,” Besedich said. “We all knew that we wanted it more than anything.”
Besedich, who has stepped into a leadership role for the Huskies this season, has become one of the coaching staff’s ‘go-to’ players this season when they need a player they can rely on.
“We expect a lot from her,” North Marion head coach Ryan Besedich said. “She’s one of our leaders, she plays the whole field. She’s just a worker, she plays the whole 80 minutes for us and plays hard all the way to the win.”
Both teams had several scoring opportunities throughout the contest, with both offenses moving the ball down the pitch for most of the game. In the final stretch of play, the Polar Bears put the Huskies under immense pressure, and took several shots at the net. But in the end, it was North Marion who had landed the first and only goal needed.
“Well all night long it was back and forth, with balls being played into the last third there by both teams, and they finally got one,” Fairmont Senior head coach Jeff King said. “We had opportunities, they had opportunities, but we weren’t able to capitalize.”
“I think we’re both very competitive teams, and we’re in-county rivals,” Rysa Besedich said. “It’s always going to be a hard match-up. I think we all played our hearts out tonight, and I’m very happy with how it ended.”
The Polar Bears saw their season come to an end with the loss, finishing with a record of 12-8-1.
“It’s been a tremendous effort. I love these kids, and it’s been a fun season,” King said. “We had a lot of success this year, we built on some success from last year, and hopefully going forward next year, we can have the same type of success.”
Meanwhile, the Huskies moved to 14-7-1 on the season with the win, and will advance to the Class AAA Region I Final against East Fairmont. The Bees beat them earlier this regular season, and knocked them out of state tournament contention last year in the Regional Final on the way to their state championship win. The Bees will enter with a 66-game win streak dating back to August 2024.
“We’re going to go, we’re going to watch film, we’re going to practice, and we’re going to do our very best,” Rysa Besedich said. “Nothing would make me happier than to ruin their streak and get that first win on them.”