In its final tune-up before playoffs on Friday night, River Hill continued to showcase itself as one of the area's hottest teams.
On the road against Hammond, the Hawks scored three times over the final 22 minutes of regulation and the team's defense did the rest on the way to a 3-0 victory over the Golden Bears. River Hill (8-2-1, 9-4-1), which locked up sole possession of second place in the final county standings with the win, is now unbeaten in its last nine contests.
With a week off now before its playoff opener against Long Reach, River Hill coach Matt Shagogue said getting a result was critical in terms of momentum.
"The main focus of our halftime discussion was do we want to have a week off coming after a loss, or after a win? And I think they responded to that," said Shagogue, whose team was deadlocked in a 0-0 game at the break. "I think a lot of things went into it … but we started getting into a much better rhythm in the second half, really good combinations. We ended up getting three good goals I thought."
While River Hill certainly had chances to score early, it was Hammond (5-6, 6-8) that arguably had more high-quality chances in the first 50 minutes of action. Anthony Perez had several free kicks from long distance that just missed and Anderson Mejia-Marroquin had a quality chance from the top of the box sail just high in the first half.
But as the game progressed, the Hawks' patience and poise in their offensive third paid dividends. With 22:35 remaining in regulation, Max Mzhen looped a long free kick into the box and Josh Ditman got a head on it to flick it past Hammond goalie Jeremy Stewart (7 saves) for a 1-0 lead.
Then, just over four minutes later, a great lead pass by Justin Harris found Alex Smedley in open space for what ended up being a breakaway goal to make it 2-0.
"Our thing is just keep working, keep pressuring and keep them in their half of the field and one (goal) will eventually come," said River Hill senior Gianni Gupta, who ended up putting the game away late with his team's third goal. "If we play our game, our defense will take care of the shutout, keeping it clean back there, and then our offense will take care of the goals."
Gupta's score, which came with 3:37 remaining, was off a similar long free kick by Mzhen. He rose above a crowd in front to head it just inside the left post.
On the other end, River Hill goalie Patrick Sherlock (5 saves) made some big stops throughout to preserve the clean sheet.
Ultimately, it was the effort by his team on both ends of the field that has Shagogue excited moving forward.
"I do think we are peaking a good time. We are really playing well — unbeaten in our last nine and we have won eight straight — so I'm incredibly pleased," he said. "Playing both ways is something we've preached all season, but now the guys are really doing it. We're playing extremely well as a group, as an entire unit."
River Hill 3, Hammond 0
Goals: RH – Ditman, Smedley, Gupta.
Assists: RH – Mzhen 2, Harris.
Saves: RH – Sherlock 5; Ha – Stewart 7.
Half: 0-0.
Other scores:
Centennial 3, Reservoir 0
Goals: C – Narmouq 2, Breedlove.
Assists: C – Haskins, Narmouq.
Saves: C – Vepa 4; Re – N/A.
Half: 2-0 C.
Atholton 2, Wilde Lake 0
In their final game of the regular season, the Raiders broke through for their first county win. Jake Morales and Tejas Khanna provided the goals in the shutout victory.
Mt. Hebron 3, Long Reach 0 (Thursday)
Goals: MH – Yacynych, Simak, V. Broccolino.
Assists: MH – Linsenmeyer 2, Namie.
Saves: MH – Jones 9.
Howard 3, Marriotts Ridge 1 (Thursday)
Goals: Ho – Marakchi, Whipple, Bruno; MR – N/A.
Assists: Ho – Coyle 2.
Saves: Ho – Hartlove 6.
Glenelg 3, Oakland Mills 3 (Thursday)
Goals: G – Barajas, C. Mavronis, Wang; OM – Higgins, Bruno, Lara Cruz.
Assists: G – Ahmed 2, C. Mavronis; OM – Estrada, Casseus.
Half: 2-1 OM.
Final regular season standings: Mt. Hebron (10-1 county, 12-1 overall); River Hill (8-2-1, 9-4-1); Centennial (8-3, 10-4); Howard (7-3-1, 9-4-1); Glenelg (6-4-1, 6-7-1); Hammond (5-6, 6-8); Reservoir (5-6, 5-7); Oakland Mills (4-5-2, 5-7-2); Wilde Lake (4-7, 6-7-1); Marriotts Ridge (3-8, 3-10-1); Long Reach (2-8-1, 3-10-1); Atholton (1-10, 2-12); Glenelg Country (6-0-1 MIAA C, 7-1-2); Chapelgate (2-5 MIAA C, 2-8-2).