At first, Severna Park sophomore Melissa Loureiro couldn't remember a single detail about the final play in last night's Class 3A East regional girls soccer championship at Howard.
But with each passing second, it started coming back to her, and Loureiro's smile grew wider and wider.
Loureiro will likely remember it for a long time, too, as her goal with 2:34 to play in the second 10-minute sudden-death overtime gave the seventh-ranked Falcons a monumental 2-1 upset over top-ranked River Hill, and sent Severna Park (14-1-2) into Monday's state semifinals, where it will face Walter Johnson, a 2-0 winner over Urbana in the Class 3A West.
The loss ended River Hill's quest for an undefeated season and a fourth straight state title.
"We were the only ones in the state that thought we could win this game, so this feels pretty good," said Loureiro.
With the game seemingly headed for a shootout, junior Katie White sent a ball to Loureiro, who took a couple of touches into the box and sent a rising shot over River Hill goalie Erin Ferguson and into the far corner of the net.
The goal spurred a wild celebration for the Falcons, while the Hawks (15-1) left the field seemingly in disbelief.
"It happened so fast," said Loureiro. "I just saw an opening so I shot."
Said dejected Hawks coach Joan Kelso Smedley: "It's pretty tough to take. ... I think we were the better team, but we couldn't put the ball in the net."
Severna Park goalie Brooke Shinaberry was quick off her line throughout, and its defense was strained, but not broken by the long throw-ins of River Hill senior Megan Buescher.
The Falcons pulled out all the stops to minimize the effectiveness of Buescher. They had White do a handstand in front of the thrower, while another Falcon held her up, hoping that the extra length would force the midfielder to put more arc on her throws. However, the referee put a stop to that early.
"We gave up around 25 throw-ins and we were forced to defend every one of them," said Severna Park coach Gary Lam.
About five minutes into the second half, senior Susan Seborg's corner kick found a cutting Zara Nematollahi, whose header found the top part of the net for a 1-0 Falcons lead.
The Hawks found the equalizer eight minutes later. Left alone at the top of the box, Buescher gathered her own rebound and blasted a kick from 8 yards out that hit the bottom of the crossbar and went in.
"Coming in, we felt we were the team to beat," said Lam. "We have found ways to win all season and there was never a doubt in my mind that we would win this game."