September 10, 2009|By Todd Karpovich | Todd Karpovich,Special to The Baltimore Sun
For nearly 98 minutes, top-ranked McDonogh pushed forward and attacked second-ranked Mount St. Joseph only to have Gaels goalie Brad Benzing keep the Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association A Conference opener scoreless.
The Eagles, however, finally broke through with two minutes left in the second overtime when Jeremy Kirkwood collected a long clear, pushed the ball around his defender and found the middle of the goal after Benzing came off his line and made the initial save. With the 1-0 victory, the Eagles have won 32 consecutive conference games.
"When you dominate play, you have to finish your chances," McDonogh coach Steve Nichols said. "We should have scored some goals, but we didn't. Our back line is unbelievable, and our goalkeeping is stellar. [The forwards] have to make their last touch better."
The game was a rematch of last season's MIAA championship game, which the Eagles won, 6-1.
McDonogh (3-0, 1-0 league) lacked its top playmaker, Marquez Fernandez, who has a chest injury. The Gaels (2-1, 0-1) missed their leading scorer, Dave Arnold, who was serving a one-game suspension for receiving a red card in last year's title game.
The Eagles had several chances to take the lead in the first half, but a shot by Jake Weiner caromed off the crossbar in the eighth minute.
"I thought both teams were really organized, knocking around balls," Gaels coach Mike St. Martin said. "It was a battle with some hard tackles. It was good soccer."
Mount St. Joseph had a few chances to take the lead in the second half off dangerous crosses from Geaton Caltabiano but could not find a finishing touch. McDonogh sent 10 players forward in overtime, but it was a long clear that proved to be the winner.
Lucas Winters intercepted a pass and cleared a low ball that was picked up by Kirkwood. Benzing stormed off his line and blocked the initial shot, but the rebound came directly to Kirkwood, who slotted the ball into the middle of an empty goal.
The Gaels "play hard," Kirkwood said. "They are a great team. Their goalie made some great saves. He just got unlucky on that last one."
Goals: MD - Kirkwood. Saves: MSJ - Benzing 8; MD - Sanchez 2. Half: 0-0
