photo by: David Rodish/Journal-World

Lawrence assistant coach Melle Dye celebrates with the team after a 3-2 overtime win over Blue Valley on Tuesday, May 19, 2026, in Lawrence.

Thirty-four seconds after overtime started, senior Sidra Besson was running over to freshman Layla Simmons with her arms out, ready to embrace.

Lawrence and Blue Valley battled through 80 minutes of playoff soccer at Lawrence High School, and both teams finished regulation with two goals. The Lions were on the cusp of winning in regulation, as the Lawrence front line pressured the Tigers’ back line with speed up top, but the home team was unable to close it out in 80 minutes.

While the Lions didn’t get the game-winning goal in the waning minutes of the second half, it took a mere 34 seconds for Simmons to get a through ball to Besson for a shot. Simmons said she was a little nervous about messing it up, but she just focused in on where her teammate was to set up the game winner. Her pass got through the Tigers’ defense, giving Besson the shot to call game.

And call game she did.

“I had the ball, and just with muscle memory, it was in the net,” Besson said. “Then everyone was running at me. It was amazing. As soon as I saw that she got the through ball, I thought, ‘Oh yeah, she’s going to get that ball to me.'”

The Lions immediately stormed the field to celebrate the win, jumping onto Besson and Simmons with the assurance that the close-knit Lions get at least one more game together this year.

“Just getting to celebrate with the team feels amazing,” Besson said. “It means so much. This team really has become a family, and we’ve worked so hard together and play until the very end of the game. So it’s rewarding to be able to have that win and move on.”

Lawrence coach Joe Comparato was happy with how the team fought in the game, saying that the Lions never gave up against a good team.

“They kept pressure on us,” Comparato said. “Our defense was again resilient. We had some errors that gave up a couple goals that we shouldn’t have given up, but that happens in the playoffs. We kept fighting.”

Lawrence got on the board first with a goal from Simmons in the 18th minute on a shot from the right side of the field that hit the left post and went in the net. Eight minutes after the goal, the Tigers tied it up after goalkeeper Emma Druen went to contest a ball in the penalty area and wasn’t able to secure it, leading to an open shot at the net.

Simmons nearly scored her second goal late in the half after her shot smacked the top of the goalpost and bounced out of bounds, but the first half ended with just the one goal for each team.

Lawrence sophomore Rylee Williams turned on the pressure at the start of the second half with a few close scoring chances. She scored 14 minutes into the half on a shot that bounced in and behind Blue Valley’s goalkeeper after an attempted punch by the goalie.

The Tigers scored again on a similar play with a deep shot that was too high to block. That put the game at a tie with over 17 minutes left to play, and while Lawrence continued to get shots on goal, the half ended with the score still tied. Senior Ginny Besson said the intensity in the moment ramped up and was palpable for the team late in the game.

“We put the ball in some dangerous places,” Comparato said. “We had some really good opportunities to finish that we didn’t get to. But at the same time, when it counted, they stepped up.”

Comparato told the team during the five-minute break between regulation and overtime to keep the pressure on. The Lions did just that. They didn’t lose any momentum, any faith or any speed, and they got the golden goal to win.

“Just like (Sidra) has done all year,” Comparato said. “Clutch.”

Lawrence will take on Mill Valley on Thursday, the No. 2 seed in the 6A East with a 14-1-2 record through the regional semifinal. While the Jaguars got the better of the Lions in their first matchup — Mill Valley won 2-0 in Lawrence on April 16 — the Lions are ready for what’s coming.

“We’re a dangerous team,” Comparato said. “I told (the team), ‘Nobody wants to play us.’ It doesn’t matter who we face on Thursday, we’re going to give it a go and see what we can make of it. We had a goal when we started the season, and we’re one game away.”