The Meridian Mustangs earned their third overtime win in the past seven days, with Zorah Randhawa’s goal completing an improbable rally to defeat James Monroe 2-1 in the Regional Semifinals.

If you haven’t been riding the emotional roller coaster that is the Meridian High School field hockey team, jump on now. Last year, Anne Steenhoek’s squad’s season ended with a gut-wrenching overtime loss in the Regional Quarterfinals as the top seed in the bracket. But the beauty of sports is that in every heartbreak, there’s a chance for even sweeter redemption.

Thus has been the story for the Mustangs in 2025. They breezed through most of their regular season schedule, but have had to survive some tough challenges from Fauquier last week and Kettle Run on Monday night. After a quick turnaround, they found themselves trailing James Monroe for most of Tuesday’s contest, but these girls do not know the meaning of the word “quit.”

Emma Flanagan scored with 1:46 left in regulation, the second time in the past three games that the Mustangs have forced overtime in the final two minutes. Then, only 44 seconds into the extra period, Randhawa converted on a short corner to bring down the curtains. After struggling to find momentum all night, Meridian willed itself alive and stunned the unsuspecting Yellow Jackets in the blink of an eye.

“We never lost confidence in ourselves,” said Steenhoek. “We were undermanned for what had to be 15 minutes (due to various penalties), and we found a way.”

The Mustangs improve to 16-1 on the year with the win, with all sixteen victories coming consecutively ever since a season-opening loss at Annandale. Their storybook run will now advance to the Regional Finals, where they’ll take on Western Albemarle at home on Thursday.