Glenelg went in to Marriotts Ridge Friday looking to regroup from a lack-luster end of the regular season and also get some payback from its loss to the Mustangs earlier in the year.
The Gladiators ended up doing both.
"We were really motivated to come back and win this game, because we've been working really hard. We're a really good team and we've been showing great potential and work ethic throughout the season," said Glenelg freshman Taylor Carter, after defeating the fourth-seeded Mustangs, 2-0, in the first round of the 2A playoffs. "We really wanted to come back and beat them. It feels great. It's been the first playoff win for Glenelg in a long time and I think it's going to motivate us for the rest of the season to do better and train harder throughout practice to get another win."
After going undefeated in their first six games, the Gladiators ended the year losing seven of its last eight, including a 2-1 defeat against Marriotts Ridge on Oct. 13.
"I felt like we were the better team in that game, but kudos to them. They played a great game on their senior night," said Glenelg coach Andrew Sherear. "They played for their seniors, but I felt like we were the better team that night and it was nice to get that revenge, especially in the playoffs when it matters most. They worked hard, they wanted it and I'm happy."
Heading in to the postseason Shearer knew he needed to make some adjustments to get his team playing at the same caliber as when they started the season and his lineup changes seemed to work to perfection Friday.
"We had to make some adjustments, some real conversations and you saw Anna [Callahan] is in goal, Alyssa [Henderson] is hurt. She got some training in and she did a nice job. I moved Courtney [Renehan] up top I think she adds another dimension. I just made a couple tweaks," Shearer explained. "We had a really good week of training and I think the preparation paid off. I think all those losses kind of got to us and we realized that it is time to build now. We lost to some good teams, but we also beat ourselves. It was just a hurdle that we needed to overcome and today we did that. So I am happy, it's great."
The fifth-seeded Gladiators owned the first 20 minutes of action. They continuously played balls through to Bethany Stewart and Renehan up top, but the Mustangs defense smartly played a high back line, catching Glenelg off side twice in that span.
Marriotts Ridge junior goalkeeper Emma Meininger (eight saves) played those passes well, as she came out and aggressively picked up numerous loose balls that were played in the box, despite the heavy pressure from the Gladiator forwards.
But Glenelg continued building momentum and ultimately capitalized to gain the early, 1-0, lead with about 22 minutes remaining in the half.
Carter found some space atop of the 18-yard box, took a touch and sent a lofted shot, which snuck underneath the cross bar and over the head of Meininger for the goal.
"I felt like we were creating momentum throughout the play," Carter said. "We connected a few good passes. We built it up the field and we had good communication and we just found the open space and when we shot it I just had a feeling that it was going to go in and it did."