The Century girls soccer team has spent the better part of this season trying to prove that a first-year team without seniors can take on all comers and triumph.
After last night's Class 2A West semifinal, visiting Glenelg needed little convincing.
Forward Lauren Schwarzmann scored twice in the first 24:12, as the host Knights, already with a Carroll County championship to their credit, defeated the Gladiators, 4-1, to advance to Thursday's regional final.
"They came out in the first 25 minutes and put a good, old-fashioned whooping on us," Glenelg coach Mike Williams said. "I was a little bit surprised by their speed, but I knew just by the schedule that Century played and the teams they had beaten that they were a legitimate team. They exposed some of our weaknesses, and they did it better than anybody all year."
Century (12-1) will travel to face Middletown, a shootout winner over No. 3 Centennial, for the right to advance to the Class 2A state semifinals. Centennial last year split the 2A title with Bethesda-Chevy Chase.
It will be a tough game, but Century coach Vanessa Ozimek said that her squad has relished the role of the unheralded upstart.
"I think part of the motivation is that this is our first year and they are members of the very first squad," Ozimek said. "They're building traditions along the way the whole season."
It didn't take them long last night to start building another.
Century dominated play for most of the first half, using its speed advantage to consistently beat Glenelg to loose balls and keep possession.
The Knights took a 1-0 lead 8:49 into the game when Megan Mills split a seam in front of the goal to feed Schwarzmann, who beat goalie Karyn Curley one-on-one for the score.
Minutes later, it was Schwarzmann again who scored, winning a ball in the corner, making a quick move to shed her defender and firing a missile from 10 yards out on the left side that found the back of the net with 15:44 to play before halftime.
"Every time we get the lead, it seems like we have more motivation and we play harder," Schwarzmann said. "So it was really important for us to score early."
Using their aggressive passing game, the Knights played keep-away for most of the first half, then got two more quick goals from Kelly Kasper and Amanda Bradley to start the second half, essentially putting the game out of reach.
Middletown 2, No. 3 Centennial 2 (Middletown wins shootout, 6-5): Allie Shannon scored the tying goal with 30 seconds left in regulation, and the host Knights won it in a shootout, as the Eagles ended their season with a 12-2-2 record.
Mandy Paizs and Danielle Rosanova scored for Centennial.
Class 3A East
No. 1 River Hill 7, Long Reach 1: Junior Kara Lewis scored three goals, Jackie Stromberg had two goals and an assist and Megan Buescher added a goal and three assists, as the visiting Hawks (16-0) thumped the Lightning (3-10).
No. 7 Severna Park 2, Wilde Lake 0: In her first varsity start, freshman striker Kiley Williams scored from 15 yards to give the Falcons all they would need to advance to Thursday region final against No. 1 River Hill, which eliminated Long Reach.
Williams' game-winner came in the eighth minute off a feed from Susan Seborg, who added the insurance goal in the second half.
"Kiley played some quality minutes against Mount Hebron, so we put her up there and she gave us an early goal. She was just inside the box, brought in down and hit it far post," said Severna Park coach Gary Lam.
The major task for the Falcons comes on Thursday against the three-time defending state champ and undefeated Hawks (15-0) for the region championship. River Hill is ranked fourth nationally in the National Soccer Coaches Association of America/Adidas poll.