After eliminating the No. 2 seed, Centennial, in the Class 3A East Region earlier in the week, Reservoir took a long bus ride to Stephen Decatur High School in Berlin and beat the hosts, 2-0, Friday.
Reservoir will play at Mt. Hebron, which beat Atholton, 1-0, in the other regional semifinal, at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 8.
"Unfortunately, we did not finish on a ton more chances, but today I'll take the win," said Reservoir coach Josh Sullivan, whose team is the defending state champion. "The wind was blowing with gusts up to 30 but it was steady wind the whole time. It was very frustrating because in the first half they literally could touch the ball and it would travel about 30 yards."
Reservoir had 16 shots on goal and allowed just three.
"We hit the cross bar a few times and had the ball bounce around in the box a bunch and we could not punch it in. That was frustrating but with all the elements I was proud of how they battled through their close calls."
Finally, with about five minutes left in the first half, Amanda Jackson drew a double team and found Amy Armstrong in the box. "With a defender on her she made a great turn and finished," said Sullivan.
The second goal came from Paola Rosa after a corner kick sailed through the box. "Delaney Reiff gathered it near the far post and played a ball back to the middle where Paola punched it in," he added.
Reservoir and Mt. Hebron are the only survivors in the East Region. Top-seeded River Hill was ousted by Atholton and Reservoir turned away Centennial. Mt. Hebron beat the fourth seed, J.M. Bennett. The region's top four teams, based on records are seeded; the remaining teams are placed in the bracket by a random draw. Reservoir got the 10th spot and Mt. Hebron was fifth.
The winner of the regional title advances to the final four. The state semifinals in Class 3A will be played Nov. 12 at the Essex campus of the Community College of Baltimore.
Class 2A regional title game
Glenelg earned its spot in the Class 2A North Region with a 3-2 win over Marriotts Ridge Thursday. On Friday, the Gladiators, seeded second, learned their opponent in the regional championship game. Loch Raven, seeded fourth, beat top-seeded Chesapeake, 4-0.
Glenelg will host Loch Raven on Tuesday, Nov. 8 at 7 p.m. The winner moves onto the state semifinal matchup, to be held either Nov. 11 or 12 at Bel Air High School. Check with the schools or http://www.mpssaa.org for the latest information.