They knew it wasn’t going to be easy.

So it wasn’t until the final three minutes of the second half of the second overtime that the Pitman High girls soccer players were able to breathe a little. That was when junior forward Marissa Marable booted in a penalty kick to seal a 1-0 win over Lodi High in the quarterfinals of the Sac-Joaquin Section Division I Tournament on Tuesday evening.

“Going into overtime, we knew it was going to be the team that capitalized on the other team’s mistake,” Marable said. “And we got that.”

The speedy forward was tackled just inside the box with under 3 minutes left in overtime, which led to Marable calmly knocking in the game’s lone goal.

“The girls were grateful for the opportunity to play in the quarterfinal game, which led to them staying focused throughout the prolonged game,” Pitman coach Oscar Mercado said.

The Pride (22-4-1 overall) will now prepare for Thursday’s semifinal game at Davis Sr. High, the 2-1 overtime winner over Sheldon High on Tuesday. Pitman is just one win away from repeating its 2005 success of reaching the Section final.

“The championship is something we’ve been working for since the beginning of the season,” Marable noted.

To contact Chhun Sun, e-mail csun@turlockjournal.com or call 634-9141 ext. 2041.