“Don’t let them score. Don’t let them score.”
It was the only thought drumming in Kaelyn Richardson’s head. Perry Hall had threatened the Crofton goalkeeper from the first minute, when they lobbed a shot into her chest. But in the second half, after Crofton’s second goal, an even transfer of attacks devolved into a Gators hailstorm.
The Cardinals only led 2-1. The keeper tried her hardest to preserve the shutout, until one shot just grazed her fingertips stretched to the sky in the 58th minute.
“Don’t let them score,” she repeated as Perry Hall’s strikers lashed brutal shots, forcing the keeper to dive and smack the hard ground, to envelop herself completely around the ball as forwards careened into her.
After, Richardson reflected on all the shutouts she stood idly by in her deserted box, peering out at the action on the other side of pitch. She’d never felt she participated in those games, more than shouting directions.
Friday’s 4A state semifinal at Henry A. Wise High did not classify as that sort of game.
Richardson would not be released from the constant siege until 18 seconds remained. Gators sophomore Autumn Rorie thundered toward her, shot loaded on her foot, with all the desperation of tying the game and saving her season propelling her forward. The Crofton goalkeeper couldn’t chance waiting for her in the net.
She launched herself out, throwing her body over Rorie and the ball for the stop.
After that, she booted the kick into safe territory, at last. Cardinals senior Alex Sarrach actually settled it there and launched what she’d hoped could be a buzzer-beating goal (but wasn’t). Nonetheless, she and the rest of the Cardinals turned heel, screaming as they embraced their goalie.
“When it’s a game this big, that participation makes it that much more surreal,” Richardson said. “It makes me feel exhilarated. I’m honestly still processing it. My mind’s kind of blank and I’m shaking.”
Crofton (14-3-1) advances to its first 4A state final to face Walt Whitman or Leonardtown at Loyola Maryland next week, with a date to be determined after Saturday’s play.
After 28 minutes of relentless back-and-forth, sophomore Sophie Osborne netted the first goal for the Cardinals, a perfectly timed header off a corner kick. Soraya F-Shahraki followed suit four minutes into the second half, arcing her free kick gracefully over a wall of Gators to give Crofton the ultimately necessary insurance.
Even though the Cardinals claimed the 2022 3A title with several of the same players still on the roster, this is a different story Crofton’s telling now.
Graduations emptied the starting line and a new coach in Kevin Castillo implemented a new style. The Cardinals took their lumps, exiting the playoffs in last fall’s regional final. But they stayed the course.
“It’s a different mentality this year,” he said. “They’re more open-minded.”
Still, Castillo did not Sharpie a state final appearance in his mind — at least, not until the Cardinals’ 2-1 loss to North Point on Oct 10.
His team demonstrated plenty of scrappiness all year. They played single-goal nail-biters against the county’s best: Chesapeake, Broadneck, South River.
“Against North Point, we fought to the final second. Down 1-0, we scored in the last two minutes to take it to overtime,” Castillo said. “That told me: we can make a run. This is a team that doesn’t quit.”
Composure, Castillo said, is what led Crofton to this stage. But there was a day when Richardson knew she was lacking it.
On Oct. 16, Severna Park pinned three goals on Crofton to advance to the county championship. For 40 minutes, facing last year’s 3A state champions — composed of many of her club teammates — set Richardson’s nerves ablaze. She fumbled as she never does, she said. But by the second half, she settled down.
If the Cardinals bring home another title next week, she can thank her club teammates the next time she sees them.
“In that second half, we played how we wanted to. All the good saves then helped me prepare for this game,” Richardson said. “I was a lot calmer. I was happier with myself.”
Perry Hall — 0 1 — 1
Crofton — 1 1 — 2
Goals: CR — Sophie Osborne 1, Soraya F-Shahraki 1; PH — Madelyn Rudolph 1
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