Rattled Wildcats regain footing with victory

Davis’ score on penalty kick provides needed boost

Sara Davis and the other Arundel players were not the most confident as they walked onto Southern’s field on a crisp Thursday evening.

Their 5-0 loss to South River three days before had rattled them — “beat up,” per Davis.

Eighty minutes of game time though, changed that.

“If we set our minds to something, we can achieve it. I know we came into this game a little shaken about it,” Davis said. “And the result? We won.”

After 54 minutes of scoreless play, the Wildcats (7-5) scored the only goal of the game and went on to blank Southern, 1-0. It later, was the jolt coach Nicole McWilliams had hoped for.

“As a young team, I feel like we really needed that win to go into the playoffs ‘cause sometimes the older teams are used to bouncing back,” she said, “where ours is just finding their footing and learning how to bounce back after a loss.”

But fruition was a long way away when the clock first started counting down in the first half. Sophomore Sumaya Togba tried to secure an Arundel lead immediately, racing the ball up the right side and shooting on Southern goalkeeper Jordan Barnhill, who made the save.

Togba then replayed her strategy, but her attempted shot bounced off the chest of sophomore Kayla Hughes.

Togba then worked her way into the fray, plucking control out and launching a kick to goal — where it just barely missed, grazing the top of the cage.

“She was everywhere t oday,” McWilliams said. “Wemoved her around to different positions today, which was also harder for her in getting goals. She’s definitely a playmaker for sure.”

Arundel freshman Morgan Gore, a starter, tested Barnhill’s defenses again for the Wildcats, but the keeper pocketed it.

Soon, the game was quickly stalled by heavy traffic in the midfield, where the ball couldn’t really move out of for most of the first half. And though the Bulldogs had a bench that eclipsed the size of the Wildcats, a steady cycle of fresh legs hadn’t given Southern the advantage it needed.

The Bulldogs ended the first half without a shot on goal. Low shooting has been a nagging issue for Southern, per coach Brooke Walsh, and will be a focus in pre-playoffs practice.

“They were very out-possessing us, just pinging the ball around,” she said. “I think we kind of were doing too much chasing and diving in. When one or two people started, it infiltrates a whole team and we start getting frantic.”

For some time, the second half mirrored the first, with both teams swapping brief control in just 90 yards of the field or less. Southern made a switch in goal, changing out Barnhill for fellow senior Sarah Ward.

But then, good luck befell the Wildcats. With just 26 minutes on the clock, Arundel earned a penalty kick.

“Sara [Davis is] normally pretty cool, calm and collected in situations like that,” McWilliams said. “She’s normally my go-to for something like that.”

Said Davis: “I was really nervous, but I knew this could be a big game-changer and set the tempo for the rest. “So I did.” Davis lined up behind the ball, swung a hot-pink-socked leg back and struck.

The ball rocketed past Ward for a goal.