Severna Park’s Abby Cover couldn’t hide her excitement after scoring the game-winning goal with 4:21 left in the first 10-minute overtime to give the Falcons a 1-0 victory over Chesapeake-AA in the Class 3A state semifinals at Glen Burnie High.
“I’m ecstatic. I’m so happy,” Cover said. “It was a give-and-go. I was attacking a defender and I played it to Ava [Scott] and she pushed it back to me. I saw the defender coming across so I knew I had to hit it one time and I just kind of closed my eyes and hit it.”
Severna Park (15-1) advances to the state final against Towson on Thursday at 5 p.m. at Loyola University – Ridley Complex. The Falcons are making their 12th trip to the final and they are seeking the school’s eighth state title.
Cover, one of the team’s captains, didn’t think her team felt the pressure of overtime.
“I think as a team we were really confident, we’ve been in this situation before so we know what it feels like,” she said. “I feel like us as a team we are very trusting in each other and confident the way we play so we just knew that we could do it.”
Severna Park coach Rick Stimpson believed in his team and its stamina and desire until the end.
“I trust them wholeheartedly and when you are getting towards the end of the first overtime and the legs are getting a little bit heavy it’s hard to make the run because you’ve got to dig deep and the fact that she’s able to make that pass and surge into the box, it shows how much they wanted that.”
The fact that Cover made the play wasn’t a huge surprise.
“She’s been a rock all year, she’s been one of the best midfielders in the state.” Stimpson said. “She has been a star for us for four years now. This year in particular, she’s really upped her game and been pivotal to our success, both on attack and defense.”
It was the only one that got past dominant Chesapeake goalie Ryleigh Smoot, who made five of her seven saves in the second half, including two very difficult ones.
“It was a great shot,” Chesapeake coach Kevin Keeter said. “It was such a pinpoint shot there was really nothing [Smoot] could do, just a great finish.”
Chesapeake (13-3-1) made some adjustments in its third meeting with the Falcons and it worked quite well, especially in the first half.
“We lost to Severna Park twice this year, 2-0, and we adjusted our midfield today and our girls really responded,” Keeter said. “I thought we didn’t get as beat up in the midfield as we have in the past. Severna Park is just so dynamic, they played a great game.”
Most of the first half was isolated in the midfield, but the Cougars got a breakaway from Alaina Minefski, but her shot from inside the box was just wide with 10 minutes left in the half. Minefski had another golden chance midway through the second half, but it was saved by goalie Lily Diedrich (three saves).
“We focused on the midfield and the defense and we figured we would get a counter, try to get a counter and we got a couple of them, we just couldn’t get them by,” Keeter said.
Severna Park stepped up the pressure in the second half thanks to some stellar work from Ava Scott and her twin sister Emerson.
Emerson had a blast from 35 yards out that was just deflected wide by goalie Scott early in the second half.
In the middle of the second half, Scott made her finest save of the night when she dove to repel Maria Bragg’s howitzer. Ava Scott had another quality shot on frame that was stopped.
“We had the quality and the moments that presented itself and that’s the difference,” Stimpson said. “They are going to fight until the death and that was evident at the end of the game today. Beating a team three times is very, very hard, so I couldn’t be more proud of the girls.”
Keeter takes comfort knowing that eight of the starters against Severna Park will return next season.
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