By Daniel Gaona

Special to West Valley Preps

TUCSON — Mari Labansat launched a few wild shots on goal Thursday night, and all she could do was put her hands over her face in frustration

Just when the senior forward thought she had let another one get away, she had every reason to jump up and celebrate.

Labansat scored on a roller in the 94th minute to help lift #19 Shadow Ridge to a dramatic 2-1 win at 14th-ranked Flowing Wells, giving the Stallions their first playoff trip.

“It was probably my proudest moment I’ve ever had with this program,” said Labansat, who now has 16 goals this season. “It’s the way I wanted to go out as a senior. I wanted to leave a legacy, I wanted to leave a mark and we obviously did that today.”

Shadow Ridge will have a chance to continue that legacy next week. The Stallions find out on Friday who they will play on Tuesday in the opening round of the 16-team, single-elimination state tournament.

Unless there's some funny math, they are heading to #1 Scottsdale Notre Dame Prep. Shadow Ridge was the lowest seed to win a play in game, so it will move up to #16.

For a while, it looked like Shadow Ridge was about to fall one win short of its first playoff berth for the second year in a row.

Flowing Wells went ahead 1-0 in the 53rd minute when senior Sapphire Rhoads knocked in a Giselle Orduno corner kick from the right side.

Shadow Ridge made repeated attempts to find the equalizer but couldn’t get it in. Labansat sent a far shot from the left side wide of the opposite post in the 74th minute and couldn’t bear to watch. But two minutes later, with the Stallions on the brink of elimination, sophomore Sydney McDowell tied the match when she managed to roll in a free kick from senior captain Jordan Lafferty.

“It’s really special,” McDowell said. “It was a rough game at first but the seniors get to go to another game. They get to show our school and everybody else what we’re made of and leave a legacy for everybody coming in.”

It began to look like penalty kicks would decide the match, before Labansat came up with the biggest goal of her career. Junior captain Alyssa Francia said she continued to encourage her teammate after her early struggles and it eventually paid off when Labansat rolled one past the keeper from about 15 yards out.

“It wasn’t the best shot but somehow it slipped through the keeper’s legs,” Labansat said.

Even if the match went into a shootout, Shadow Ridge coach John Gray was confident in his group being able to pull it out. He said they haven’t missed a penalty kick since their early-season scrimmage.

The Stallions were coming off a landmark win against rival Willow Canyon on Tuesday, and Gray believed that had an impact on the early energy but he was impressed in the way his team picked it up late.

With the two biggest wins in program history coming in a three-day span, the coach hopes his team can keep the fun rolling next week.

“It’s a thrill to be going to the playoffs,” Gray said. “This is a special group, from the seniors on down. The freshmen want to win for the seniors just as much as the seniors want to win, so it’s an awesome feeling.”