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But in that evening's Class 4A West Region first-round clash at fourth-seeded Gaithersburg, the Vikings compensated just fine. A 1-0 overtime win put them into a quarterfinal match Tuesday at Magruder.

Whitman (7-6-0), which avenged a 1-0 regular-season loss to Gaithersburg (7-5-0) with Friday's win, defeated the Trojans by the same score in the first round of last year's regional tournament.

"I talked to the girls and I told them that everyone needed to give a little more, and that cumulative effect makes a big difference, as we saw," Herbert said. "I think the girls are starting to realize that we are not the same team we were at the beginning of the season. We are finally playing as a team and realizing that we are not just Kat Barth."

After nearly 84 consecutive minutes of nonstop running, Vikings junior midfielder Tessa Morrison signaled to Herbert 4 minutes into overtime that she needed a break.

Fortunately for Whitman, the ball stayed inbounds for another minute, and Morrison's substitution was delayed. Instead, she took a feed from sophomore Kim Anderson and put away the game's only goal.

"Thankfully there weren't any throw-ins, so I couldn't sub for her," Herbert said. "Tessa has done a great job. She has a lot of speed."

Injuries have taken their toll on Whitman this season. Morrison's goal was just the Vikings' 13th of the year. But they have a history of making things happen when they need to: Whitman defeated the Nos. 1 (Walter Johnson) and 4 (Gaithersburg) seeds en route to last year's regional final.

Gaithersburg has lost five of its last seven games after a 5-0 start and nagging injuries have been a huge part of that skid. Only five of Trojans coach Paul Dowell's 11 original starters were standing at the end of Friday's game.

Junior Sarah Seipp (7 goals) has been an integral part of Gaithersburg's offense and put pressure on Whitman's defense with her speed and tenacity Friday, but couldn't find the net.

Whitman's talented junior goalkeeper Hannah Sasscer stifled all Gaithersburg attempts with six saves. Trojans senior goalie Leslie Galfond was effective in net as well, tallying 13 saves.

"I told the girls we had a good chance to win but it was going to come down to the wire, because I knew it would," Dowell said. "Anything can happen in playoffs and we know Whitman always finds a way to win."

WCAC quarterinals

Good Counsel reached its first Washington Catholic Athletic Conference tournament final since 2004 with Friday's 4-1 win over Holy Cross. The Falcons will play St. John's (D.C.) Sunday at 1 p.m. at the Maryland SoccerPlex in Boyds.

They have beaten St. Johns twice this season by a combined score of 11-2.

Freshman leading scorer Midge Purce scored a hat trick Friday. Alexis Prada scored the fourth goal.

Crystal Koczot had two assists and Bridget Maloy, Kerry Mueller and Jessica Daly added an assist apiece.

The four goals Good Counsel scored Friday were as many as it had scored in the teams' two previous meeting this fall; the teams played to a 1-1 tie in their last meeting, on Sept. 25.

In the 2A West Region, fifth-seeded Rockville lost 1-0 to No. 12 South Carroll, ending the Rams' season.