Mt. Hebron girls soccer ties season-high with three goals in win over Glenelg

The Vikings didn't let up after intermission, as Kaitlin Rice pushed the cushion up to two about two minutes in to the second half.

Rice ran on to a deflected pass just inside the box and one-timed her shot top corner for the score.

"After Alexa put in the first one we were just like, 'We have this. We can win this game.' And we just put in two more in the back of the net afterword," Rice said. "It was just nice to put one in the net and to be apart of the win of today."

Mt. Hebron upped its lead about four minutes later after Glenelg's Courtney Renehan went up and got her hands on a header from Rice that was going into the net.

Renehan was given the red card for taking away the goal – forcing the Gladiators to play with 10 players for the 33 minutes remaining – and the Vikings were awarded a penalty kick.

Mt. Hebron's Mackenzie Folch stepped up and buried her attempt bottom right corner for the score.

"We had an off night and I think our inexperience is showing, our youth is showing. It's hard when you have starting sophomores and freshmen playing experienced juniors and seniors that will take its toll," said Glenelg coach Andrew Shearer. "We certainly exceeded expectations [this year], but we are still building as a program, so we're going to have our bumps in the road. We're going to have our hiccups. Like Howard and this game is a hiccup. It's a bump and how we respond is what is important really. It's just one of those nights, a bad night."

The Vikings out-shot the Gladiators 15-4 in the game, with Mt. Hebron goalkeeper Megan Pallozzi recording four saves and Henderson finishing with six stops.

"It felt like it was well deserved. It felt like it was a long time coming," Deppen said. "We were shutout in four of our last five games, so that is a long stretch to go without a goal and again, you got strikers up top who are extremely frustrated. You've got midfielders who are frustrated and then you got defense who is just getting shelled – it's just great for everybody, great for both sides of the field. Defense and Pallozzi is back there proud they got a shutout and our strikers were able to put it in the back of the net."

Mt. Hebron was in desperate need of a win. Since earning a solid victory over one of the county's best in Reservoir earlier this season, the Vikings have gone, 1-4 since. Even Rice felt this win came at a crucial time for her team.

"It was a really important thing. We had been losing the last couple games and we just needed to come out strong and win this one," she said. "I feel like we can win every game that we have for the rest of our season and I think we'll make a really big push when we play in playoffs."

"This is huge and it's a great time of year to happen too," Deppen added. "We have four games left in the regular season and then it's time for playoffs, so this is the right time to have confidence go up [and] to be shown a result you think you deserve, so yeah it's huge."

As for the Gladiators, after starting the season without a loss in their first six contests (going 4-0-2 in that span) they have lost three straight and have let up three goals in each of those losses, after conceding seven combined in their first six outings.

Although in a slump, Shearer and in his young club hope to learn from each defeat and keep improving with each outing.

"You just got to tell them to believe in yourself, believe in your team, believe in the philosophy, give it your best – it's just those buzz words that you got to give them," he said. "They are a great group. They're a cohesive group and they want it. We're just not connecting right now and this is a good learning experience for them to figure out what we're doing bad. How we learn from them and how we grow."

Glenelg and Mt. Hebron are back in action Monday, with both playing in rescheduled games, which originally were on Sept. 29. The Vikings travel to Marriotts Ridge for a 5:45 p.m. matchup, while the Gladiators visit Atholton, which is scheduled for a 5:30 p.m. start.

Mt. Heron (3-4 county, 5-5 overall) 3 Glenelg (2-3-2 county, 4-3-2 overall) 0 (Thursday, Oct. 6)

Goals: MH – Dragisics, Rice, Folch.

Saves: MH – Pallozzi 4; G – Henderson 6.

Halftime: 1-0, Mt. Hebron.

Around the league:

River Hill (5-1-1 county, 7-2-1 overall) 1, Howard (4-2-2 county, 5-3-2 overall) 0 (Thursday, Oct. 6)

The Hawks earned another huge win on Thursday, handing the visiting Lions just their second county loss of the season.

Two days after clinching the 2-1 victory over Atholton – scoring both goals in the final six minutes – sophomore Brigette Wang knocked in the go-ahead goal with four minutes remaining in regulation to give the Hawks their fifth-straight victory.

Junior Victoria Tran and freshman Jamie Caine were credited for the assist on the play, as River Hill closed out with the, 1-0, decision.

It was an even game in terms of shots, with the Hawks totaling nine attempts on net, while Howard registered eight targets.

Sophomore Jules Grasso finished with three saves in net for the Hawks, while Lions sophomore goalkeeper Mya McConnell ended with five stops.

