Trailing 1-0 midway through the first half of Monday's playoff game against Patterson Mill, Rising Sun girls soccer coach Dylan Aiman shouted a reminder to his squad. "This is for all the marbles!," he hollered. The Tigers responded by picking up their play on the way to a 2-1 triumph over the visiting Huskies. "I've learned when you coach girls they might be intense but they don't always show it," said Aiman. "Maybe I'm over-intense. Maybe I'm overboard. When I was playing if you were down a goal with all the marbles on the line you've got to play guts out the entire game. I think they did."
Jillian Seay assisted on the equalizer and scored the eventual game-winner seven minutes into the second half. Defender Valerie Bragg came up to the offensive third of the field for a flip throw-in. The ball bounced back out to her about 30 yards from the goal and Bragg sent the ball back in toward the Patterson Mill keeper. The goalie could not handle the ball cleanly and Seay swooped in to score. "The keeper tried to like leap for it but it hit her," Seay said. "And when it hit her the defender kind of got tangled up in it and I kind of just knocked the defender down and kicked it in." There were several close calls in the final 25 minutes. Patterson Mill saw a potential tying goal carom off the crossbar. Then the Huskies were awarded a controversial penalty kick when Valerie Bragg was whistled for a foul on the box. A Patterson Mill player, with her back to the goal, slipped before Bragg converged. But Rising Sun goalie Mackenzie Smith guessed correctly and sprawled to her right to deflect the penalty kick and then quickly scrambled to grab the rebound. "I was just a nervous wreck and then I just prayed to God I could save it," said Smith, who watched the way the Patterson Mill player and thought the shooter would go to the goalie's right. The play happened at the goal closest to the Tiger bench and Aiman did not agree with the decision. "I thought it was a horrible call," Aiman said. "She wasn't going to score. It wasn't a clear scoring opportunity. We had two girls behind our girl. Basically it was a collision like the ones that were happening all over the field, all game. Then they call the one in the box. If you're going to call a penalty kick it's got to be pretty straightforward … Our goalie just did a fantastic job." A second call went against the Tigers when Jackie Barbon headed home a corner kick taken by Teresa Reid, but the goal was waved off by the official stationed about 40 yards away. "I didn't have a great view of it but the fans did and thy weren't happy," Aiman said. "That's the way the game goes … It's funny though because they say refs don't change games. Well actually yeah they do. They do. They absolutely do. I'm not saying they did a poor job but to say a ref can't do a bad job is just not true at all. We had a goal taken away and a penalty kick was given. Those are pretty clear-cut things. And some will argue, well they really were fouls, but I think they were rather questionable." Rising Sun had two more chances to add to its lead. A long range Mikaela Berg shot clanged off the crossbar and the ball hit the crossbar again during a scramble for the rebound. The final 10 minutes were mostly uneventful and the Tigers closed out the win. "This is a good win," Aiman said. "Patterson Mill is a good opponent. We had to come from behind. It was a 'never die' attitude. Our girls kept the spirit. It feels great. We'l enjoy it but when it's all said and done, (Tuesday) we pick up and move forward." Rising Sun was able to exact measure of revenge for Patterson Mill's 2-1 playoff win over the Tigers last season. "It was definitely a motivating factor because we just wanted to come out and beat them," said Bragg. "It's always been super close and physical with them." Patterson Mill struck first in the seventh minute on a goal by Katherine Eckart. The early deficit did not discourage the Tigers. "That got me so excited because I knew it was more of a competition for us to get better and compete with an upper division Harford County team," Bragg said. Berg finished off some good passing to tally the tying goal in the 34th minute. Teresa Reid played the ball toward Seay who was near midfield. Seay outran a defender to create a two-on-one with Berg. Once the Patterson Mill defender committed to Seay, she slipped a pass to Berg. Berg dribbled down the right-center of the box and tucked a shot inside the far post. "I was standing two feet diagonal to the defender," said Seay. "I ran to the sideline, touched it out then touched it back in to pass to her. She was yelling and I saw some white come in out of the corner of my eye and the red hair and I thought, 'Yep, that's her'." Outplayed by the Huskies for stretches of the first half, Rising Sun took the action to the visitors for the final 40 minutes. Aiman was proud of the way his squad overcame a slow start and a couple of debatable rulings by the referee. "It shows their maturity although we're still young," said Aiman. "But maybe we're turning a corner. Maybe we're turning a leaf. Maybe we are able to deal with that pressure and respond to it. I think they did a nice job." The Tigers are awaiting the winner of Tuesday evening's game between Fallston and Harford Tech. Comments are closed.
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