It took a combined overtime goal from Ethan Low with a big assist from Andy Schmidt, but the South Whidbey soccer team defeated Kings 2-1 Wednesday in their second Cascade Conference game.

Falcon Coach Joel Gerlach credited the defense with keeping the Falcons in the game.

“Goalie Dylan Fate had some spectacular saves while Brett Warwick and the entire ‘D’ prevented the Knights from doing serious damage,” Gerlach said. “In the midfield Dino (Michaelides) and James (Schorr) did a fine job.”

Until Kings scored 20 minutes into the first half, play on both sides was sluggish; Ethan Low tried to power his way to the goal several times but the Knight’s goalkeeper was wide awake. Other times, he would defy gravity with a display of footwork worthy of Beckham before bending it to a teammate. How does he know which tactic to use?

“You play what the game gives you,” he said. “There’s 11 guys and each has to think individually but act as a team.”

Kings goal wasn’t clean — the Knights had to overwhelm Fate with extra bodies to get the ball in — but it provided a much-needed wake-up call.

Just before the half, Buddy Meehan saw an opening and sent the ball to Dan Lungren for the Falcon’s first goal.

With the score 1-1 after the break, neither side could generate extra offense.

“Sometimes it takes awhile to find the chinks in the other team’s armor,” Gerlach said.

The issue wasn’t settled when the clock ran out. In soccer, there are two five-minute sudden death periods — the first team to score, wins. After that, penalty kicks are used to determine the outcome.

A minute into the first overtime, Andy Schmidt was close to the goal.

“The other guys weren’t prepared to defend against an extra player,” he said. “Sammy (Lungren) laid it in, I kicked it to Ethan and he made the goal and the win.”

Low remembers it a little differently.

“It was a great run by Andy; he wove his way through a plethora of players, looked up, saw me and I just tapped it in,” Low recalled. “It was wide open, the score really was Andy’s.”

Former South Whidbey running back Rob Knight has discovered a few differences between football and soccer.

“This game is definitely faster, with more emphasis on the individual,” he said. “You can’t hide behind your teammates. Plus, each of us is in charge when we have the ball and have to make decisions that can affect the game.”

Thursday, the Falcons lost to a very tough Cedarcrest team 6-1, the lone goal coming from Eric Barmon on an assist from Lungren.

“We’re the first to score on them, but it wasn’t our night,” Gerlach said. “We’ll recover.”

The Falcons welcome Archbishop Murphy to Waterman Field April 5.