MARQUETTE — The Kingsford girls varsity soccer team has played Marquette three times this season to date.

The first two meetings ended in a tie, with the teams battling to 1-1 decisions on April 28 in Kingsford and on May 16 at Marquette.

But the Redettes finally got the better of Kingsford in the teams’ third meeting of 2022, nudging in front of the Flivvers in the season series with a 2-1 victory in the championship match of the Marquette Invitational on Saturday.

Though, in Saturday’s clash, Kingsford drew first blood as senior Brooke Bittinger knocked in a penalty kick at the 10-minute mark to give the Flivvers an early lead.

“We kind of anticipated playing Marquette again for the championship,” Kingsford coach Jon Lorenzoni said. “The first 10 minutes were back-and-forth, but a handball in the penalty zone gave (us) a penalty kick.

“Brooke made a perfect kick. There was no stopping that shot,” he added.

A sustained attack by Marquette led to the tying goal at the 30-minute mark of the first half as the teams went into the break knotted at 1-all.

“We just did not do a good job of clearing the ball,” Lorenzoni said. “We cleared it to their center mids a few times, and that eventually led to a rocket that went through.”

Marquette took the lead early in the second half, but the Flivvers played evenly from there and finished on the front foot, though they were unable to penetrate the Redette goal for the tying goal.

“We created some good opportunities,” Lorenzoni said. “There were a few ‘Oh so close’ moments, but we could not finish.

“Those were two very good soccer teams going toe-to-toe. We played Marquette three times this year and they got us by a goal. Congratulations to them. They played a great game. The game could have gone either way. It’s a shame someone had to lose.”

The Flivvers advanced to the title game with a 5-0 victory over the Marquette JV team, which had defeated Sault Ste. Marie to advance. After a scoreless first half, Kingsford ran away with things in the second half, led by two goals from Mia Counter and a goal each from Maria Fornetti, Erika Malone and Libby Vross. Fornette, Malone, Mila Hendrickson and Lexie Vross each recorded an assist in the win.