Brian Song and his River Hill Hawks got milestone victories Monday evening.
The Hawks beat Glenelg, 2-0, to give Song, his 100th win at River Hill. With the win, the Hawks (5-2 overall) are in the driver's seat in the county campaign after posting their fourth straight victory.
"The win is amazing," said Alex Hamer, who had an assist in the game.
"We lost to Glenelg in double overtime last year," added Sheridan Street, who put the second goal on the scoreboard. "Our whole practice was dedicated to beating Glenelg."
"We didn't want to leave without the win," said Katie Arensmeier.
The two goals came early, within the first nine minutes of the first half. Arensmeier gathered in a pass from Liz Bamber at about the 25-yard line and sent a slow dribbler past charging keeper Brooke Carey for the opening goal.
That came just five minutes into the game, and four minutes later Street got a pass from Hamer and sent a strong right-footed shot into the lower right corner of the net from about 15 yards out.
Glenelg's defense didn't falter the rest of the way, but the two early goals were damaging.
"I knew one team would come out flatter than the other. I warned (my players) about it. It just happened to be us," said Glenelg coach Dean Sheridan. The Gladiators came into the game unbeaten and are now 3-1 in the county and behind Centennial (3-0-1) and Marriotts Ridge (3-1-1).
"It's hard enough to come back when you are down 2-0, but against (River Hill) it is twice as hard," said Danielle Burris.
River Hill had an opportunity to add a third goal on a penalty kick 20 minutes into the game.
Glenelg's best shot came come midway into the second half when Ashley Wilkenson tried to take advantage of Carly Brunett advancing out of the net, but her shot went wide.
The Gladiators tried a new look, with Christina Kaminsky back at sweeper. "We weren't communicating well in the back" in the previous game, a 2-1 win over Reservoir, said Burris, about the change.
Glenelg "definitely" walked off with its head held high, said defender Megan Pawtowski, who had an outstanding game. "We gave it all we had."
Song, who is in his seventh season at River Hill, told his team in a pre-game pep talk to focus on the game at hand, and not look forward to tomorrow's game against Hammond. "Just one game at a time," he told them.
"We've been playing a good quality (game) in spurts. We haven't had one great 80-minute game yet," Song said.
The Hawks had 60 good minutes against Glenelg, he added. "The other 20 minutes they pressured us and we started playing a kick-and-run game."
Kate Marlatt controlled the middle for River Hill. "You don't see her in the stats but she holds the defense together," said Song. "She's at the midfield, winning every ball."
Callie Allen also had a good game, especially in the air. She almost headed in a goal in the first half.
The season is young, with most teams just four games into the 11-game county schedule.
New leaf
Reservoir shut out Long Reach, 5-0, for its first county win.
"Tonight we did a much better job at finishing, obviously, than we have done in the past," said Reservoir coach Josh Sullivan. "Hopefully this will be a chance to turn a new leaf and get rolling."
Taylor Sullivan scored twice in the win, and Amy Armstrong, Darci Fehr and Heather Konstanzer also scored.
Colleen Axenfeld, Amanda Jackson and Michelle Viegas had assists.
Megan Fowler had four saves for Reservoir. Long Reach had 10 saves.
Another shutout
Marriotts Ridge (3-2-1 overall, 3-1-1 county) outscored Wilde Lake, 6-0, behind two goals by Taylor Hensh and single goals by Morgan Crable, Allison Jones, Nicole Grote and Alexandra Ulmer.
"I am pleased with way my girls are continuing to improve each game," said Robin Grey, the Marriotts Ridge coach. "Tonight, they worked well as a unit, possessing, distributing, and finishing the ball off beautifully."
Crable had two assists and Hensh had one. Jenna Bergquist had two saves for Marriotts Ridge.
Julia Crowe had four saves for Wilde Lake, said Grey.