Penalty Kick

In soccer, it may be the equivalent of the New York Jets beating the Baltimore Colts in the 1969 Super Bowl, and the New York Mets beating the Baltimore Orioles in the 1969 World Series.The heavily underdog Albany Capitals completed a stunning elimination of the Maryland Bays from the American Professional Soccer League semifinal playoffs last night, defeating the Bays, 1-0, in a best-of-five penalty-kick shootout in the deciding 30-minute mini-game before 2,741 at Cedar Lane Park.The Capitals were 10-11 in the regular season and Maryland 19-2.

Milwaukee Wave coach Keith Tozer knows it's hard to win back-to-back championships, let alone get to play in one. He took much delight in getting soaked in champagne and jumping up and down with his team in the locker room after Joe Hammes' goal 46 seconds into overtime gave the Wave a 12-10 victory against the Blast on Sunday in the second and final game of the Major Indoor Soccer League championship series at U.S. Cellular Arena. "I've been saying it all year - it's tough to get into a final," Tozer said.

Their most recent game had settled nothing, which made last night's rematch even more intriguing.Less than two weeks after playing to a tie with the Anne Arundel County boys soccer championship on the line, No. 5 Severna Park and No. 9 Chesapeake met again in the Class 4A East Region semifinals.And this time, Chesapeake senior midfielder Blake Moore made sure there would be a winner -- and without a shootout.Moore scored on a penalty kick with 3:10 left in the second overtime to give the host team a 2-1 victory and a berth in Tuesday's final against Annapolis.

The Manchester Valley boys soccer team had plenty to deal with in Saturday's Class 1A state final against defending champion Mountain Ridge. The Miners from Allegany County went into the game with 17 wins in 18 tries and averaged 3.7 goals, boasting a relentless offense led by 26-goal scorer Chris Ranker. Through 100 minutes of soccer, the Mavericks stubbornly stood their ground with a defensive effort that forced the scoreless game to be decided on penalty kicks. It was then that Mountain Ridge finally found the mark.

The season just wasn't supposed to end this way for the talent-rich Maryland Bays.They had dominated the regular season in the American Professional Soccer League and were considered a lock to make the championship series again this year.Especially since the 10-11 Albany Capitals were the opponents for the 19-2 Bays in the best-of-two semifinals.But when Lee Tschantret's 12-yard penalty kick sailed off Maryland goalkeeper Steve Powers' fingers into the upper left corner of the net Saturday night, the Capitals had completed the dismantling of the defending APSL champions at Cedar Lane Park in Columbia.

Mike Sloniewsky's goal in the first round of sudden-death penalty kicks lifted Virginia Tech (8-7-1) to the championship of the annual Towson State Invitation soccer tournament yesterday. Tech and Philadelphia Textile (7-8-1) had gone 120 scoreless minutes and each had made four of five kicks in the first penalty round.The consolation game was a rematch of last year's championship game with the same outcome, as Towson State (11-4-2), behind two goals from Ed McCue, defeated Howard University (6-9-1)

Calvert Hall's Tom Tamberrino probably played his best game of the season on a soggy Curley field.Conversely, All-Metro striker Giuliano Celenza may have had his worst, hampered by a slick, muddy surface and Tamberrino's in-your-shirt defense.Yet it was Celenza whose arms were raised in victory yesterday.His penalty kick to the left of Bruce Engle (eight saves) with six minutes left in the second overtime secured a 1-0 decision, ending a hard-played Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association A Conference semifinal.

River Hill, newly anointed this week with the area's No. 1 ranking, played at Wilde Lake yesterday like a team intent upon keeping that position.The Hawks (5-0 overall, 2-0 league) knocked off fourth-ranked Wilde Lake 1-0 on a penalty kick by team co-captain and sweeper Sam Salganik 12 minutes into the game.The goal was Salganik's third in two games this week, and was a good personal tonic in the wake of the death of his mother's sister Saturday. She was buried Tuesday. Salganik also scored twice in Monday's 4-1 win over Good Counsel.

All night long, Severna Park had been coming up just short in scoring opportunities. So when senior Jimmy Traylor found himself facing the greatest opportunity of all -- a penalty shot in the waning minutes of a tie game with host Chesapeake -- he knew he had to take advantage."

At times, Maryland tends to lose concentration and aggressiveness. But wait until after halftime.Using a six-goal, second-half outburst, the No. 13 Terrapins revived themselves from a first-half funk to romp past Loyola, 6-0, yesterday at Alumnae Field at the College of Notre Dame. Maryland has totaled 68 percent of its goals in the second half, outscoring its opponents 25-6 after intermission.It matched the largest margin of victory in this 56-year-old state rivalry."There are definitely times when we haven't given teams enough focus," said Jason Sardis, who started the run by knocking in a rebound of his penalty kick early in the second half.

