Howard and Centennial battled to a scoreless tie through two overtime periods today.
"It was a very evenly played game with both teams taking control of the game at certain points in the game," said Howard coach Nick Zaron, whose team is now 2-1-1 in the county and overall.
"Much of the game was battling for possession in the midfield," added Zaron. "I thought Centennial did a good job of organizing their players, especially the back. Every time we started to create something or start to break them down, they had somebody in behind for support to slow down the play."
In other games Thursday, Atholton, Marriotts Ridge and Mt. Hebron posted wins.
Centennial is now 3-0-1 and drops to second place in the county. River Hill and Glenelg are at the top of the league standings. Both are 4-0 and meet at 7 p.m. at River Hill on Friday.
Cassidy Burns and Liz Price split time in the goal for Howard. Burns played the first half and Price was in the net the rest of the game. "They did a great job today taking command of the box and … coming off the line when needed to help out the back four," said Zaron, who has been playing both keepers each game. "They are both very good and both are pure shot stoppers."
Burns had a big play early in the first half when Centennial (5-0-1 overall, 3-0-1 county) almost scored in the first few minutes of the game. Anna Mitchell sent a cross in from the right side and Mariah Vorce redirected the shot, which deflected off Burns.
"That was the beginning of a great night" for Howard's keepers, said Centennial coach Steve Baxter, who did not know which keeper was in the net but praised their play in both the first and second half.
"I don't know if it was Liz Price or Cassidy Burns, but she was the difference in the game. In the second half, she (Price) had a diving save off a powerful shot by sophomore Ruthie Lucas from 25 yards. We had numerous through balls that were so close, but their keeper came off her line so well and kept just beating us to the ball."
Most of Howard's attack came from Kelsey Wright and Caitlyn Whitford and Carli Sokoloski and Christine Robinson were "endless workers in the middle of the park, winning tackles and loose balls and starting the attack," Zaron said.
"I thought we were going to find a goal in overtime when Kelsey was able to get behind the defense," Zaron said. Centennial keeper Katie Donegan, who had three saves for the day, came out and cut down her angle, and the defender Jordan Coburn was "able to apply enough pressure to disrupt Kelsey's strike."
"My girls played their hearts out for the final 60 minutes," said Centennial's Baxter. "We had a period of 20-25 minutes in the first half where we struggled to keep possession. Other than that we either held run of play or had the ball in the Howard half of the field. We had to play with two senior starters out and we still played a strong game. Sophomores Sammie Albornoz and Mary Anderson filled in on defense and had great games."
Simone Jackson, who would have also started for Centennial, is out with an ACL injury.
Atholton holds onto win
A coach is never happy, not even with a win, it seems.
Atholton beat visiting Oakland Mills, 2-1, today, on two goals by Sarah Renehan.
"We should have had a couple more" goals, said Atholton coach Stephanie Stoutenborough. "We came out with a win but it's not exactly the win we wanted."
Renehan scored early against Oakland Mills off a Katrina Macadoff feed, and added the second goal eight minutes into the second half when she lofted a soft shot into an empty net.
That goal looked like it would be all the insurance the Raiders would need for the day, but that's when Oakland Mills, which is 1-3 in county play and 2-3 overall, picked up its game.
The Scorpions pressured Atholton most of the second half, starting with Jamie Twardowicz' line drive shot just a minute after Renehan's goal. Amy Weinberg tipped that shot over the net to save a sure goal.
Midway through the half, Nicole Twardowicz beat Atholton's defense on a breakaway, only to watch her shot sail wide. Finally, three minutes later, Jessica Lampron took advantage when Yarn came out to the far post on a corner kick by Mary Grace Grandfield.
"It was bouncing around and I got a foot on it," Lampron said.
Oakland Mills continued to threaten but Atholton's defense held the rest of the way, breaking Oakland Mills' two-game win streak.
"We worked really hard," said Lampron, "and you can't ask for any more than that. We were hoping to keep" the streak going.
"We needed to play with intensity from the start," she added.
Oakland Mills beat Northeast (Anne Arundel County) and Howard, which had been unbeaten, earlier this week. "We had so much energy and were supporting each other" in those wins, said Fern Peters, whose speed on the right side tested Atholton's defense many times in the second half. The Scorpions didn't have quite that same energy and support today, she added.
"We can't underestimate teams," said Atholton's Renehan. "Our coach kept telling us to follow through" on plays.
"I'm sure (Oakland Mills) was pumped up after their two wins but we wanted to play our game — composure, pass the ball — but unfortunately we got stuck playing more of a kickball game," Stoutenborough said.
The Scorpions scored because "we didn't follow our marks, we didn't track back. We were standing around and watching and they took advantage," she added.
The win boosts Atholton's county (and overall) recored to 2-1-1. The loss to Howard earlier in the week was especially disappointing, said Stoutenborough. "We outshot them 20 to seven. We're disappointed, knowing we have girls who can score. Our passing is where we want it to be but we need to connect."
An even dozen
Chapelgate beat Beth Tfiloh, 12-0, in the Interscholastic Athletic Association of Maryland's C Conference to notch its fourth straight win. The Yellowjackets are undefeated in the conference.
Beth Tfiloh is 1-7 overall, and winless in the conference.
Jen Yahiro, Sydney Ackman, Kristin Thomas, Alexis Bennett and Jennifer Lindauere each had one goal in the win. Emma Rufulo had two goals and Lydia Frierson had five. Jasmine Owens and Lindauere each had an assist and Kristin Thomas had six assists.
Andelyn Smith and Casey Bigelow split time in the goal and each had one save.
Mustangs win by shutout
Marriotts Ridge beat Hammond, 5-0. Taylor Hensh and Melanie Tresnak scored two apiece for the Mustangs and Alexandra McKay also scored.
Zoe Stukenberg, McKay, Alexis Zadjura and Maria Laureno had assists.
Hammond (0-4) had four shots.
Julie Reed had 19 saves for Hammond and Jenna Bergquist had three for Marriotts Ridge.
Marriotts Ridge is now 2-1-1 in both the county and overall.
Vikings stop Wilde Lake
Mt. Hebron shut out Wilde Lake, 3-0, on goals by Kelsey Folch, Susie Halper and Yasmine Darrhemene. Kelly Richards and Amanda Steinmuller (two) had assists in the win.
"Kelsey's goal was absolutely beautiful," said Mt. Hebron coach Tim Deppen. "She turned just outside the corner of the 18 and hit a beauty right into in the side netting over the goalie's outreached hands."
Tahlia Tavai had "another great game tonight, too," added Deppen, whose team is 2-2 in the county and 2-3 overall.
"We really put our passes together nicely. It was a complete turnaround from Centennial Tuesday" when the Vikings lost to Centennial, 1-0.
This story has been undated.