Glenelg girls beat Hereford for 2A crown

Gladiators’ defense makes its stand to claim program’s 7th state title and 1st since 2008

Going into Saturday’s Class 2A state championship game, Glenelg sophomore forward Stephanie Lathrop had already made a major impact.

It turns out she saved her best for last in a tightly contested final against Hereford.

Lathrop scored her school-record 28th goal of the season to break the tie with 17:05 to play, and a strong defensive effort protected the advantage as the No. 9 Gladiators celebrated a 2-1 win over Hereford at Loyola Maryland’s Ridley Athletic Complex.

Glenelg closed the season with a 15-2 mark to claim the program’s seventh state title and first since 2008.

Lathrop’s 28th goal of the season was her 81st career point — 37 goals and seven assists — tying her with 2004 graduate Meghan Haspert atop the program’s all-time list.

Pressuring a defender on the left side,

Lathrop won the ball, took a few dribbles into the penalty area and aimed high at the near post with a left-footed shot from 14 yards.

“I took my space and I saw the near post was open, so I hit it with my left foot and it went in,” she said. “It’s a feeling you really can’t describe. In the moment you’re like cheering … you just can’t describe it — incredible.”

The Gladiators were coming off 100 minutes of scoreless play in last week’s semifinal against Eastern Tech, advancing on penalty kicks.

On Saturday, they finally broke through when Brianna Werner went high to the far post on a free kick from 25 yards for a 1-0 lead with 15:55 left in the first half. But the Bulls (13-5) got the game tied later in the half when senior Lauren Orner converted a penalty kick after a teammate was taken down in the penalty area.

Glenelg second-year coach Vicente D’Antuono, who led the Gladiators to the Howard County tournament championship in last year’s condensed spring season, applauded his team’s consistent performance throughout this year’s campaign.

“The kids from Day 1 have put in a tremendous amount of effort, what they’ve been asked to do, how they’ve been asked to play and how they’ve been asked to work together as a unit, and it just really pays off,” he said.

Harford Tech boys fall short

Parkside senior forward Brady Mancha scored the game’s only goal Saturday to lift the Rams past Harford Tech boys soccer, 1-0, in the Class 2A state championship game at Loyola Maryland’s Ridley Athletic Complex.

The Cobras (11-6) had a handful of chances, but couldn’t put anything in the net.

“We just didn’t play our best game,” Cobras coach Mike Dempsey said. “We had some opportunities early that just didn’t bounce our way, two balls that ricocheted off the post.”

Broadneck girls suffer first loss

The Broadneck girls soccer team’s hearts broke twice Saturday.

Once when its four-year starter and program leader, Eva Mowery, collapsed midway through the second half.

Then again when the Maryland Public Secondary Schools Athletic Association handed them their “finalist” plaque and crowned Walt Whitman champions.

Though the Bruins surged in the final three minutes — scoring on a shot from senior Sadie Wilkinson — the Vikings’ goals in each half proved enough to down the top-seeded Bruins, 2-1, in the Class 4A state final. It was the first loss of the season for Broadneck (21-1-1).

“Tonight’s game was a good indicator of what the team’s made of,” Broadneck coach John Camm said. “When things didn’t go our way tonight, we still hung in there, still fought.”