No. 12 Glenelg girls soccer beats Hereford
No. 1 Arundel volleyball advances to state semifinals
Glenelg girls soccer found itself in uncharted territory trailing Hereford by two goals in the 31st minute Friday night. But the Gladiators didn’t flinch, mounting an immediate response.
Junior Stephanie Lathrop scored on a free kick less than a minute after the Bulls’ second goal. She added another goal in the second half, as did Ginny Sung, to lift No. 12 Glenelg to a 3-2 come-from-behind win over Hereford at Gaithersburg High.
The Gladiators advance to their second straight Class 2A state championship game and will face the winner of Century and Sparrows Point.
“We know that the game’s not over no matter what the score is,” Lathrop said. “There’s still lots of time to play and honestly just getting in the best position to help the team out is what I wanted to do the best.”
In a rematch of last year’s Class 2A state championship game the Gladiators won, 2-1, Hereford started fast. The Bulls had four corner kicks in the opening 10 minutes, and Lauren Orner knocked in a cross from Ainsley Yates in the eighth minute. Hereford nearly doubled its lead 10 minutes later, but a shot ricocheted of the crossbar. They doubled the lead in the 31st minute after a cross bounced over Gladiators goalie Bella Buscher’s head and Lindsey Moneymaker chipped it in.
“We’ve been here before and we looked like we’ve been here before,” Hereford coach Brad Duvall said of the fast start. “That’s what I told them, I said, ‘That’s a young team over there with a couple of real good superstars returning.’ Just knowing that almost every one of these kids has played at this level and the next game, so taking advantage of that for the first 15 minutes. I knew Glenelg was going to settle in.”
The Gladiators did exactly that on Lathrop’s free kick in the 32nd minute. Howard County’s second leading scorer didn’t miss the set piece opportunity, trimming the Bulls’ lead to one after they seemingly had all of the momentum. Hereford held a 2-1 advantage at the break, but that quickly changed to start the second half.
“Their ability and strengths, they weren’t able to showcase in the first half,” Glenelg coach Vincente D’Antuono said. “The fact that the game still had 40 minutes left, we were fortunate to be [trailing] at 2-1 at half. The kids keep believing, keep working and striving and putting things together. It’s fun. They’re a great group of kids.”
Forty-six seconds into the second half, the Bulls were called for a handball in the box. That set up a penalty kick opportunity for Lathrop, who buried the shot inside the lower right corner of the net. Back even once again, Glenelg’s attack surged forward.
Two minutes later, Isabelle Brought delivered a cross to Sung toward the far post. Sung didn’t miss the high-quality chance, chipping the ball past Annabelle Grenzer for the Gladiators’ first lead of the evening.
“It was a beautiful ball,” Sung said of the pass that set up her goal. “We were working on taking the line, crossing it in. That’s what we’ve been working on at practice.”
Trailing for the first time all evening, Hereford sought the equalizer. They nearly found it in the 65th minute, as Yates’ shot rolled just wide of goal. That wasn’t her last high-quality chance, however, as she narrowly missed a low angle shot in the 78th minute. By then, time on the Bulls’ comeback hopes began to dwindle.
Glenelg spent the final 90 seconds keeping the ball away from Buscher on the Bulls’ side of the field. Soon after, the final whistle blew, sending the Gladiators sprinting toward Buscher in celebration. Their jubilation carried over to the Gladiators’ fans, who watched both the boys and girls programs cement their spots in next week’s state championship games at Loyola Maryland.
“It’s another great opportunity on the table that we’ve got to cherish, enjoy and work for,” Lathrop said.
Volleyball
Arundel 3, Dulaney 0: Audrey Owens had 12 kills and 10 digs to lead No. 1 Arundel to a dominant 25-12, 25-13, 25-10 triumph over visiting Dulaney (12-6) in the Class 4A state quarterfinals.
Arundel’s Payton Swinton (eight kills), Kiara Harmon (seven kills) and Taylor
Johnson (six kills) added to the balanced attack that was orchestrated by setter Emily Liu (31 assists).
Arundel (17-0) advances to the state semifinals on Monday against Bowie. The Wildcats will go for the school’s third state championship after winning in 2019 and 2021. There was no tournament in 2020 because of the coronavirus pandemic.
“They are the best team in the state,” Dulaney coach Cary Lyon said. “I’d be shocked if they didn’t win it again.”
Arundel’s Taylor Johnson, who had a team-high five aces, played on both state championship teams and is ready for the challenge.
“As a team our goal is to win a state championship, but also to work together, stay together,” she said. “It’s been a long ride, we’ve worked so hard and I think everybody has worked together and held each other accountable.”
Yuscavage said her team rarely talked about winning another state title, but now they are just two wins away.
“We focus on what we need to do to get better and did we get better today,” she said.
— Craig Clary
Liberty 3, Calvert 0: The Lions earned a sweep, 25-22, 25-15, 25-16, in the Class 2A state quarterfinals. Liberty’s Sarah Hart had 10 kills, two blocks, two aces and nine digs. Paige Coulson added eight kills, two aces
and four digs. Jenna Liska had five kills, two aces and six digs. Grace Maertin added 23 assists, four aces, two kills and four digs. MacKenna Wright had three kills and five blocks.
Hereford 3, Fallston 0: The Bulls swept the Cougars, 25-27, 17-25, 20-25, in the Class 2A state quarterfinals. Renae Gent led all hitters with 11 kills and Sam Conrad added 17 assists for Fallston, which lost to Hereford in the postseason for the second year in a row.
Northern-Calvert 3, Bel Air 0: The Bobcats (16-2) had their season and playoff run end Friday in a three-set sweep (25-19, 25-22, 25-10). Megan Cassaday led the way for the Bobcats with four kills, and Anaiah Lewis and Kayden Hardenbrook both added three. Also chipping in was Anna Kane (2 kills, 2 aces, 8 assists), Brooke Hopkins (2 kills) and Tia Pegler (1 kill, 7 assists).
Churchill 3, South River 0: The Seahawks’ season ended in the Class 4A state quarterfinals.
Crofton 3, Centennial 2: The Cardinals advanced to their first-ever Class 3A state semifinal by beating the previously undefeated Eagles in five sets.