Falcons gain their revenge at right time

Severna Park senior Toni Fiocco-Mizer knew this would be the year she’d finally defeat her rival, South River, on its home turf.

What she didn’t know is that she’d be the one to do it. And yet, as freshman Ava Schultz descended on the ball and cut it her way in double overtime, time seemed to stop. Fiocco-Mizer thought to herself, wouldn’t it be funny if Schultz assisted my goal?

In reality, it was all over in mere seconds, as Fiocco-Mizer ripped a sky-high goal to the top of the net and brought Severna Park its first win of the season over the Seahawks, 2-1, the Class 4A East Region II crown and vengeance against South River for edging them in the county championship — all in one fell swoop.

“It felt great,” Fiocco-Mizer said. “I knew this wasn’t the end. I know we’ve got a lot more to come. States, here we come. It was our turn to win.”

Fiocco-Mizer had played a supporting role earlier in the night, breaking through the scoreless lock to feed Schultz’s secondhalf goal, which is why it felt so perfect for her to team up with the freshman again to clinch the section title.

“She’s the emotional leader of the group, drives us forward all the time,” Severna Park coach Rick Stimpson said of Fiocco-Mizer. “For her to get the (game-winner) is awesome.”

Both teams were accustomed at this point to long droughts without scores, having slogged to a 0-0 draw in early October and a one-goal finish in overtime last Monday.

With two games gone without any scoring success, the Falcons (13-2-2) rearranged their attacking formation.

“We went to a really direct approach,” Fiocco-Mizer said. “We usually play possession and we watched film, went over stuff and realized it would be better just to get their defense turned around and get onto the ball. That’s really what helped us, that strategy right there.”

But South River (16-1-2), far from willing to let their match best them this time, wouldn’t budge on the backline. Though both teams swapped periods of time in which a goal seemed promised, pure physics – and solid defense – kept the score empty. As the first half wound down, freshman back Alana Morris’ shot skimmed the mouth of the goal; Kylie Lopez tried to pot the rebound, but nothing but air touched the back of the net.

In the second, as like in the first, drives sputtered out on the boots of backs or in the steady grasp of keepers Katie Byrd (Severna Park) and Julia Cobb (South River).

The Seahawks churned out set-piece opportunities, earning five corners in four minutes, but at the end, the Falcons managed to fend their hosts off, anchored by senior midfielder Lena McLaughlin.

“(South River) had opportunities, we had to ride our luck at times. They’re a great team and really well-coached – causes a lot of problems,” Stimpson said. “But we managed to get some players into the box a little more this time, be a little more dangerous around their goal. Paid off in the end.”

After Fiocco-Mizer’s launch fizzled out like so many attempted goals already, Schultz leapt into a fray of Seahawks backs, picked possession up and unleashed the first regulation goal between these two near-equals this fall.

The Seahawks wouldn’t let that fact faze them.

Senior midfielder Sophia MichalskiCooper stormed Byrd, driving one shot that bounced off the Falcons keeper. In a flash, Michalski-Cooper scooped up the rebound and whipped it in.

“This is one of the few times we’ve been down a goal, so I was very happy we fought to get that back,” South River coach John Sis said.