Meade shuts out Severna Park
Loring, Guy score in victory over Severna Park
In the past two seasons, the Meade boys soccer team had its season end in heartbreaking fashion at the hands of Severna Park.
The Falcons eliminated the Mustangs in the region semifinal in consecutive years, something Meade hasn't forgotten.
Even though it wasn't a playoff game, the Mustangs wanted to make a statement when they traveled to play the Falcons Thursday.
Thanks to goals by Chris Loring and Isaiah Guy as well as some stout defending, the Mustangs (5-1) sent a message, winning 2-0 in the first boys soccer game ever played at George Roberts Field at Severna Park High School.
“After what's happened the past two years, we knew this was an important game for us,” Meade's Ezekiel Ayilola said. “We've lost the past two years in the playoffs on the road so we felt it was essential to try and win tonight and get the playoff game at home.”
Ayilola, normally a midfielder, dropped into a center back role early in the game after the Falcons (4-2) were
able to muster some early pressure, including having the first shot of the game clang the right post, a fortunate break for Meade that coach Michael Banach was quick to correct.
“I thought Ezekiel could help us deep because we were getting beat early with some balls over the top,” Banach said. “Zeke has some height and bit of pace to help control that.”
After enduring pressure early, the Mustangs started to control the game and create opportunities.
Their first goal, however, came out of nothing and from quite a distance.
After the Falcons cleared a threat, Loring settled the clearance, made a move to create space and curled one into the top right corner from 35 yards away.
“I did a couple of moves to get space,” Loring said. “That's my technique, to cut inside and try and hit a good shot with my right foot.”
It was quite an introduction for the senior transfer, who was tasting his first matchup with the Falcons after moving to Meade from Kentucky.
Leading 1-0 at the half, Meade continued to generate pressure as the second half started and it resulted in a fortuitous bounce to pad the lead.
Guy made a dashing run up the right sideline before cutting back and firing on net. His shot deflected off an oncoming Falcon defender and trickled in the net to make it 2-0 Mustangs with 30 minutes to play.
Severna Park dialed up the pressure in response, particularly through the speed and movement of Nathan Carey, but couldn't find the time or space to truly threaten thanks to the inspired efforts of the Mustang back four, particularly Ayilola and Evan Marx.
“Our back line did a great job of communicating and making sure there were no gaps,” Banach said. “We have a message that we take it one game at a time and prepare week to week. I'm happy for the guys. It really means a lot to them.”
Severna Park finally found the space to create quality shots inside the last two minutes of the game, but both times goalkeeper Shane Steele was there to parry them away.
Steele made seven saves to preserve the shutout, while his counterpart, Braden Mondor, was solid in the Falcon net and stopped six shots.
While the early season win is nice, Banach knows that if they are to erase the heartache of the past two postseasons, they will have to continue to elevate their game as the season progresses.
“We need to raise our game a level if we are to beat them when it counts,” Banach said.