Saturday, Hall-Dale’s Thea Sweet matched that output all by herself.

The senior forward scored three goals, including the tying goal in the second half and the overtime winner, to lead Hall-Dale to a stunning 3-2 win over Monmouth.

“We’ve been training all year for Golden Goals,” Sweet said. “We had it in our mindset. We came out strong. I saw the open shot, and I took it.”

It was the first loss of the season for the Mustangs (9-1-1). The win for the Bulldogs (9-2-1) bumped them up to third in Class C South, while Monmouth dropped to fourth.

“You get opportunities, you take them,” Monmouth coach Gary Trafton said. “We had opportunities to clear (the tying goal) and we didn’t clear it out. We had opportunities, and we didn’t finish it.”

Monmouth appeared out of sync from the start and didn’t seem to be able to connect the keys passes at the right time. The hard work of the Bulldogs didn’t help. Monmouth had to rally from a goal down but still managed to produce scoring chances and had a 2-1 lead early in the second half.

“A lot of times we just hit the ball and hoped it goes to somebody,” Trafton said. “We weren’t looking at people or people weren’t getting into position to receive the ball.”

Sweet scored the game-winner much like she did the first tally of the game. She took on a defender and beat her one-on-one and found an open shot. In overtime, she spun to the outside on the left wing but then cut back to the middle. She had an open look and fired it into the net — just 1:34 into the first overtime.

“I went to the middle,” Sweet said. “She was playing me hard to my left side. I knew that would turn her back. There were too many people on the right side. So I cut it back.”

Sweet had tied the game with 26:48 left in regulation. Monmouth had failed to clear out a loose ball. Sweet pounced on it at the left side and fired it home.

“We had to keep on the pressure and keep them scattered everywhere and eventually, it opened up for us,” Sweet said.

Monmouth had started the second half strong and gotten the lead at 3:45. Sammy Grandahl buried a cross and gave the Mustangs its first lead. That goal came just moments after Sidney Wilson’s one-timer went over the net.

“They came out really strong in the second half and got a five-minute goal right off the bat,” Hall-Dale coach Guy Cousins said. “My girls are resilient. You can never count them out of a game. We’ve been in a couple situations where we were down one goal or two goals, and we were right back in it.”

Late in regulation, the Mustangs had a chance by Maddie Bumann after a nice run down the sideline, but Hall-Dale keeper Hailey Taker made that stop.

Hall-Dale had a Lilly Ly shot blocked after a feed from Sweet, but with 3:29 left, the Bulldogs had a penalty kick opportunity. Ly put that try over the net. That disappointment last only until the Bulldogs won the game in overtime.

“You’ve got to b e mentally tough,” Cousins said. “The ball isn’t always going to go the way you want it. It’s what you do next. You’ve got to just keep moving on. You can’t just stay buried in what just happened. You have to move forward and do all the things we try to do to create good scoring opportunities.”

Hall-Dale took the initial lead with 27:48 left in the first half when Sweet spun by a defender for an open shot that beat a diving Mikayla Cameron, who finished with six saves.

Monmouth missed a couple of chances to tie it. Haley Fletcher had a high shot that was saved by Taker, who finished with 12 saves in a great effort. Grandahl had a shot from the right side saved.

The Mustangs tied it with 4:37 left in the half when Wilson burst down the right side for a shot. Monmouth had a chance to take the lead in the final minute but a one-timer by Fletcher was saved.

“The game is about when takes care of their opportunities,” Trafton said. “If you’re giving up too many, they cash in on them.”

kmills@sunjournal.com