Corner Kick

One corner kick made the difference between McDonogh and the fourth-ranked girls soccer team in the nation yesterday. Jessica Golibart's header in the 56th minute gave Good Counsel a 2-1 victory at McDonogh, The Sun's No. 4 team. Eagles goalkeeper Mariel Wilner punched Danielle Malagari's corner kick off the crossbar, but Golibart was in perfect position to head in the rebound. Golibart's goal gave the Falcons a 2-0 lead before Eagles midfielder Mary Beth Creed, working the give-and-go with Jeanetta McGettigan, nailed a 25-yarder to cut the margin to 2-1 in the 61st minute.

The deadline for submitting sports copy is 9 a.m. on Mondays. We prefer email (howardcountysports@patuxent.com). We do not accept results by phone. When two Howard County teams play, players from both teams (first and last names) must be mentioned in the write-up. Questions? Call 410-332-6606. Running The 332 participants in the Turkey Trot 10k Prediction Run had to run 6.2 miles through Jeffers Hill, with the winner finishing closest to 11 a.m. on Thanksgiving morning without the benefit of any timing devices.

A hat trick by team captain Jen Biscoe propelled No. 2-ranked John Carroll over No. 5 Notre Dame Prep, 4-1, and re-positioned the Patriots on a path to the No. 1 spot yesterday at Notre Dame Prep.The Patriots' offense paid dividends 22 minutes into the game when Biscoe headed a corner kick from Kourtney Porcella over goalie Lauren Stone for a 1-0 lead.Megan Schwartz scored for the Pirates at the beginning of the second half.Notre Dame Prep defender Marissa Giannerini, who assisted Schwartz's goal, tried to stop a surge by Biscoe, but tripped her in the penalty box. Biscoe's penalty goal gave her team a 2-1 lead and also smothered NDP's momentum.

The biggest strength of the undefeated River Hill girls soccer team is how well the players understand their respective roles. In the No. 2 Hawks' playoff run, senior forward Michaela Hennessy has happily been the star. After providing the game-winning goals in the previous two games to help capture the Class 3A East region, Hennessy was at it again in Saturday's state semifinal, breaking through with the all-important first goal midway through the second half and adding two assists to lead the Hawks to a 3-0 win over defending state champion Huntingtown from Calvert County.

In the huddle before Overlea and Hereford met in a Class 2A, Region II soccer match yesterday, a Hereford player said, "All or nothing."Then, the Overlea Falcons sent the Bulls home with a 1-0 loss and knocked them out of contention for the state 2A title.Overlea scored the winning goal the same way Hereford got a tying goal earlier in the season to avoid a loss to the Falcons -- a corner kick.The winning goal came from sophomore Greg Stevenson at 13 minutes, 50 seconds of the first half.

Tenth-ranked Oakland Mills (10-2-2) scored early and then held off an aggressive second-half Overlea attack to win the Class 2A, Region II boys soccer championship yesterday at Dundalk Community College, 1-0.Junior striker Teddy Lawler headed in a goal off a corner kick by Brent Mascott in the 11th minute for the game's only goal. No. 12 Overlea (11-2-1) had recorded 10 shutouts.Lance Burgess, who was marking Lawler, was injured on the play before the goal but stayed in the game."He [Burgess]

The Severna Park girls got it done early yesterday at Broadneck, scoring five times in the first half on their way to a comfortable 6-0 win in a Class 4A East region quarterfinal.Senior striker Holly Noga, last year's Anne Arundel Player of the Year, scored three goals with Allison Dooley and Erin Dubina both adding a goal and an assist.The 11th shutout was the No. 2-ranked Falcons' 11th of the season. They improved to 15-1."The team is playing great ball, peaking condition-wise at just the right time," said Severna Park coach Chuck Seivert.

When the ball was moving up and down the field, No. 6-ranked Glenelg was doing just fine staying on even terms with top-ranked River Hill. It was when the ball was being put back into play - restarts - that the smaller Gladiators simply couldn't match up. Two long throws and a corner kick produced three headers and a 3-0 win for the visiting Hawks at Glenelg yesterday. Sophomore defender Megan Buescher continued to double as a prime offensive weapon. She was in on all three River Hill goals, assisting on two with her long throw strikes and scoring on another off a Shannon Jackson corner kick.

Mike Giuffrida had a goal and two assists, as No. 3 Fallston (8-0, 4-0) stopped visiting North Harford, 4-1, in a bruising boys soccer game on a cool, rainy evening last night.Fallston's win, coupled with C. Milton Wright's 3-0 victory over Bel Air in the afternoon, kept the two unbeatens in the Harford County League on a collision course toward their meeting at Fallston next Thursday. In between Fallston goes to Aberdeen and C. Milton is at Edgewood on Tuesday.North Harford (4-2-1, 2-2), which had not played well in a 4-1 loss to Wright last week, was much more intense in this one and within a goal until the 54th minute.

