Howard and Reservoir girls soccer battle through 100 minutes to a, 1-1, tie

Howard capitalized on its second attempt on goal, which came with less than 30 seconds remaining before the break.

Reservoir had trouble clearing away a Lions corner kick after Romer punched away the initial cross. Howard's Isabella Kushner chased the loose ball that slipped just outside the box and Tessa Cinotti went in a little too hard from behind, resulting in the foul and giving the Lions a free kick about 25-yards from goal.

"I told them at halftime that we obviously were sort of controlling play and we had the lion's share of the opportunities in the first half. But going in to today I said the two things that I'm worried about are counters and set pieces," said Gators coach Phil Ranker. "So we had a little bit of trouble clearing the ball on the corner and then we had a tough mistake where we decided to be a little overzealous and push out – and I discussed that at halftime. It's a learning moment, but unfortunately that cost us a goal and there weren't too many other opportunities that they had."

Howard senior captain Krista Whelan stepped up to take the attempt and sailed her shot over the wall toward the near corner for the goal, giving her team the, 1-0 lead.

"Krista I think had four goals from free kicks last year. She hasn't hit one yet and so it was just a matter of time I think and it shows that it was the most important free kick yet," Boule said. "Full confidence in Krista every time she kicks the ball."

Romer re-tweaked an injury while attempting to jump and make the save on the Whelan free kick. The mustle pull forced Romer to sit out the rest of the game, with junior Juli Hancock coming in relief.

"At halftime Janie told me that when she tried to push off her right leg and catch the ball her injury seized up and she couldn't jump, which was why it was able to get by her," Ranker explained. "So it was frustrating because I was wondering – that usually is a ball that she catches clean because she's so tall…But I told them at halftime I was proud of the way that they played and that we would get one if we just kept pressing and we did."

Reservoir tied the game up on a set piece of its own about seven minutes in to the second half.

Senior captain Cassidy Pham stepped up to take the kick for her team just outside the edge of the 18-yard box. Pham sent her strike on frame, sailing over the wall toward McConnell who jumped and made contact, but couldn't steer the shot out of play, as the deflection went back in to the net for the game-tying score.

The Lions offense found a few more openings within the first 25 minutes of the second half, registering four shots on frame, but Reservoir, again, controlled most of the play in the midfield. Howard looked visibly tired down the stretch, but remained strong defensively and held on to the 1-1 tie.

"I thought their keeper played outstanding," Ranker said of McConnell. "A lot of times when you don't score on a lot of opportunities you blame yourself and your finishing.  I think that is partly true but I thought their keeper was great the whole game and deserves a lot of the credit for limiting us to one goal."

The Gators registered one shot, with the Lions tallying two shots in the first 10-minute golden-goal overtime, but Reservoir pressed in the following extra 10 minutes. The Gators put four shots on net with McConnell coming up with the save each time, including in the final seconds, punching away Maya Budzinski's final attempt that was heading just under the cross bar.

"I was very happy, and I told them when they came off don't hang your head because you showed that on any normal day we're probably going to get two or three with the chances that we had," Ranker said. "It's been about finishing every game. I mean, I feel like every game we've played we clearly had better chances consistently and we've had better possession and better opportunities, but it's just you know, getting a toe on the ball in the box or whatever on those loose balls that we can't get to."

Hancock finished with five saves, with Romer tallying one, while McConnell recorded 15 stops in the game.

"Howard is a great team. I told them going in to it that this is a tier-one game where it is two of the top four, five teams in the county, easily and it's an opportunity to prove that we should be one of the teams talked about to go farthest here," Ranker added. "And I think they did that, if you look at the score line and see, OK, they tied, but for a team as talented as Howard, for us to control the play like we did... I'm very happy about the performance. Obviously you'd like to get a goal to kind of cap it off and have a relaxing weekend, but overall the effort I was really proud of."

The tie puts Howard and Reservoir at the same county mark (3-1-1). This week was huge for the Lions, especially, as they entered Tuesday near the bottom of the county standings, but after winning its last two and earning the tie against the Gators, they've placed themselves right back in the county race.

"Once again I am so proud of them today. I am so proud of how they performed. I think this entire game was heart," Boule said. "Our legs were feeling it from the second we got here, so to perform in the way they just performed I was so happy. I totally believed in them. I've always have but now I am convinced. And now, I think they're convinced. That was the problem before, we didn't believe in ourselves. We didn't see it in ourselves, so I think now it is really coming together for us. We are exactly where we want to be and that's because we worked hard and got the results that we wanted."

The Lions and Gators are back on the field Sept. 27, with Reservoir visiting Glenelg and Howard hosting Wilde Lake. Both games are scheduled for 5:30 p.m.

Reservoir (4-1-1, 3-1-1) 1, Howard (4-2-1, 3-1-1) 1 (2OT) (Saturday, Sept. 24)

Goals: Re – Pham; Ho – Whelan.

Saves: Re – Romer 1, Hancock 5; Ho – McConnell 15.

Halftime: 1-0, Howard.