Conventional wisdom would suggest otherwise, but falling behind may have been the best thing that could have happened to Glenelg Tuesday against Oakland Mills.
After a sluggish start, Glenelg got its wake up call late in the first half when Oakland Mills' David Bruno found the net for a 1-0 Scorpions lead. As if a switch had been flipped, though, it was all Gladiators after that.
Just 90 seconds after Bruno's goal, Glenelg captain Mike Messina scored off a feed from Christian Von Rautenkranz to tie things up. Then, in the first 15 minutes of the second half, the Gladiators scored two more times to seal the deal on a 3-1 victory on the road.
"It's kind of weird to say, but I'm kind of glad they scored. We were playing poorly, they were dictating play, and that goal by them kind of woke us up," Glenelg coach Andy Shearer said. "It was a challenge and they responded well, so I'm happy about that."
The win improved Glenelg to 3-3-2 in county play, building on a pair of ties last week against Centennial and Wilde Lake. After finishing 11th in the county last season at 1-9-1, the Gladiators are vastly improved.
"We had a stretch against Marriotts Ridge, Reservoir and River Hill, back-to-back-to-back, and we competed against all of them. We didn't get the results we wanted but it was still a huge boost of confidence," Shearer said. "You can see it, the kids are starting to believe in each other and their ability."
Against Oakland Mills (0-7-1 in county), Glenelg had its hands full in the early going. The Scorpions had control of the run of play for the majority of the first 40 minutes, generating the majority of the scoring chances. Bruno's goal with 3:32 left before the half ended up being the reward for that dominance.
But before anyone could blink, the Gladiators had answered back. Messina tied the game at one with two minutes on the clock, sending the game tied into intermission.
In the second half, Glenelg kept going with a goal by Sam Harris off a feed from Messina with 35 minutes left. Then five minutes after that the lead grew to two when Von Rautenkranz converted a penalty kick.
The three goals was the second highest offensive output of the season for the Gladiators.
"The only thing we have been working on is trying to finish and build the attack, because defensively I feel very solid," Shearer said. "When we execute on offense, we do well."
Glenelg 3, Oakland Mills 1
Goals: G - Messina, Harris, Von Rautenkranz; OM - Bruno.
Assists: G - Messina, Von Rautenkranz.
Saves: G - Haussler 4; OM - Mustafa 5; Wright 2.
Half: 1-1.
Other scores:
River Hill 3, Howard 0
The Hawks wasted little time jumping ahead, getting a goal by Jake Turney 90 seconds in, and never looked back en route to the three-goal victory. River Hill has allowed just four goals on the season.
Goals: RH - Turney, Kim, Riso.
Assists: RH - Williams, Noonan.
Saves: RH - Voyton 4; Ho - N/A.
Half: 1-0 RH.
Reservoir 2, Atholton 0
The Gators didn't get their first goal until just 12 minutes remained in the second half, but added another just seven minutes later to help secure a two-goal win on the road. Saad Memon scored the first goal off a feed from Paul Park and then Memon set up Colin Bonner for the second score.
Goals: Re - Memon, Bonner.
Assists: Re - P. Park, Memon.
Saves: Re - Dooley 4; A - Forbes 5.
Half: 0-0.
Centennial 3, Hammond 0
Kenneth Bohr scored twice, giving him four goals in the last five games, to lead the Eagles to a three-goal victory over the Golden Bears. Centennial is now 5-0-1 in its last six games and 7-3-1 overall.
Bohr got the scoring underway with an unassisted tally midway through the first half. Then, with about two minutes left before halftime, Ethan Adams increased the lead to 2-0 when he finished off a ball headed to him by Max Yarosh.
Bohr capped the scoring in the second half off an assist from Josh Poole. Jackson Bicknell finished with one save in goal to preserve the shutout.
Marriotts Ridge 1, Mt. Hebron 0
Goal: MR - Martinelli.
Assist: MR - Delaney.
Saves: MR - Shepherd 3; MH - Staedeli 5.
Half: 1-0 MR.
Howard 3, Westminster 2 (Thursday)
A pair of goals from Austin Phillips led the way for the Lions in their non-county victory. Nick Hilterbrick provided the other score for Howard.