KENT CITY – Another second might have made all the difference for the Oakridge soccer team.

The Eagles led 3-2 lead in the first overtime of their Division 3 district championship game against Tri-County on Saturday, as the clock ran down to the final ticks.

Then Tri-County’s Caden Jones stunned everyone by heading the ball into the Oakridge goal just before the buzzer sounded, and the game went to the second OT tied 3-3.

There would have been a second overtime, anyway, so the late goal did not kill the Eagles’ chances to win. But it certainly didn’t help, because the second OT was scoreless and the game finally went to an overtime shootout.

Tri-County won the shootout 3-1 and escaped with the 4-3 win and the district title at Kent City High School.

“That’s about the most brutal way to lose a game,” said Oakridge Coach Greg Fleener, whose team finished the season with a 10-7-4 record, “Neither team quit, and it sucks that that’s the way it had to end. But they did their job on the PK’s (in the shootout), so our hats are off to them.”

The Oakridge squad stood stunned as they watched the Vikings celebrate. They had fought back all day, overcoming a 1-0 and 2-1 deficit to force overtime, then taking a temporary lead in OT.

The tears poured for a lot of the Eagles players, and it was easy to understand why, after everything they had been through to get to the finals.

In the summer, before the season even started, the Eagles lost a starting player, Alonzo Rodriguez, to a torn ACL.

Just a few weeks into the season, senior All-State goalie Spencer Anderson suffered a season-ending skull fracture in a game against Montague. His is fine now, but he was not able to return to the team.

Then the entire district tournament turned into a nail-biter for the Eagles.

They made the finals by beating Comstock Park 2-0 in overtime in the semifinals, then gave it everything they had before falling to Tri-County after two overtimes and a shootout.

The Vikings got a measure of revenge with the win after losing to Oakridge in the district finals last season.

“I’m incredibly proud of this team, and proud of this group of seniors,” Fleener said. “Obviously this was their last game, and it was a great season for them. They are going to be missed.”

Saturday’s game started out slow, with neither team getting a shot on goal until midway through the first half.

Tri-County got on the board first with 12:14 left in the half when Jared Pell took a pass in front of the net and slipped a shot past Oakridge goalie Zach Maitner.

The Vikings had another great chance about three minutes later when a high shot came close, but hit the crossbar of the Oakridge goal and bounced away.

The Eagles got on the scoreboard just before halftime, as a result of a Viking error.

Shortly before the goal, Tri-County goalie Liam Prins was called for an infraction for touching the ball just outside the goal box. A minute or two later he went to retrieve another ball in the same area but hesitated, as if he was unsure if the ball was outside the box or not.

Arturo Romero swooped in for Oakridge, took the ball and put it in the net with 18 seconds left, and the game was tied 1-1 at halftime.

Tri-County pulled ahead again when Matt Stevens scored about seven minutes into the second half. Oakridge answered again when Ian Thompson blasted a shot into the goal from about 15 yards out.

Another Tri-County shot hit the Oakridge crossbar with 35 seconds left in regulation, and the game headed to overtime tied 2-2.

Oakridge got its only lead when Romero scored his second goal with 8:31 left in the first overtime. It appeared that lead would hold up, but Tri-County got a corner kick with a few seconds remaining, and Jones headed the ball into the goal just before the horn, tying the game again at 3-3.

“For sure,” said Fleener, when asked if the last-second goal cost his team. “If we just finish that off, we’re in good shape, because they really didn’t put any pressure on us in the second overtime. For the most part we were doing the better job of controlling the ball, just like we did in the first overtime. But Tri-County is phenomenal with their corner kicks, and they are great in the air. That’s what they do.”

Nobody scored in the second overtime, which led to the dramatic shootout, with up to five players from each team going one-on-one with the opposing goalie.

Romero scored on the first Oakridge shootout attempt, but the next three Eagles were stopped. Tri-County got goals from Caleb Nave, Stevens and Logan Rackley to seal the win.

Oakridge had a 7-6 advantage in shots on goal in regulation and overtime.