Howard went into the game unbeaten in its previous six contest, with its last loss coming against Atholton in its opening county game of the year.

The Lions will look to get back on track on Monday, as they visit Oakland Mills, while the Hawks will have county championship implications on the line in their next outing, taking on Reservoir on its home turf on Tuesday.

Goals: RH – Wang.

Assists: RH – Tran, Caine.

Saves: RH – Grasso 3; Ho – McConnell 5.

Halftime: 0-0.

Centennial (5-2-1 county, 8-2-1 overall) 3, Wilde Lake (3-4-1 county, 3-5-1 overall) 1 (Thursday, Oct. 6)

The Eagles continued their hot play as of late and picked up their third-straight victory, handing the visiting Wildecats their fourth county loss of the year.

Centennial got on the board first, as Mckenna Griffin took advantage on a redirected ball by Peyton Wilkerson off a corner. Griffin guided her volley just over Wilde Lake sophomore goalkeeper Jenna Hutchison's head for the score.

The Wildecats registered five shots in the first 40 minutes, requiring Eagles sophomore goalkeeper Courtney McVicker (three saves) to come up with some big stops. McVicker pushed a high arcing shot over the cross bar early on in the half, then a few minutes later made a nice diving save to her left on a low shot heading into the corner of the net.

"Courtney has made big saves in the first half two games in a row," said Centennial coach Steve Baxter. "If she doesn't make those plays, who knows how the game unfolds."

However, Wilde Lake finally got one past McVicker with about 4:30 remaining in the first half. The Wildecats capitalized off an Eagles turnover around midfield, as senior Sahar Zoghi put away the goal, assisted by sophomore Julianna Bonner.

With the game knotted at one at the half, Baxter made some adjustments entering the following 40 minutes, which included moving McVicker to outside midfield and freshman Ashley Bilger (one save) in net.

Centennial pressed immediately after the second half whistle, which led to two more goals just eight minutes apart.

Senior Jasmine McCree scored the first second half goal, finishing off a pass from sophomore midfielder Ashley Molz about five minutes in. Molz then fed junior Kelli Dunagan with a ball through the back line of the Wilde Lake defense. Dunagan ran on to the pass and placed her shot past Hutchison (nine saves) for the goal.

Baxter moved McCree back to defensive mid alongside senior Cristina Narron to help preserve the 3-1 lead.

"Jasmine has been the ultimate team player, ready to drop in on defense to win games rather than worry about scoring goals," Baxter said. "Her consistent hard work cannot be ignored."

In Centennial's three-game winning streak, the Eagles have given up just the lone score to Greene and have put away 11 goals in that span. They will look to continue their impressive play on Thursday, Oct. 13 when they host Oakland Mills.

"Our defense continues to be very solid," added Baxter. "Our back line defense, led by senior Madi Griffin was solid again limiting shots from within the run of play."

As for Wildecats, they'll try and get back in the win column when they take on River Hill on Oct. 13. Both games are scheduled for 5:30 p.m.

Goals: C – Mc. Griffin, McCree, Dunagan; WL – Greene.

Assists: C – Wilkerson, Molz 2; WL – Bonner.

Saves: C – McVicker 3, Bilger 1; Hutchison 9.

Halftime: 1-1.

Atholton (6-1 county, 8-2 overall) 2, Marriotts Ridge 0 (2-3-2 county, 2-4-3 overall) 0 (Thursday, Oct. 6)

The Raiders bounced back from their first county loss of the season with a 2-0 victory over the Mustangs on Thursday.

Junior Sam Clearfield started the game off with a goal for Atholton with about 15 minutes left in the first half.

Sophomore Delaney Ensor doubled the lead for the Raiders with 25:21 remaining in regulation, capitalizing on a long ball played through.

Junior Bryce Bathras finished with one save for Atholton, while junior Emma Meininger recorded eight stops for the Mustangs.

Atholton hosts Glenelg in its next matchup on Monday, while Marriotts Ridge takes on Mt. Hebron at home.

Goals: A – Clearfield, D. Ensor.

Saves: A – Bathras 1; MR – Meininger 8.

Halftime:1-0, Atholton.

Long Reach (1-5-2 county, 1-6-1 overall) 3, Oakland Mills (0-7 county, 0-10 overall) 2 (Thursday, Oct. 6)

Goals: LR – Rosenfeld 2, Bonner.

Saves: LR – Holmes 1.

St. John's (5-2 IAAM C, 6-2 overall) 8, Chapelgate (2-5 IAAM C, 2-9 overall) 0 (Thursday, Oct. 6)