For the 100 minutes of soccer played in Friday's Class 4A girls championship game, Severna Park was confidently able to say it had the better of the play against a Bethesda-Chevy Chase team that had won state titles the past three years. But the No. 4 Falcons were unable to score the goal that would assure victory, and when the game ended up being decided in a penalty kick shootout, it was the Barons from Montgomery County who had a little better aim. Successful penalty kicks from senior Amanda Ross and sophomore Abby Thomas and two saves from sophomore goalkeeper Rachel Vander Kolk weren't enough for the Falcons, who watched Bethesda's Zoe Mesirow score in the fifth and final round to give the Barons the deciding 3-2 margin at UMBC Stadium.

Havre de Grace won its first regional boys soccer title in 21 years Tuesday night, beating visiting Sparrows Point, 5-4, on penalty kicks in Class 1A North. The game was tied 1-1 through regulation and two overtime periods. Sparrows Point struck first in the second minute. Off a failed clear that bounced off the crossbar, forward Austin Gilkey headed in a goal from the doorstep. Eighteen minutes later, the Warriors drew even on a free kick after a trip. Ryan Bastian sent the ball in from 40 yards out, where Gabe Larrimore played it left to Bobby Smith, who hit a low one-timer inside the far right post.

On a cold November afternoon in Churchville, Harford Community College's women's soccer team had one thing on its mind; a trip to the Sunshine State. With their victory in Saturday's 2011 District Championship Game, the Fighting Owls, playing on their own turf, will be heading to Florida to fight for a National Championship after dispatching Spartanburg Methodist, 6-1. "We are really excited," sophomore midfielder Kristina Rivera said. "This is what we have been working for all season long.

After defender Nicolina Boretti's successful penalty kick in the first half provided the needed offense, the No. 3 Archbishop Spalding girls soccer team executed an efficient plan to protect the lead in the second half and come away with a 1-0 win over No. 2 John Carroll Wednesday in Severn The Cavaliers (10-4-1) improved to 6-1 in the Interscholastic Athletic Association of Maryland A Conference, solidifying their hold on second place while John Carroll (11-2-1) fell to 4-2-1 in league play.

Even though it was just 12 minutes into the game, Atholton goalie Kyle Forbes knew he had to stop a penalty kick by sixth-ranked Marriotts Ridge if his team was going to have any chance of winning the Howard County showdown. Marriotts Ridge entered the game with four consecutive shutouts, so a one-goal deficit has been insurmountable to most of its opponents. Forbes guessed correctly to his left, pushing aside the shot to keep the game scoreless. The host Raiders took advantage 23 minutes later when freshman Tariq Pitt-Bey scored off a pass from Emilio Altamirano, leading to a 1-0 victory.

Et cetera Substitute Charlie Davies converted a penalty kick in the 85th minute to give visiting D.C. United a 1-1 Major League Soccer tie with Real Salt Lake. Davies drove into the right side of the penalty area against Real's Chris Wingert , and although there appeared to be little or no contact, Davies went down to win the penalty. Of Davies' five goals off the bench this season, four have helped United (4-5-5) earn either a win or a tie. Fabian Espindola scored on a penalty in the 38th minute to give Real (6-3-4)

Sophomore John Del Monaco's goal with five minutes remaining lifted Johns Hopkins to a 2-1 win yesterday over Dickinson in a men's soccer game in Carlisle, Pa.Hopkins (14-2, 6-1 Centennial Conference), ranked 25th in Division III, trailed 1-0 before Chris Thomas converted off an assist from Rosario Chiarenza with 14 minutes left in the first half.Winthrop 1, UMBC 0: Darryl Gomez converted a penalty kick in the 55th minute in the regular-season finale for both schools.UMBC (5-11, 2-4-1), outshot 8-2 in the second half, played the final 35 minutes a man down.

Up against a determined Loyola team that was able to stay with it step for step through 100 minutes, the No. 1 McDonogh boys soccer team needed penalty kicks to move ahead in the Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association A Conference semifinals yesterday. While Andrew Bulls, Mamadou Kansaye, Chris Agorsor and Joe Vidmar converted penalty kicks for McDonogh, goalkeeper Tom Caso made a diving save on Steve LeVine's attempt and Adam Parr had his chance go wide as the host Eagles advanced to the league championship with a 4-2 shootout win after the teams played to a 0-0 tie through two overtimes.

After winning his two national titles, Maryland coach Sasho Cirovski placed a goal from each championship site near a corner of Ludwig Field as a reminder of the team's lofty expectations each season. With 11 members of the 2008 national championship team on the roster, the Terrapins are in the hunt for an additional title as the second overall seed in this season's NCAA men's soccer championship. In Sunday's second-round game against Penn, they dominated from the opening whistle and scored three first-half goals en route to a 4-0 victory before an announced 2,401.