Raiders work in tandem for triumph
Baranoski, Nowowieski help Loch Raven storm past host Comets for second victory
If Catonsville girls soccer fans didn’t know whether Loch Raven seniors Celina Baranoski and Elyssa Nowowieski had ever played together, all they had to do was come out to Wednesday’s 3-0 victory by the Raiders before the storms hit at Catonsville.
The dynamic duo have played four years of varsity ball together at Loch Raven and beyond that.
“We actually used to play when we were younger together, Nowowieski said. “We played club ball together too.”
“We played when we were really young,” Baranoski added.”
They were involved in the scoring of all three goals.
The first came in the 17th minute when Nowowieski chased Baranoski’s long ball and rammed it home for a 1-0 lead.
“They (Baranoski and Nowowieski) picked their moments and they took over when they needed too,” Catonsville coach Ricky Sanchez said.
Catonsville’s best scoring opportunities in the first half came early, but Kolby Weedon’s dangerous cross was cleared by Loch Raven’s Savannah Scott and Lilly Mellendick’s shot was saved by goalie Grace Shamer (11 saves).
After the Raiders (2-3-1) scored, they added four more shots on goal, including two by Baranoski and one by Nowowieski, but all were saved by Catonsville keeper Hailey Murray (seven saves).
Loch Raven extended its lead early in the second half when Nowowieski scored after Baranoski sent her a pass just outside the box.
“She played it across and I hit it and then it bounced off of her (defender) and it came back and then I hit far post,” Nowoieski said.
“I know where she wants to run, and me at center midfield and her up top, we work well together,” Baranoski said.
That goal came in the first two minutes of the second half and, after Catonsville’s Abbi Boehl barely missed a wide shot, Baranoski scored on a breakaway, just over four minutes into the half for a 3-0 lead.
“We were on fire there in the second half, we got a little confidence going, played a little bit quicker getting to balls and we were able to put some away,” Loch Raven coach Anthony Menegatti said. “I was real proud Loch Raven’s Elyssa Nowowieski controls the ball during the first half of the Raiders’ victory over host Catonsville on Wednesday. Nowowieski had a part in all three of Loch Raven’s goals in the 3-0 triumph. She scored the first goal and added an insurance goal in the second half. of how they came out and took charge there and we had senior leadership out there with Celina and Elyssa and they seemed to finish, which I’ve seen so many times over the last four years.”
Nowowieski said, “We knew that we couldn’t lower the intensity and we knew they were going to come out mad too, so we knew we had to put one away early so they would kind of get down and we could just keep going at them.”
Catonsville had five quality chances to score early in the second half, after trailing 3-0, but none of the shots connected.
Weedon’s fastbreak ended with a shot barely wide and Boehl had one just off the mark.
A point-blank shot by Riley Scott was rejected by Shamer and the rebound came to Weedon, but her shot hit the crossbar.
Finally, the fifth chance in just over a minute, by Sophie Brooks, was saved and the Comets never seriously threatened again.
Sanchez lamented the missed scoring chances from his 1-5 squad.
“They get them, they’ve just got to put them away,” he said.