Lenkart wins it in OT for Seahawks
After playing to a scoreless draw just three weeks ago, the South River and Severna Park girls soccer teams knew that goals were going to be difficult to come by in Monday night’s Anne Arundel County championship game.
So when the ball fell to Madeline Lenkart nearly four minutes into overtime off a partially cleared corner, she didn’t hesitate, blasting a shot into the top left corner of the net to give the Seahawks a 1-0 victory and avenging last year’s defeat to the Falcons in the county championship.
“At the end there we were pushing hard and definitely getting a lot of opportunities,” Lenkart said. “We knew that it was coming, we had some opportunities early where it was bouncing around in there and we just couldn’t finish.
“Coach told us before overtime that someone is going to have to step up by putting it all out there to get these opportunities and we need to finish them. Severna Park is just a great program. We’ve been scoreless against them for two straight games, basically, so when you get an opportunity like that, you have to capitalize on it because they don’t give that up that often.”
South River had perhaps its best opportunity just 40 seconds into the game as some slick passing from the right flank presented a golden opportunity, but Severna Park goalie Katie Byrd was off her line quickly to block the potential scoring threat. Byrd finished with nine saves for the Falcons.
Heading into overtime, South River coach John Sis knew his squad’s best opportunity would come off a set piece.
“Sometimes as players, we are so worried about the last one we missed, we are not worried about the next one that comes,” Sis said. “We weren’t getting in off the run of play. So when you are having trouble scoring off the run of play, then you have to resort to your set pieces, so I was glad we finally put one in.”
It was Madalyn Bonzella who delivered the corner that the Falcons were unable to clear, setting up Lenkart for her gamewinner.
While the Falcons were stingy on defense, the Seahawks have been unrelenting, having gone 11 consecutive games without conceding a goal. Make that 12, thanks to Julia Cobb’s five safes and a stout defensive effort from her back four in front of her.
“I have Morgan [McLean] as my center back, I’ve known her for a very long time, I’ve known all my center backs for a very long time,” Cobb said. “We just have great communication with each other and we know what each other needs, and I think that helps.”
For Severna Park coach Rick Stimpson, it was a strong effort that the Falcons can build off as they head into their playoff matchup with Leonardtown next week.
“They always come out fighting,” Stimpson said. “They gave the effort we were looking for today, and on another day with a different bounce here and there, it would be a different result.”
Boys soccer
No. 10 Towson 2, No. 9 Hereford 1, OT: Towson junior Elijah Alexander scored off an assist from Will Derbyshire 33 seconds into overtime to give the Generals (10-1) a 2-1 win over Hereford (11-3-1) in the Baltimore County championship game.
David Hutch also scored for Towson and Logan Devaney had an assist.
Hereford’s Jack Wickiser scored for the Bulls and Logan Kauffman had the assist.
No. 5 Loyola Blakefield 2, No. 7 Calvert Hall 0: The visiting Dons got second-half goals from Chase Llewellyn and Kwaku Marfo-Sarbeng to claim a key Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association A Conference win.
Loyola Blakefield (9-4-2) solidified its spot in second place in the league’s Black Division with a 7-3-2 mark for 23 points.
Calvert Hall remains in third place with a 6-5-1 league mark for 19 points.
No. 15 Annapolis 2, Meade1, OT: Anderson Iriarte Herrera scored in overtime to lift the Panthers to the Anne Arundel County championship.
Lila Slattery reaffirmed her power over Arundel as she scored four minutes into the first half, delivering Severna Park the goal it needed to claim this year’s Anne Arundel County championship, 2-1.
The Wildcats knew Slattery would be their No. 1 priority. After all, she had notched both goals to avenge Severna Park’s previous defeat to Arundel, the team that clipped their playoff aspirations short last year.
But when the senior wheeled on goalkeeper Savannah Brooks and the Wildcats defense, Slattery seemed to part the seas, slinging her shot through an opening to nail the inside corner.
Down by one goal early, Arundel struggled to work around an impermeable Severna Park defense, as well as a movement of play often switched around by the whistle’s call.
Wildcats junior Grace Johnson led the effort to open lanes of travel in the first half, but always had her breakaways thwarted by the Falcons’ trio of Lauren Aguilar, Zoe Day and Carson Smith. Though Arundel recovered its rhythm late in the half, it wouldn’t quite find the one it needed to surprise Severna Park.