Bruins hang on in ‘intense environment’
Broadneck’s seventh straight win secures Anne Arundel County title
After John Vaaler made a save in the first round of penalty kicks Tuesday night against Meade, former Broadneck and University of Maryland goalkeeper standout Cody Niedermeier, now a Broadneck assistant coach, lightly pounded his chest and yelled at his senior netminder. “That is all heart right there!” It took every ounce of heart and hustle for the Bruins to emerge victorious over the Mustangs on penalty kicks, 4-1, to win the Anne Arundel County championship game at Chesapeake High on Tuesday night. The teams were tied 2-2 through regulation and two overtime periods, setting the stage for the penalty kicks phase.
“That was an intense environment and we had a lot of fun,” said Ethan Romito, who scored a goal and assisted on another for the Bruins (13-2), who have won seven straight going into the playoffs. “We played for each other, we played our butts off, and we did what we had to do to beat Meade.”
The Bruins defeated Meade (11-3-1) on Thursday evening to close out the regular season, but this was a different affair than that 3-0 shutout. The Mustangs were moving early as both Tosin Ayokunle and Erick Anariba had chances early. Romito began Broadneck’s counter, testing Meade goalkeeper Shane Steele (eight saves) in the 14th minute by stretching him wide to his right on a shot. Just over a minute later, Meade got on the board.
Ayokunle sent a long throw in that bounced off a couple players before landing right to Evan Marx. The defender scored his second goal of the season in the 16th minute. That was the first goal surrendered by the Bruins in six games, but they did not hang their heads. Instead, they responded immediately. Broadneck went down the field right away and earned a corner kick. Steele was only able to get one hand on it and Romito finished for his team-leading eighth goal, just 40 seconds after Marx’s tally.
“Ethan was on tonight; he played very well,” Broadneck coach Sean Tettemer said. “He has had a great season and done a great job displaying leadership. People feed off of him.”
Romito was not done by a long shot. With just under seven minutes to play, he made a great individual effort to control the ball in the left corner, and lofted a cross Broadneck teammates rush to Ethan Loftis (12), whose penalty-kick goal clinched a victory over Meade in the Anne Arundel County boys soccer championship game. into the middle for teammate Tyler Madairy, who gave the Bruins a 2-1 lead with 6:32 to play in the first half. Romito was all over the field. “It was a big day in front of a big crowd, and you just have to do what you have to do,” Romito said. “Both of these teams — this was a really good battle. Both teams have attributes that lead them down the field.”
Romito’s hustle and effort exemplified his team’s tenacity.
“Broadneck is the kind of team that is going to keep coming at you all night,” Meade coach Mike Banach said.
The same can be said for Banach’s boys, who make all opponents uncomfortable while holding possession.
“That is an exceptional team that will not give you the time to do anything with the ball,” Tettemer said.
The Mustangs came in waves at the end of the first into the second half. Leandro Nasso sent a near-post offering high and Vaaler had to make a big save on Alfredo Midence at the end of the first half. Ayokunle, Silas Baker and Chris Loring continued to probe into the middle of the second. Anariba sent a pass over to Ayokunle, who hit it past Vaaler into the far post for his team-leading 12th goal of the season in the 56th minute.
Steele kept his team even with some big saves down the stretch. He made a stop on Madairy with 11 minutes to play and had a one-handed parry 30 seconds later on Kyle Waggoner. Not to be outdone, Vaaler (five saves) was strong in the back late and in overtime for Broadneck, when Meade controlled the majority of possession.
“I thought we competed exceptionally well and did enough to put up a fight against Meade,” Tettemer said. “We were not doing much in the middle late, so we defended right in front of the back line. Our backs, Reilly Joyce and Joey Orofino and Aaron Lawrence and John Robillard, all had big games.
As the game went to penalty kicks, Romito calmly buried his opening attempt and then Vaaler made the big stop. “John made a hell of a save,” Romito said. Mikey Johnson and Madairy followed by making their kicks, and Ethan Loftis made his to end the game.
“We had our hands full all night,” said Tettemer, whose Bruins earned the No. 2 seed in the Class 4A East Region Section II and will host North Point on Tuesday at 5 p.m. “Playing an outstanding opponent this time of year is only going to help us.”
Meade has the No. 1seed in Section I and will host the winner of Thursday night’s Old Mill-North County game Tuesday at 6 p.m.
“We had some opportunities in the second half and overtime to put the game away,” Banach said. “Against a team like that, if you don’t, it will come back to get you. It was positive that we got another game against a high-quality opponent going into the playoffs.”