Howard helps Hammond girls soccer earn tie against River Hill in regular season finale

The Golden Bears were confident in their defense, but most importantly had full faith in Howard (13 saves), who made some incredible stops to preserve the shutout.

"Vicki is unbelievable," Reagle said. "If feels like every time we need her to step up she steps up. She has been a monster all year. She's a rock and she's someone who when we game plan [we know] she's going to make plays."

River Hill pressed from the opening whistle and were patient in Hammond's defensive third at the start of the game, contineusly winning set pieces around the box and playing dangerous balls through.

Hawks junior Megan Chun played five corners and two free kicks just within the first 40 minutes, but River Hill could not get on the other end.

"I give credit to Hammond for playing great," said Hawks coach Brian Song. "They played with five in the back and they were never going out. We knew that and the way we played today... In the first half, some of the balls were coming through [the box] but we just couldn't finish. I don't know what to say, except we stunk today."

The Hawks dominated the second half as well, out-shooting the Golden Bears, 19-0, in the last 40 minutes of regulation. River Hill differed from its game plan from the first half and started taking more chances outside the 18, but Howard came up clutch.

"Even though we took those shots, we didn't have [any] angles," Song said. "[Howard] had a great game. At the end of the day we couldn't finish. I told the girls, next week if this happens we're packing up and going home. Your season is over. [I'm] a little frustrated. I mean, 18 to 18 we played great…. But it happens. I'd rather have it happen now than next week."

Howard made three huge diving stops in the game – two of which came in the second half.

Midway through the period, the Hawks Ashlee Hamer had a great chance for the go-ahead score, as she received the ball atop the 18, turned and sent a low-struck shot for the far left corner, but Howard stretched out and made the diving save.

Not long after River Hill won a corner and played it short, eventually finding junior Gracie Seybold in a similar spot just inside the box. Seybold turned and blasted a shot destined for the far netting of the goal, but Howard timed her dive perfectly and made the stop, pushing the ball away for her defenders to clear.

The first 10-minute overtime period mirrored the first 80 minutes of the game, with River Hill dominating possession inside the Golden Bears defensive third.

Hammond held its ground defensively and did not look flustered at all, despite the Hawks pressing hard for a goal. River Hill put three more shots on net and earned another corner, but again, could not find the back of the net.

"We dropped Mary Johnson whose normally been a center mid or a forward for us. We dropped her at center back because she is so tough and she is so composed," Reagle said. "Amanda Graves played out of her mind tonight, but that whole back line… We're finally starting to jell. You can't replace a player as good as Kat [Witt, whose out for the year with an ankle injury], but now that we've had some time to kind of jell, we're starting to hit our stride."

Hammond totaled just three shots the entire game and all came in the last 10 minutes of overtime.

With the Hawks staying aggressive up top, it allowed the Golden Bears to counterattack the other way.

Dani Abel nearly netted the golden goal for Hammond with less than three minutes remaining, as she ran on to a ball played through that put her one-on-one with River Hill goalkeeper Jules Grasso (three saves). Abel hit a lofted shot heading toward the back of the net, but Grasso – who hadn't touched the ball once during the entire match – tracked the shot and got a hand on the ball to divert it away from goal.

Abel didn't get the score, but gave all the momentum back to the Golden Bears in the final minutes of the game.

Grasso, again, came up big for her team and made a diving stop to her right that preserved the, 0-0, stalemate.

"As a field player, you know, you got to give credit to her," said Song of Grasso, who started the year as the starting center back before taking over at goalkeeper midway through the season. "She played great. She made two great saves and so I have to hand it to her. She didn't lose focus."

Hammond put one more shot on net before time ran out – a lofted knock from well outside the 18 – which gently looped over the head of Grasso, hitting off the crossbar and back into play. Grasso ultimately found the rebound and diffused the pressure to come away with the shutout.

"There was something missing and I don't know what it is," Song added. "We just have to get back to the drawing board and see what works. We're trying to do a little bit different combination options, who works well with what and a couple players playing hurt… but in the same token there is not next game, so we'll see what happens."

The Golden Bears end their regular season with a 4-6-1 county mark and head into the postseason at 6-6-2 overall, while the Hawks finish with the second-best league record of 7-2-2 and finish 9-3-2 overall.

"We try to keep it between ourselves but if our math was right all we needed was a tie and then we would get a bye for the playoffs," Reagle said. "But either way we thought, 'hey if we could hang tight with them and we can go into overtime and go into penalty kicks anything can happen.' When you have someone as good as Vicki you never know what's going to happen. We were preparing for playoff soccer. "

River Hill (7-2-2 county, 9-3-2 overall) 0, Hammond (4-6-1 county, 6-6-2 overall) 0 2OT (Friday, Oct. 21)
Saves: RH – Grasso 3; Ha – Howard 13.

Halftime: 0-0.