Bobcats impress, move to 5-0

In what had been billed as a battle between star goalies, Bel Air’s offense shines and manages to steal the show

A tightly contested, defense-dominated girls soccer game was expected when No. 3 Notre Dame Prep visited No. 5 Bel Air on Monday night — the teams featuring All-Metro goalies and organized defenses in front of them.

But the host Bobcats’ offense — finding corners on its scoring chances — stole the show.

Rebekah Riley scored twice and Lexi Kraemer added a goal and assist — all three goals placed out of the reach of Notre Dame Prep standout Ashley Gabor — as Bel Air came away with an impressive 3-0 win over the Blazers. Bel Air’s defense was up to the challenge, with goalie Andrea Sipos’ only considerable test coming with four minutes to play.

Bel Air improved to 5-0 on the season, while Notre Dame Prep fell to 1-2-1.

With an extended layoff between games, the Bobcats used much of their practice time finishing scoring chances, working on placement. It showed Monday.

“We just came back from a10-day break, and we were working really hard on our touches and our shooting and not really hitting shots with power, but hitting them to the corner. I think we really showed improvement tonight,” Riley said.

After Riley provided a 1-0 halftime lead, the Bobcats stayed opportunistic to put the game away in the second 40 minutes.

Juliana Portera won a ball on the right and sent a pass to the middle for Kraemer, who made a sharp cut to set up a left-footed shot from the 18-yard mark that curled inside the left post to make it 2-0 with 26:56 to play.

Riley added her second goal midway through the second half, taking a through ball from Haley Seabolt and finishing from 15 yards to push the advantage to 3-0.

The Blazers were able to possess the ball and build up, but faltered in the final third with the Bobcats defense — Carolyn Doheny, Natalie Neff, Grace Wehland and Katie McGrain — provided strong support for Sipos, who needed to make just three saves.

“From a young age, you’re always drilled to go to the far post and keep the ball low,” Bel Air coach Josh Clemmer said. “But we’ve been really focusing, when you know you’re going up against a really high-quality keeper, you have to almost over-focus on the shots you take. It’s not the amount, not the pressure — it’s the type of shots when you have the opportunities and our players took advantage of those tonight.”

Scoring chances were limited in an evenly played first half, and it was the Bobcats who were able to break through with Riley’s goal 15 minutes into play.

Kraemer provided the assist, collecting a poor clear from Gabor on the left side and quickly finding Riley on the same side. Riley made the most of the rare time and space, unleashing a left-footed shot from15 yards out that found the lower far corner. It was the first shot on goal for either team and one of only three in the first half.

The Blazers had more possession time in the first 40 minutes — particularly early — but their combinations were eventually disrupted by Bel Air’s tidy defense once near the penalty area. The visitors’ first shot on goal came with 3:17 to play before the break when Alyssa Minnick’s shot from 20 yards went right to Sipos for an easy save.