Her persistence finally paid off.

And Kealy Caflisch is grateful for that.

Eckwahl, a Frewsburg freshman, sent a ball into the 18-yard box that glanced off a Chautauqua Lake defender before Caflisch put it home in the 12th minute of overtime as the second-seeded Bears beat the third-seeded Thunderbirds 2-1 in a Section VI Class C girls soccer semifinal at Dunkirk High School’s Karl Hoeppner Field.

“Kealy wanted it tonight. Sometimes you have vocal leaders and sometimes you have leaders who lead with their play,” Frewsburg head coach Scott Stone said. “She lifted everybody’s level of play tonight. Kealy wanted it tonight and it showed.”

Frewsburg’s Taytum jimerson, center, goes to take the ball from Chautauqua Lake’s Anna Golhardt, right, and Jenica Jones during Tuesday’s Section VI Class C semifinal at Karl Hoeppner Field. P-J photo by Ashleigh Brown

Frewsburg, a four-time defending sectional champion, will go for a fifth straight title Saturday morning at 11 when it takes on Wilson back in Dunkirk. The top-seeded Lakewomen beat No. 5 Maple Grove 6-0 in Tuesday’s second semifinal.

“We’ve played them two years in a row. We know they are a very good team. We are very familiar with who they have over there,” Stone said. ” … To be honest, for us, it doesn’t matter who we’re playing. We feel like if we play Frewsburg soccer, we’re the best team and we can beat anybody.”

The Bears dominated much of the first semifinal, and yet, were one bad break away from seeing their season end.

Chautauqua Lake forced overtime in the 74th minute, but Frewsburg didn’t buckle.

Instead, the Bears had three prime chances in overtime, finally converting with 3:06 remaining when Caflisch, a junior, scored her ninth goal of the season.

Chautauqua Lake goalkeeper Lucy Gates makes a diving save. P-J photo by Ashleigh Brown

“We talked all week about not getting frustrated. We knew we’d just need one or two,” Stone said. “No matter what happened, we knew they were a good team and it’d be tough to score.”

For a while, it looked like Chautauqua Lake sophomore keeper Lucy Gates, who was credited with 28 saves in the game, would steal a win for the Thunderbirds.

“Lucy shows why she is the best defender, not just in our section, but I’d put her toe to toe with anybody across the state,” Chautauqua Lake co-coach Mike Putney said. ” … She just brings it. … It’s phenomenal. It’s like having another coach on the field.”

Her biggest of several “Grade-A” saves came in the third minute of overtime when she stopped Eckwahl, who got loose for a short breakaway behind the Chautauqua Lake defense.

“She’s turned up the aggression throughout the season. You’ve just seen her confidence grow,” Thunderbirds co-coach Olivia Barnes said of Gates. “She’s running out of the box terrifying us and punching the ball in the air, but her aggression never costs us anything.”

Gates was instrumental in the Thunderbirds shutting down multiple corner kicks in the first half before Frewsburg took a 1-0 lead on yet another corner.

Eckwahl sent the ball into the 18-yard box and Ava Jimerson — who was returning from injury — instead of jamming the ball toward the goal, dropped it back to her sister Taytum, who powered a 15-yard shot over Gates.

“Ava hasn’t played or practiced in five weeks and she taped up today, went out there and played. For her to make an impact play like that is huge. That’s why she’s out there,” Stone said. “Anytime we can get the ball to Ava’s and Taytum’s feet, we feel like we can score. … That’s what we’re looking to do anytime we get a free kick in the box.”

Gates made multiple saves to keep her team within a goal early in the second half, while both teams hit a pair of goalposts as well.

“We’ve got Lucy Gates. … It gives me a calmness with her back there,” Putney said. “If one gets through on her, it means that person hit a great shot.”

Finally, Chautauqua Lake received a break in the 74th minute when it was credited with a free kick. Although the chance was from 45 yards out, it was still close enough for junior Jada Cole — the team’s leading scorer — to make an impact.

“When she went for that ball she said ‘I’ve got this one coach,’ and I said ‘absolutely, you do,'” Putney said. “I knew she’d put it where it needed to be.”

Cole sent the ball into the 18-yard box and after it took one bounce, junior Paige Zarpentine got a head on the ball and sent it past Bears senior keeper Braelyn Stelmack to tie the game with 6:15 remaining.

“She’s a finisher. She’s been finishing for us all year long,” Barnes said. “The Jada-to-Paige tandem goes both ways. Paige has been the one scoring goals when it’s down to the final minutes.”

Frewsburg, which lost a 2-0 lead with 20 minutes left in last year’s sectional final against Wilson only to rally for a 3-2 victory, didn’t panic Tuesday and eventually set up a rematch with the Lakewomen.

“No matter the score, we just tried to stay even-keeled and play 80, 100 minutes. Whatever it was going to take, we were prepared to do,” Stone said. “We’re going to enjoy the win tonight. There are some things we’ll take from this game to clean up before we come back to play for a title on Saturday.”