Warriors lose to Patriots in OT
Northern breaks 4-game skid with win over La Plata
Times had been tough for Northern’s boys soccer team in the weeks following its 2-1 overtime win over Patuxent on Sept. 25.
In the period since, the Patriots had dropped four straight decisions, with three of the losses of the one-goal variety. And things were following a rather similar path through 80-plus minutes on Friday afternoon, as the Patriots went to overtime with the visiting La Plata Warriors locked in a scoreless duel.
But when Chris Evans found Ben Pigg in front of the La Plata goal late in the overtime session, Pigg made sure Northern’s skid came to an end, depositing a shot into the net to finally put the Patriots back in the win column by virtue of the 1-0 decision in the Southern Maryland Athletic Conference crossover matchup.
“I just took my time, placed the ball into the corner and hoped the goalie didn’t get there,” Pigg said of the scoring sequence. “It went in.”
Seconds before, Evans had the ball at his feet and made the play that gave Pigg the opportunity to bring the game to its end.
“Ethan Droneberger passed me the ball on the left side and the only option I had was to cross it. I saw Ben right there, so I crossed it in for Ben to get the finish,” Evans said. “It feels great. We were on a four-game losing streak and we finally got one. This leads us on the road to more wins. It’s just a start for the playoffs.”
For the previous 80-plus minutes, neither team was able to find a way to break through. But for La Plata head coach Chris Butler, whose team was scheduled to play McDonough on Tuesday and is scheduled to cap the regular season at St. Charles at 6 p.m. Friday, the margin between the teams at Northern came down to the Patriots’ ability to get the ball down in front of the Warriors’ goal more consistently.
“Both teams played hard,” Butler said. “I was impressed with the way both teams played. My guys couldn’t seem to string passes together, so we didn’t get as much pressure down there. I thought in the midfield it was a 50-50 game the whole time. They had chances, we had chances. I don’t think we made them run at their own goal enough. We didn’t put the ball in the danger areas enough like we could have, and I think that was the difference in the game, especially in overtime.
“They put the ball in the dangerous areas and we didn’t do enough of that. I think that’s why we lost. Credit to them, they played well. I think my guys played hard. We could have put some passes together, but they played hard. Sometimes you’re going to lose close games like that . ... I was proud of the effort that they gave, and that’s all you can ask.”
With just a pair of games left on its regular season schedule, La Plata (6-4 overall) sits in the driver’s seat in the SMAC Potomac Division race as the team is a spotless 4-0.
At 1-3 in the SMAC Chesapeake Division standings, Northern (55) is not in the race for its division crown, but after enduring a tough stretch is hoping that Friday afternoon’s win will be the catalyst for good things as the regular season winds down and the postseason begins. Northern had a home date with Calvert on the schedule for Tuesday night, and then is scheduled to play its regular season finale at Great Mills at 6 p.m. Thursday
“It was a crazy tough week for us,” Northern head coach John Rossi said. “We lost Jack [Fiacco], our starting midfielder, to injury earlier this week, and we had back-to-back road trips to St. Mary’s, so it was just a long week. I’m proud of the guys. They fought hard and it was a battle. La Plata’s a very good team . ... I’m proud that they got it done in overtime. Hopefully things will go up from here.”