More passing resulted in more goals for the Gold team at the girls All-State Senior All-Star game last night.
The Gold team used pinpoint passing to score four second-half goals -- rallying from a two-goal halftime deficit -- and score a 4-3 victory over the Red team at Catonsville Community College.
The game-winning goal was scored by Amy Wolff of Liberty, after receiving a centering pass from Sheri Huckleberry of Middletown.
Goalie Melissa Jessie, a Red defender, and Wolff all arrived at the ball around the same time. The ball then ricocheted past Jessie for the goal with 5 minutes, 12 seconds left. "I didn't touch it," said Wolff.
Gold coach John Miller, from Middletown, urged his team at halftime to start passing the ball more.
"We talked about short passes," said Miller. "We linked up on a few more passes, and that gave us a couple of scoring opportunities."
The game, sponsored by the Maryland Association of Coaches of Soccer, had plenty of offense.
Vicky Brunt of Centennial scored the game's first goal for the Red team with 13:48 left in the first half. Stephanie Otto of Mount Hebron made it 2-0 with 1:09 to go in the half.
The Gold's offense woke up in the second half. Amie Stone of Perry Hall took a Nikki Matters (Old Mill) pass and scored 3:51 into the half.
The Gold team tied it at 2 with 17:58 left when Rachel Levine of Middletown fired a 20-yard bullet past Jessie into the upper left corner.
Ashlee Douglas of North Carroll put the Gold in front 3-2 with 16:46 remaining. She got control of a loose ball on the right side and put it into the empty net. The Red team tied the score with 14:25 to go when Amity Torbitt of John Carroll scored.
Gold 4, Red 3
Gold ... 0... 4... --... 4
Red .... 2... 1... --... 3