Last fall, Severna Park girls soccer coach Gary Lam watched as his team was eliminated from the playoffs in heartbreaking fashion ? a penalty-kick shootout. But that doesn?t lead to fear. It only prepares the Falcons (12-2) for the rest of a challenging Class 3A East Region bracket. The regional semifinals will be played Friday.
“We feel pretty confident,” Lam said of his team?s ability in penalty kicks. “We know pretty much every year we?re going to get in penalty kicks.”
If the Falcons reach the state playoffs, it could very well happen again. They face a tough Mount Hebron squad Friday, with No. 1 seed River Hill or a tough Bel Air squad looming in the final.
“It?s a tough, tough bracket, and it literally is just about getting by one team at a time,” Lam said.
Brian Song?s River Hill squad pulled out a 3-2 overtime win against Centennial in the quarterfinals.
Song said his team came out soft and perhaps got caught looking past their first tournament game.
“They had seven shots on goal in the first half,” Song said of Centennial. “They took advantage of them.”
He said it?s up to his team to take advantage of those chances the rest of the way. The same goes for every other team with state title aspirations.
River Hill hosts Bel Air (7-3-2 regular season) Friday, after facing them previously this year.
“Both teams were antsy and nervous,” Song said of the early-season clash. “Should be a pretty good match.”
Elsewhere, fourth-seed C. Milton Wright has a tough road to get back to the state playoffs. The defending 4A state champs will face Thomas Johnson, which has outscored two playoff foes, 10-1, in the 4A North semifinals.
“We?re a lot younger this year,” Mustangs coach Paul Austin said. “We lost nine seniors. So we?re very happy with how the team has come together.”
The Mustangs toppled No. 5 seed Dulaney, 3-0, in a quarterfinal match after a 9-2-2 regular season with a third straight Upper Chesapeake Bay Athletic Conference crown.
“We try to block this out as a three-game tournament, and we know at this point in time that everyone?s pretty good,” Austin said.
For many coaches, the regional playoffs come down to taking advantage of the opportunities they are given.
“There?s so much emotion and intensity in every game, it?s about finding a couple moments in that emotion-filled game,” Lam said.
It only takes a split-second play to change the fortunes for a team. And as these coaches can attest, now is not the time for nerves.
