Perfection didn't come easy for the No. 1 McDonogh girls soccer team on Sunday.
Notre Dame Prep played stingy defense for all 100 minutes of the Interscholastic Athletic Association of Maryland A Conference championship game, giving up ground but no goals to force penalty kicks against the Eagles.
It wasn't until the fifth round of penalty kicks came, when junior forward Kia Rankin neatly placed her shot in the lower right corner, that the Eagles could finally celebrate their second straight league title and a 15-0 season at Stevenson University in Owings Mills.
McDonogh junior goalie Lindsey Clark, rarely tested in regulation and overtime, made a save just before Rankin's clinching finish. Gaby Vincent, Bridgette Andrzejewski and Danni Steigerwald also made good on their penalty kicks as the Eagles won, 4-2, over the No. 10 Blazers after the 0-0 tie through overtime.
It's the fourth league title in five years for McDonogh. It's the second time the program has completed a perfect season — the 1993 team went 19-0 and won the Catholic League crown.
On Sunday, the Eagles had a 25-4 advantage in shots through the overtime play, but they were unable to get anything past Notre Dame Prep sophomore goalie Ashley Gabor, who finished with 13 saves.
Rankin had one of the best chances with 11:55 left in the second half when she hit a firm left-footed shot from 12 yards away that Gabor got just enough of to send skimming off the far post. When it came her time to clinch the championship in penalty kicks, Rankin stayed poised and confident despite having to battle Gabor and the high winds that caused the ball to regularly roll off the penalty spot.
"I was just thinking stay low and place it in. That's what all my teammates did and I'm really proud," Rankin said. "We had a perfect season this year, and I'm real proud of that. Me and my teammates worked really hard to get to this point, and I think it really showed throughout our season. We had our ups and downs, but we were able to pull it off, which is excellent."
After upsetting No. 6 Archbishop Spalding in penalty kicks in the semifinal round, the Blazers (13-3-1) went into Sunday's game believing they could beat McDonogh.
They clogged up the middle defensively to frustrate the Eagles powerful forwards, Andrzejewski and Rankin, and also had occasional chances at their offensive end. With 23:45 to play in the first half, Blazers junior forward Isabella Barbieri got behind the Eagles and forced Clark to aggressively come off her line to turn away the chance from 12 yards.
"I'm very proud of the girls. I'm extremely happy about the performance and not just today but through the entire season. I think we proved to everyone that we have a good program, and we have quality players — kids that work hard and play for one another," Notre Dame Prep coach Val Teixeira said. "I told the girls that we came so far from last year, from having a decent season to this year making it all the way to the finals. And losing in [penalty kicks] is nothing for them to keep their heads down about. It was an outstanding performance, and they should be proud of every moment they had this year."
After beating Notre Dame Prep, 2-0, during the regular season and scoring 67 goals in their first 14 wins, the Eagles were able to stay on course despite the adversity of playing in a close game when the goals simply weren't coming. Coach Harry Canellakis, whose Eagles are No. 2 in Top Drawer Soccer Fab 50 national rankings, said the Blazers gave his team the biggest test of the season on Sunday.
"There's a lot of different ways to win a soccer game, and we managed to find the most stressful way of doing it," he said. "But I thought psychologically it was great considering the number of chances we had and for them to be able to just stay calm and bury the penalty kicks, I was just really proud."
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Girls soccer
IAAM A Conference final
(at Stevenson University-Owings Mills)
1 McDonogh 0, 10 Notre Dame Prep 0
(McDonogh wins in penalty kicks, 4-2)
Saves: NDP – Gabor 13; M – Clark 4
Half: 0-0