Severna Park’s long-awaited, 2-0 revenge against South River boiled through 60 minutes of scoreless, unrelenting melee.
That is, until Falcons junior Aiden Min peeled away. He felt the South River back hounding his heels, but he stayed with the ball, speeding up the rain-slick turf toward the eventual goal.
“It was really unexpected,” admitted Min, who was soon followed by Garrett Moden in scoring. “We couldn’t get much passing to the middle. For the second half, we really talked through it and got our goal. We deserved it.”
To Falcons coach Ryan Parisi, Tuesday’s contest with South River “was just another game.” In truth, both teams graduated key figures from each other’s storied clashes — regular season, county championship and playoffs. But for those wearing Severna Park colors who were there last fall, the victory certainly meant something. South River shut them out on their own pitch on its way to winning a state title.
“We weren’t ready back then. For this one, we talked about it through the whole week,” Moden said.
After a goal marked the board, the Seahawks labored to respond. If they hoped to take advantage of Severna Park’s relief for scoring, they were sorely disappointed.
If anything, the icebreaker sparked Severna Park up even more. Seahawks were tackled as if it were American, not European football. The Seahawks gunned for the Falcons net, lobbing three shots to keeper Charlie Samples, including a slippery one he had to dive for twice. The junior kept the board one-sided.
“Every 50-50 ball, we’re there,” Moden said. “Everybody’s screaming. Everybody on the sideline’s excited.”
Min and Stephen Bacho put South River keeper Ian Wallace under seige. He wasn’t even prepared for Moden.
The Falcons’ corner shot that fed the second goal admittedly sailed farther than they wanted it to. South River nearly herding it out of bounds.
Moden clung to the back post, waiting. Midfielder Jacob Broadwater recovered just before the ball skimmed out, and lashed it back to his teammate.
“Luckily I was there to put it away,” Moden said.
Both South River and Severna Park teams lost top scorers and defensive stoppers to graduation and both have found through the first week-plus of the season that there’s still questions to be answered, roles to be hammered out, issues to tweak. That uncertainty unfolded with every errant shot and missed touch through the first half and well into the second.
“But obviously playing a team like South River, it’s a cage match,” Parisi said. “As the game goes on, you figure it out. First half is a little bit slow, choppy, ugly. Second half, we slowed things down. And, of course, the goal helps.”
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Severna Park girls cruise to 4-1 win
The Falcons girls needed a different sort of motivation from their scoring to ultimately earn their 4-1 triumph.
When sophomore Izzy Burleson snapped free, crossed into the box and lost her South River shadow for just a second long enough to line her shot into the far corner of the net, she set a tone Severna Park intended to carry for much longer than it did.
The Falcons squad that blazed to an unbeaten record and 3A state title last fall largely returned, with notable exceptions on the defense. Those who remain learned swiftly last week that they could not repeat last year’s events bar by bar.
Hardly any team could score on Severna Park in 2023, let alone first. Yet, that’s exactly what Arundel did, off a penalty kick. And then, on Tuesday, just as the Falcons assumed a 1-0 lead, South River fired back the same way.
Seahawks senior Colleen Creswell challenged for a ball and felt a Falcon collide into her. Her teammates chirped support behind her. Creswell settled in; at the whistle, she lurched forward and goalkeeper Lily Diedrich moved with her. The shot seemed to come to life. Even as Diedrich appeared to make the stop, the ball switched behind her and struck the net.
South River’s celebration rang out — but not for long.
Falcons junior Addison Murphy broke loose from the crowd and deposited her goal moments after South River’s to regain the lead. A resume-play whistle and simple possession later, junior Emma Lawrence did the same to make it 3-1.
“They’re not afraid. If they go behind, they’re gonna rise to the challenge,” Falcons coach Rick Stimpson said.
The second half dragged to the sound of the ball thumping back and forth. The board remained unchanged in no small part to the keepers, Diedrich and South River’s Arianna Bodycomb, who’d throw her entire body for a save, stand and jump again against the relentless Severna Park attacks.
“They were holding a high line, and we’re a team that’s used to playing short, quick balls out of the back, so it was kind of hard,” junior defender Emerson Scott said. “They were encroaching on us and it was easier to send that ball over.”
But Bodycomb couldn’t stop them all.
Over midway through the half, a Severna Park corner kick flew into the fray. Most went for the header, but Scott kept to the ground and drilled the fourth goal a good 20 yards to the corner.
Last year’s Severna Park team swept the Seahawks over three games. Scott recognized last year’s team for their strengths. But it’s a testament to the program, she said, that this year’s team is as good as it is, too.
“I think everyone performed well today. The girls that started in the back did a really nice job; those who came off the bench continued that momentum,” Stimpson said. “We limited their options. I mean, it’s a work in progress, but I really like the way we’ve started the season.”
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