Rising Sun girls soccer coach Johnny Hartnett didn't need to employ a fiery, Knute Rockne-style pregame pep talk to inspire his team heading into the game against North East Wednesday, October 10. Last season's loss to the Indians, provided Rising Sun with sufficient motivation and turned the tables on their county and region rival with a 2-1 triumph. "Going into this game, we were really upset about last year just because it was unfortunate circumstances," go-ahead goal scorer Annalia Webb said. "I think we went into [last year's game] thinking we were winning so it really sucked for us to lose. Going into this game, we knew this was our biggest competitor for a county sweep so it was probably the biggest obstacle for us and it's really a confidence booster going into harder games since we really haven't had many hard games. This was our first real opponent and I think it was a really even game. It just came down to finishing those last opportunities."
Webb converted her big chance to snap a 1-1 tie with 17:25 remaining in regulation. Abigail Backert, who scored Rising Sun's first goal, moved down the right side and took a hard, low shot curling toward the far post. North East goalie Delaney McDilda made the save but the rebound squirted into the path of Webb, who had positioned herself in front of the post for just such an occasion. "Abby hit it and it was deflected and I knew it was coming to me so it was really important to capitalize on that because there's not that many chances when you play a good team," Webb said. "I knew it was going off the goalie. You always have to be there for those deflections." North East was unable to capitalize on a couple good opportunities in the second half. Five minutes in, Mia Cudmore went in alone after receiving a pass from Roberts, but Rising Sun goalie Bekah Culver got her hand on the ball to direct it wide of the goal. Trailing 2-1, the Indians earned two corners in the final three minutes. The first one was cleared by a Rising Sun defender. With 1:10 to go, a header sailed over the crossbar. "Very pleased with the way our girls played," Hartnett said. "They put together some of the things we've been talking about all year and it's against a quality team in North East, good coach as well. They've had some really good wins this year. They're a very good team so it felt very good. It's good to see the girls put together some of the things we've been talking about throughout the year." Rising Sun required precisely one minute to take the lead when Backert scored off an assist from Taylor Stockslager. "I think that changed the game a lot for us because then we knew, 'Oh, we can do this.' But at the same time, I think we got a little like, 'Oh, we're winning' and didn't really get back on defense," said Webb. "It kind of hurt us a little but it really helped us in the end because we knew the win was there for us." North East equalized with 14:22 to go in the first half when Caroline Roberts converted following a through ball from Sara Jones. Undaunted, the Tigers showed tremendous resolve, especially considering they had suffered a 1-0 loss at Harford Tech 24 hours earlier. "I guess all the practice and working hard in drills and conditioning [paid off]," Backert said. Said Hartnett: "I didn't have to do a whole lot of motivating for the girls. They were ready to bring it. And I give them a lot of credit because the majority of our girls played [club soccer] all weekend. We just had a game [the previous night] against Harford Tech. Back-to-back games so I've got to give the girls a lot of credit. They played with a lot of heart." Webb says the win will prove beneficial leading up to the playoffs when Rising Sun could face a number of challenging foes including its nemesis, Fallston, as well as potential rematches against the Indians, Cobras, and Elkton. "I think that's a huge confidence booster considering [North East] beat our rivals, Fallston, so I think knowing they beat Fallston, and we got the victory over them, I think we can go in thinking that it's possible to beat Fallston after we've been knocked out of the playoffs [by Fallston] a lot," said Webb. "So, that's really helpful for us." Comments are closed.
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