Calvert Hall brings ‘A game’
Barwick scores twice in 2-0 boys soccer win for Cards; Spalding girls stay unbeaten
Daniel Ashbeck had a lot to do. Calvert Hall took control from the start, peppering shots to try and find holes in the Archbishop Spalding keeper’s defenses.
But to Ashbeck’s credit, the Cardinals only would score twice.
In a game that offensively tipped heavily in favor of the Cardinals, Calvert Hall sent the visiting Cavaliers home with their fourth loss in two weeks, 2-0, off the foot of forward Sean Barwick.
“Calvert Hall’s a good team,” Spalding coach Patrick Crawford said. “They’re well-coached. You have to bring your A game every game in this conference.”
The Cardinals (6-3, 5-3 Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association A Conference) brought theirs. They perked Ashbeck up quickly, as center back Cam Ohrin’s kick zipped past the net just minutes into the first half, eliciting groans from the stands.
But Calvert Hall’s defense proved as tightly-knit as its offense.
As the Cavaliers’ Alex Flores rushed the goal, two Cardinals defenders pressured his heels, forcing the forward to boot the ball out of bounds.
It was a rare blip of Spalding attack — the Cavaliers spent much of the first half chasing the Cardinals’s short passes or long, air-mail kicks down field.
“I thought we did a good job possessing the ball,” Calvert Hall coach Rich Zinkand said. “Spalding did a very good job of closing space, which allowed us to open things up a little bit, play some balls over top, which we don’t try to do too often.”
Sophomore midfielder Stephen Welsh paused the back-and-forth parlay enough to aim a shot at Ashbeck, who made the stop. Then, center back Clay McComas sprinted across the pitch unchallenged, pelting a ball at Ashbeck (8 saves) that buckled him to his knees — though he, of course, made the save.
“Could have finished at a better rate, but their keeper played very well,” Zinkand said.
The Cardinals’ corner kick ended with the ball whizzing into no man’s land, but Calvert Hall retained control. When the ball rolled to Barwick’s feet, he charged the net.
In the bleachers, the Cardinals crowd swelled. Cavaliers defense misread the moment, seemingly melting back. Everyone seemed to know what would happen.
It happened in a flash, but it happened. Barwick fired, finally finding Calvert Hall’s first goal of the game.
“It was a miscue,” Ashbeck said. “That happens.”
If the Spalding keeper was shaken, he kept his frustrations tamped down. As Cardinals defender Jake Bleacher struck from the corner, Ashbeck punched the ball away. When midfielder Andrew Guidi tried to sneak one in after a Calvert Hall corner, Ashbeck stopped it from finding its way in.
With the Cardinals leading at the half, the Cavaliers needed to regroup. Calvert Hall had often forced the Spalding forwards to try to scrap for control on the sidelines, limiting touches in the midfield.
“We’re fine with that. We’re strong for the center midfield but we’re also quick and fast on the outside and we have some good skill players out there,” Crawford said. “Today, we just didn’t take advantage of what they gave us.”
Where the Spalding offense didn’t pick up in the second half, the Cardinals did. More than half of their shots on goal were fired in the latter frame, products of different strategies to outdo the Spalding keeper who it was nearly impossible to score on.
“Unfortunately, we didn’t pick out any corners,” Zinkand said. “We were kind of hitting in an area of his where he was able to make some good saves on us.”
The Cavaliers’ best chance at an equalizer flew off the foot of sophomore Thomas Homa. Unfortunately for Spalding, though, the shot wouldn’t have the same luck as Barwick’s.
Midway through the half, the Cardinals were awarded possession in Spalding territory, at the right-hand corner of the pitch.
Bleacher lined up and swung a kick directly into a scrum of red-and-white-clad players wrestling for control.
“I just thought that it was a great ball from Jake [Bleacher] and it was a great buildup to get that play to happen, so we were able to get a head on it and score,” Barwick said.
The ball popped up, and Barwick with it. He smacked it off his head and into the net — goal.
Said Crawford, “We just got lazy on the back-post, and they wanted to finish the play.”
As the final 15 minutes played out, the Cavaliers (6-5, 3-5) wouldn’t find another chance like Barwick had.
“We dropped him a little bit to 10, which is lower than where he’s used to — he played up high, not he’s playing underneath so he’s getting more touches than he’s used to,” Zinkand said. “For me, his work ethic has been very good the last two games.”
MOUNT SAINT JOSEPH 3, NO. 9 ARCHBISHOP CURLEY 2, OT: Miles Lam scored the game-winner with four minutes left in overtime and the host Gaels (2-5-1, 2-5-1 MIAA A Conference) upset the Friars (4-5, 4-4). Mount Saint Joseph’s Van Danielson scored the game-tying goal with 15 minutes left in regulation to force overtime.
NO. 11 GILMAN 2, JOHN CARROLL 0: Tyler Martinez scored and assisted Logan Paff’s goal as the host Greyounds (7-3) improved to 5-2 in MIAA A Conference play with a Friday showdown against No. 1 McDonogh looming.
PERRY HALL 5, FRANKLIN 2: The Gators (2-4) sprinted to a 3-0 halftime lead and held off a second-half charge by the host Indians (2-3-1). Jared Mejia and Zach Eichelberger each scored twice and assisted twice, while Regan Gurung added a goal for Perry Hall. Ben Clements had a goal and an assist for Franklin.
Girls soccer
NO. 2 ARCHBISHOP SPALDING 6, JOHN CARROLL 1: Fifi Iluyomade scored three goals to pace the visiting Cavaliers (7-0-1, 4-0 Interscholastic Athletic Association of Maryland A Conference). Ella Bjorn, Jenna Snead and Ashley Tutas also scored for Spalding, while Nia Christopher scored for the Patriots (4-3, 2-3).
NO. 3 HEREFORD 3, C. MILTON WRIGHT 2, 2OT: Payton Patrick scored the gamewinner with 9:25 left in the second overtime to lift the visiting Bulls (9-0) over the Mustangs (2-4-3). Hereford trailed 2-0 with five minutes left in the game and forced overtime.
Girls volleyball
NO. 12 MARYVALE 3, ANNAPOLIS AREA CHRISTIAN 2: Claire Neff had 28 kills, 14 digs and two aces to lead the visiting Lions (10-3) to a 25-15, 25-20, 24-26, 24-26, 15-8 victory. Caitlin Shaffrey added 10 kills and 25 digs and Kayla Koch had 30 digs in the victory.
SPALDING 3, MCDONOGH 1: Jillian Hunter led the host Cavaliers (8-6, 7-3 IAAM A Confernce) with 14 kills and was 11-of-13 serving with six aces. Caitlin Iley added19 digs and Taryn Crone had16 assists for Spalding.
ST. PAUL’S 3, JOHN CARROLL 0: Abbey Snyder had 33 assists, four gills and two blocks as the host Gators (8-2, 7-2 IAAM A Conference) swept the Patriots (4-9, 1-8), 25-22, 25-7, 25-15. Shelby Lucas and Jalen Dickerson led the winners in kills with 13 and six, respectively.