C Conference

Indian Creek 1, Key 1 (Indian Creek wins 6-5 on penalty kicks): Having struggled with his penalty kick form in practice leading up to Sunday’s MIAA C championship match, Indian Creek’s sophomore Danny Swope was anything but thrilled and a little surprised to be stepping to the penalty spot for a chance to win the match during a sudden victory penalty kick session against top-seeded Key.

The same, however, cannot be said about Swope’s demeanor shortly after he toed the line as his line-drive strike found the back of the net past a diving effort by Key goalkeeper Luke Nespole to give the Eagles a 1-1 (6-5 on penalty kicks) victory at the Community College of Baltimore CountyEssex.

“Honestly, I didn’t think I’d even be taking one,” said Swope when asked if he had a placement in mind for his gamewinning penalty kick, which secured second-seeded Indian Creek’s first conference championship since 2015 and third overall. “I wasn’t very good at taking them in practice, but when I got up there, I did it. I don’t even feel like its even real life right now.”

Swope’s score came after both goalkeepers each saved a shot and immediately followed a miss by Key’s Marshall Tanz, whose attempt sailed over the goal. That was one of several near misses by the regular-season champion Obezags (13-4-1) during the 100-plus minutes of action, which allowed Indian Creek, a 3-0 loser to Key earlier this season, to stay in the contest.

“I felt like in the second half, we had our opportunities and we needed that second goal and we didn’t get it,” said Key coach Dylan Lewis, whose squad took a 1-0 lead in the first half on a goal by Juan FernandezPerez and dominated possession for much of the second half of regulation, but the Obezags could not find the back of the net due to solid defense in the back third by the Eagles and some timely saves by Levi Kline. “They fed off any set plays and free kicks and they scored on one. Credit to them for hanging strong.”