Flowery Branch senior Kelsey Mathis clung to a small shred of hope she would get to the ball. As the Lady Falcons soccer team had the one-point lead during the sudden death portion of a penalty shootout in Friday’s Class 5A state quarterfinal match, the interlocked line of Mathis’ teammates from midfield watched the events unravel — the kick, Mathis’ split-second reaction, her dive left and the eruption of cheers soon after. The second of two penalty stops by Mathis, who saved the first and last attempts, erased Starr’s Mill’s last chance for redemption and preserved a 1-1, 6-5 victory in penalty kicks that sent the Lady Falcons to their first-ever state semifinal.