Oakland Mills stopper Chris Miller stood on the sidelines and smiled as the game wound down against No. 11 Wilde Lake.He seemed to like the fact that his shirt had been ripped apart at the left shoulder. A badge of courage. On a team noted for its physical, black-and-blue style, he is one of the more physical players.But Miller never had experienced a game quite as personally satisfying as this one.His No. 4 senior-dominated team finally wore down a sophomore-dominated Wilde Lake (3-2-2, overall, 0-1-1 league)

Archbishop Curley's Barry Stitz and Calvert Hall's Rich Zinkand remember competing against one another as players in the long, storied soccer rivalry between the schools, spanning more than 40 years and at least a half dozen conference championship games. While Stitz is now in his 13th year as head coach at No. 3 Curley, Zinkand is in his first at No. 9 Calvert Hall, and the two met Friday night in the 11th annual Bernard Reif Cup. The visiting Friars avenged a loss to the Cardinals earlier in the week with a thrilling 1-0 victory on a goal by Kyle Mizell with less than a minute remaining in front of approximately 2,000 at Paul Angelo Russo Stadium.

Surrendering the game's first goal on a big rival's home field can cause some teams to panic. For the Century girls soccer team, which was visiting Carroll County foe Westminster on Tuesday, it meant digging in. The Knights' response to the early deficit was two goals 10 minutes apart starting midway in the first half, giving them the necessary push to come away with a 4-2 upset of the No. 11 Owls. Forward Jaci Buteau provided much of the offense, tying the score and adding her second goal and an assist for the Knights (8-2-2, 5-0-1 Carroll)

It was evident early in Friday night's girls soccer showdown between No. 1 McDonogh and No. 2 Archbishop Spalding that whatever ground that was to be gained would have to be well earned. Balls at midfield were fiercely challenged and any forward progress was met with defensive resistance. The high level of competition has become the norm when the two teams have played in recent years, making it the area's finest girls soccer rivalry. Coming out strong in the second half and sensing an advantage, McDonogh, two-time defending Interscholastic Athletic Association of Maryland A Conference champion, was able to break through when junior midfielder Steffani Holmes headed home a corner kick sent in by senior defender Jordan Pearson.

Deja Hursey scored just 28 seconds into the game to give Glenelg Country School an early jumpstart on an 8-0 win over Mt. Carmel today. Hursey added two more goals in the win, the third for the Dragons in the Interscholastic Athletic Association of Maryland C Conference and their fifth win in eight games overall this season. Defensively, keeper Shayna Keller had a good outing, getting seven saves in the shutout. Tala Ahmadi had two goals and one assist, and Ashley Mink, Chloe Lewis and Ninah Dawson also scored.

With one memorable touch and 80 minutes of poised play, the Reservoir girls soccer team made history Thursday night at UMBC, coming away with a 1-0 win over Huntingtown in the Class 3A title game for the program's first crown. Senior All-Metro midfielder Katlyn Axenfeld provided the offense, bending home a corner kick late in the first half that proved to be the game-winner. Reservoir finishes its season with a 15-3-1 mark, while Huntingtown, of Calvert County, fell to 15-3. "Last year, we kind of came in like, 'Oh my gosh, it's states,'" senior forward Megan Jackson said.

College field hockey Maryland blanks Duke, 3-0, clinches top-2 finish in ACC The No. 1 Maryland field hockey team shut out No. 14 Duke, 3-0, in Durham, N.C., on Saturday afternoon. Maryland moved to 14-0 this season and 4-0 in Atlantic Coast Conference play, while Duke fell to 6-6 overall and 0-4 in the ACC. Freshman Megan Frazer scored twice to put the Terps on top. "The coaching staff is very pleased with the outcome. From a postseason point of view, it gives us an opportunity to have a bye in the ACC tournament, which is exciting," coach Missy Meharg said.

Deja Hursey scored just 28 seconds into the game to give Glenelg Country School an early jumpstart on an 8-0 win over Mt. Carmel today. Hursey added two more goals in the win, the third for the Dragons in the Interscholastic Athletic Association of Maryland C Conference and their fifth win in eight games overall this season. Defensively, keeper Shayna Keller had a good outing, getting seven saves in the shutout. Tala Ahmadi had two goals and one assist, and Ashley Mink, Chloe Lewis and Ninah Dawson also scored.

In a girls soccer game dominated by tight marking, a couple of fine saves and some shots that missed either high or wide, Loch Raven's overtime goal against visiting Catonsville yesterday was a textbook piece of offense. Senior striker Samantha Hannibal sent a cross to the far post that was won by freshman Christie Moyer, who placed it in the middle for senior Sa'Sha Kershaw to tap. Kershaw's sixth goal of the season came two minutes into the first overtime and gave the No. 15 Raiders a 2-1 win over the Comets in Baltimore County play.

The St. Vincent Pallotti girls soccer team proved a resilient bunch this season, relying on substance over flash with nothing coming easily. It was never more apparent than the No. 9 Panthers' successful run through the Interscholastic Athletic Association of Maryland A Conference playoffs, highlighted by their 1-0 win over No. 3 McDonogh in yesterday's championship game at Glenelg Country School. Senior midfielder Randall Marshall scored her second straight game-winning goal, senior goalkeeper Amanda Carta earned her third straight 1-0 shutout win in the postseason, and a sturdy defensive front kept McDonogh's dangerous offense in check to bring home the first league crown for Pallotti (11-5-2)