It was a showdown between two undefeated Carroll County rivals, and for more than a half, it looked as if neither would lose.
But then No. 5 Westminster went to its ball-control game and senior defender Ashton Maseth found teammate Amanda Irving for the game's first goal. She followed by scoring one herself to lead the Owls to a 2-1 victory over No. 4 Century.
"This was a special game," said Maseth, who scored her fifth and biggest goal of the season. "Being undefeated and playing another undefeated county team definitely makes your whole team stay up and play its 'A' game. When we had that timeout in the first half, we talked about having pride and not letting anything pass us to the goal."
It was host Westminster's fourth win in its past five meetings with Century, and it improved the Owls' record to 12-0 this season. Century dropped to 9-1.
The Knights were in control for much of the first half and had ample opportunity to score against Westminster and goalie Emily Colliflower (seven saves). But when Colliflower, who has given up just two goals this season, wasn't making a save, her teammates were kicking balls away from the net.
The only one the Owls missed was when Century's Kailey Wolfe found the net to tie the score at 1 just minutes after Westminster had taken the initial lead.
"We started out hitting and running," Westminster coach Mary Rivera said. "It was ugly. Everyone just wanted to win. But after we called a timeout and talked about it, we started playing our game, and that's a game of ball control."
Century coach Terry Wilkinson could find little fault with her Knights. Century played well on defense throughout, with Brittany Barr making 10 saves. The Knights had their chances on offense but couldn't finish.
"It's a hard loss to take," Wilkinson said, "but we fought hard. … We just have to move forward from here."
sandra.mckee@baltsun.com
Goals: W—Irving, Maseth. C—Wolfe. Assists: W—Maseth, Irving. Saves: W—Colliflower 7. C—Barr 10. Half: 0-0.