- December 22, 2024
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When Dr. Phillips needed him the most, Sam Collingwood stepped up and delivered.
With the game between the Panthers (14-2) and Olympia Titans (11-1) knotted up at 14-14 with just six seconds left in regulation, Collingwood took his place for the penalty shot and delivered a crushing blow to the Titans — scoring his fourth goal of the game to hand Dr. Phillips the 15-14 win in the District 5 championship game Thursday, April 1.
The late drama was only fitting for this rivalry matchup, as both the Panthers and Titans spent the entire afternoon exchanging blows left and right, with the largest lead being only three goals.
In the first half alone both teams scored nine goals apiece, and exchanged leads on multiple occasions — to go along with six ties. Though the second half wouldn't feature that same level of scoring — as both teams' defense found their footing — the trend of lead changes continued before Collingwood's final goal sank the Titans and pushed the Panthers into the state playoffs.
For Dr. Phillips, Collingwood and Liam Ortiz would lead the way with four goals apiece, while Colin Bryant (three goals), Samer Bon (two goals), Max Collingwood (one goal) and Aiden Abayasekera (one goal) rounded out the scoring for the Panthers. For Olympia, Eli Schweitzer recorded a game high seven goals, with Zeyad Abdelmaged (two goals), Coby Scanlon (two goals), Lorn Duff (two goals) and Jacob Nagy (one goal) picking up scores for the Titans.
With the win the Panthers move on to face Boone in the regional quarterfinals Wednesday, April 7. Meanwhile the Titans end their season at 11-1.
