NORTH EAST — In the practice leading up to the Mid-Atlantic Independent League girls’ soccer final, Tri-State Christian emphasized the importance of penalty kicks in the event Saturday’s championship went into a game-deciding final session.
Tri-State focused on finding the corners of the goal and following Tome’s last penalty shot that ricocheted off the right post, Abigail Slagle walked up to the line with a chance to crown the Crusaders MIL champions. All she could think in the moment was one thought.
“Don’t hit it over,” Slagle said of what went through her head moments before her opportunity.
Slagle did not hit the ball over the net, nor did she miss her target.
“It definitely prepared us,” Slagle said of the penalty kick practice.
Slagle’s score capped off a 4-3 penalty kick period and handed Tri-State Christian its second straight MIL title. The win capped off an undefeated season for the Crusaders.
“For them to be prepared today and to answer and just fight back, it shows who they are and how much they want it,” Cox said. “It’s just phenomenal to see how it played out.”
Tome’s Alena Kirsh opened the penalty kick session with a goal, followed by a save from goalie Grace Bradfield. Following the stop, the Crusaders rattled off three straight scores from Hayden Thomas, Tessa Davis and Cheyenne Quinn to setup a chance to end things on the final shot. Tri-State goalie Katie Nussle said preparing for penalties allowed her team to understand what to do and what not to do at the line.
Nussle stopped Tome’s second shot in penalties to give Thomas a chance to tie things at one.
“By preparing us for that moment we all felt ready and more confident,” Nussle said. “And we all knew what not to do. If we made a mistake and someone shot too high, we knew not to shoot as high.”
Alongside Kirsh, Tome’s Mai Ly Mason and Kylie Mahoney scored in penalties. Titans head coach Pete Morgante told his players to not think too much as they approached for their shot.
“Don’t think too much and don’t bail the goalie out, hit it on goal somewhere,” Morgante said of the advice to his team. “They followed those instructions, we hit the post on the one at the end with Grace Bradfield, that was unlucky.”
Having seen plenty of meeting between the Titans and Crusaders, Morgante felt Saturday’s finish may be the most memorable, despite coming out on the losing end.
“It was a classic game,” Morgante said. “I’ve seen a lot of Tome Tri-State even before I was coaching here and this might have been the best one.”
The Titans forced overtime with just over five minutes to play in the second half off a corner kick. Tome’s Natalie Slezak used the corner to generate a chance in front of the Crusaders’ net, which bounced off the left post and into the goal. The game-tying score came 12 minutes after Tri-State took the lead.
Savannah Henry scored off a high-arcing ball sent into the box that went over the head of Tome defenders and right in front of Henry. She tapped it in to give Tri-State a 2-1 advantage with just under 18 minutes to play. The lead was the Crusaders’ first of the game.
Tome opened the scoring in the first half on a through ball that found its way to the feet of Mahoney. Minutes before the conclusion of the half, Davis scored off a corner kick from Slagle to put the Crusaders on the board and tied the game at one heading into the break.
“I usually try and attack the goal, so as soon as I saw her about to kick it I just ran into the goal, it was right there, so I just headed it right in,” Henry said of her goal. “[I was] surprised, didn’t think I would ever get contact with the ball, thought I was going to get bodied by the girl, but it worked.”
Cecil County Saturday Scoreboard
2A East Region I Baseball Semifinals
North East 1, North Harford 0 F/8
The Indians concluded the region semifinal with a walk-off win in the home half of the eighth inning Saturday. Evan England drove in the winning run to setup a rematch with Fallston on Tuesday in the region finals. Craig Aubry and Garrett Slavin combined to pitch eight innings on the mound, allowing three hits and striking out 15 North Harford hitters. Collin Kight pitched the entire game for the Hawks, striking out eight and allowing two hits.
Fallston 6, Elkton 1
Elkton’s James LaManna finished with one hit, plus an RBI for the Elks on Saturday. Taino Jurry added a hit for the Elks. LaManna pitched 4 2/3 innings with three strikeouts.
1A North Region I Baseball Semifinals
Patterson Mill 7, Bohemia Manor 5 F/11
Bo Manor’s season came to an end on Saturday in a marathon game against Patterson Mill. Trailing 4-3 in the bottom of the seventh, Bo’s Andrew Connolley tied the game for the Eagles off a Huskies error that scored Richard Klair. Patterson Mill took a 5-4 lead in the eighth, before a sacrifice fly from Matt Felice tied the game at five. The Huskies scored two in the top of the 11th to take a 7-5 lead. Austin Farrow finished with two hits for Bo Manor. Connolley, Felice, Nate Fleming and Evan Wood each finished with RBIs. Chris Harris struck out eight in 5 2/3 innings of work. Michael Hemelt struck out seven in 5 2/3 innings work of his own for Patterson Mill.
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