Debruyn Cedeno and the Reservoir boys soccer team are heating up at the perfect time.
The junior midfielder scored three goals against visiting Atholton on Thursday evening, giving him five scores now in the last two games, to help lead the Gators to a 4-1 victory. Overall, Reservoir (5-5, 5-5) has now won three straight and appears to be playing its best soccer with the postseason right around the corner.
"We're very young, so we've been inconsistent and we were really trying to figure out those first few weeks where everyone was going to play. We have the talent, but we had to figure out where to put it," said Reservoir coach Jason Hall. "Really, I kind of took a page out of Don Shea's book and said the regular season is what it is and it isn't about winning every game. It's more about figuring out who we are so we can be a good team by the end of October.
"I think we are getting to that point now, where we are starting to play much better soccer."
Cedeno, who is in his first year with the program, was quick to deflect credit for his strong play of late. William "Dutch" Schulden, for example, assisted on his first two goals against the Raiders and also assisted on one of his goals in a win over Hammond last week.
"It's not only me … Dutch, Luis (Ward) and all these other great players we have here on the team they contribute a lot just like me," Cedeno said. "They get me the ball in good position."
Reservoir wasted little time gaining the upper hand against an Atholton (0-9, 2-10) team still searching for its first county victory this fall.
On a corner kick in the opening five minutes, Schulden ended up having the ball played to him short and then he fired it into the box. From there, after a deflection, Cedeno was able to finish into the right side of the net for a 1-0 lead.
Later, with just over two minutes left in the opening half, Cedeno scored again off a feed from Schulden by lofting a curling shot over the Atholton goalie and into the net from the right sideline.
He completed the hat trick in the first 90 seconds of the second half, beating several defenders along the left end line and then finishing to make it 3-0.
"He's had chances all season, but until recently he just wasn't scoring for whatever reason," said Hall in regards to Cedeno, who had scored just once in the team's first eight games. "Maybe he just needed a little time to get adjusted to Howard County soccer, but whatever it was, those balls are going in the goal for him now and it's great to see."
Reservoir got its fourth goal with 30:29 left in regulation, as Evnic Dossou finished a shot in transition that glanced off the left post and into the net.
Atholton did show some fight late, continuing to play hard despite the large deficit. The Raiders were rewarded with six minutes remaining, as Qadir Ahmad won a footrace to the ball and finished past the Reservoir goalie to cteate the final 4-1 margin.
Looking ahead, Reservoir closes the regular season with games against Liberty and Centennial before turning its attention to playoffs.
"Not to get too far ahead of ourselves, but I do see some real parallels to our 2012 team that won a state championship. That team had a lot of turmoil at the beginning and a lot of talent, similar to this group," Hall said. "The big difference is that team had a lot of seniors and we're much younger, but I see this team finding itself right now very much the same way that (2012) team did in my first year here with the program.
"There's certainly a confidence now that we can play with anyone."
Reservoir 4, Atholton 1
Goals: Re – Cedeno 3, Dossou; A – Ahmad.
Assists: Re – Schulden 2.
Saves: Re – Foley 2; A – Lara 3, Chang 2.
Half: 2-0 Re.
Other scores:
Mt. Hebron 4, Hammond 2
The Vikings got two goals apiece from Vince Broccolino and Johnny Linsenmeyer to earn its eighth straight county victory and improve to 8-1 in league play. The team has games left against Wilde Lake and Long Reach, with a victory in either contest securing the program its second straight county title.
Anthony Perez provided both scores in the loss for Hammond.
Goals: MH – Broccolino 2, Linsenmeyer 2; Ha – Perez 2.
Assists: MH – Simak 2, Simowitz.
Saves: MH – Jones 8; Ha – Bradford 7, Stewart 3.
Howard 2, Long Reach 0
The Lions earned the shutout victory to claim the team's sixth county win of the season, marking the first time the program has reached that mark in the last 25 years.
Goals: Ho – Blum, Mark Bruner.
Assist: Ho – Marakchi.
Saves: Ho – Hartlove 3.
Half: 0-0.
Centennial 1, Oakland Mills 0
Goal: C – Narmouq.
Assist: C – Breedlove.
Saves: C – Vepa 8; OM – N/A.
River Hill 4, Wilde Lake 2
Led by a hat trick from Josh Ditman, the Hawks earned the two-goal victory over the Wildecats on senior day. The victory is the sixth straight for River Hill (6-2-1, 7-4-1) and keeps the team in sole possession of second place in the county standings with two games left in the regular season.
Gianni Gupta provided the other score in the game for the Hawks, while Evan Doten, Danny Fuentes and Justin Harris all picked up assists. Nealyn Jahangir got the start at goalie and finished with two saves on the way to the win.
River Hill, which would need significant help from Mt. Hebron to have a shot at the county title, has road games against Marriotts Ridge and Hammond left on the schedule before playoffs.