Rams lose to Hurricanes
Huntingtown girls score three second-half goals to win SMAC title
Tuesday night, Huntingtown’s girls soccer team waited for an opportunity to capitalize and take control of the Southern Maryland Athletic Conference championship game at North Point High School.
The moment finally came for the Hurricanes with the second-half clock ticking down towards 21 minutes remaining, when Julia Yuhase was able to deliver that elusive first goal against the McDonough Rams. From there, McDonough’s tight defense was forced to loosen up a bit as Huntingtown proceeded to win the conference title by a 3-0 decision.
“We had 95 percent of the possession in the first half,” Hurricanes head coach Charlie Raphael said of the first 40 minutes, which ended with the teams locked in a scoreless tie. “We just told them we have to keep going. [McDonough] was disciplined. They stayed back and kept their spots which made it tough to get behind, but if you keep going, it opens up a little more. As soon as you score one they have to change their game plan . ... It took a little bit of patience.”
After Yuhase’s initial tally, Huntingtown (13-0 overall) was able to add couple of insurance goals. First, Mia Issac scored to cap off a pretty passing display to increase the lead to 2-0 with roughly nine minutes to play. Later, Issac set up Janelle Ridgewell for the Hurricanes’ third and final goal of the game with just less than four minutes showing on the scoreboard clock.
“I think that we came out strong but just couldn’t finish in the first half,” Issac said. “It was good that we came out and were way more patient in the second half in front of the goal and really figured out how to break down their defense. We just came out and gave it all we had, because we knew we wanted
this. It feels good to win it.”
McDonough (12-3), which earned its spot in the SMAC final by virtue of a perfect run through its Potomac Division schedule, had dropped a 3-1 decision to the Chesapeake Divison-champion Hurricanes when the teams met on Oct. 3. For
close to three-quarters of Tuesday night’s rematch, the Rams held even.
“Our girls played hard,” McDonough head coach Dave Bradshaw said. “I thought that we came out and, first half, we knew how explosive they were attacking-wise and we had a good defensive plan. We continued to battle throughout the game. I’m very proud of the girls.
“After that first goal we knew that we’d have to
score a goal to tie it, so we had to adjust formation so we could play more of an attacking style and they ended up getting a couple on us. But I’m proud of the girls. I thought they played hard. I thought the goaltending was tremendous. We were able to overcome the great offensive attempts that they had. We just came up a little bit short.”
Seeded No. 1 in Section II of the Class 1A South Region, McDonough will open up the postseason in a section semifinal on Tuesday against the winner of a first-round matchup that has fifth-seeded CMIT South taking on fourth-seeded International School-Largo.
The Rams have won the region each of the past two seasons before ending their season in
the state semifinals. This year, the team will look to build upon those experiences and playing against Huntingtown, which finished as the 3A state runner-up a season ago, was as good a playoff tune-up a team could ask for.
“This is great for us, to play against a team of that level rolling into the playoffs,” Bradshaw said. “We obviously were really pushed today and we need to be able to get over those types of games to make it to that final game . ... To play against a great team like that really helps prepare us. We need to move on to our next goal which is to try to advance as far as we can in the state playoff system and just keep taking them one at a time. Just focus on Tuesday and try to play together as long as we can.”
Itself looking to improve on last year’s finish, Huntingtown has not suffered a loss through 13 regular season games.
“This team’s awesome,” Yuhase said. “We’ve had such a good year, undefeated 13-0. It’s a good feeling, it’s exciting.”
Huntingtown, the top seed in Section II of the 3A South Region, will open its playoff season in a section semifinal on Oct. 30, as well. The Hurricanes will take on the winner of a firstround matchup that has fifth-seeded St. Charles taking fourth-seeded Great Mills.
Given how close the team came to claiming the program’s second state title last November — a penalty-kick loss to Linganore of Frederick County — the ultimate goal is clear.
“Work more as a team,” Ridgewell said of what the team needs to do going forward. “If we do what we do best, possession, we’ll hopefully make it all the way.”
The Hurricanes have managed to get to the postseason with a spotless record, but Raphael believes his team can and needs to raise its performance as it moves ahead.
“I think we’re doing well enough to win. I don’t think we’ve reached where we should be yet,” he said. “But it’s great when you look and you’re 13-0 and you win SMAC. That’s great, but now the pressure builds and it gives us something else to go for. So now we’ve done this, let’s go forward now.”