Varsity Soccer

1 Senior Gilman lost to graduation. The Greyhounds advanced to the MIAA A Conference quarterfinals last season and knocked off top-ranked Calvert Hall. 8 State championships won by River Hill. 11 Consecutive games won by Bel Air before falling to Bethesda-Chevy Chase, 1-0, in the Class 3A state final. 13 Goals by Poly junior midfielder Paul Kwenah last season. 17 Wins by Perry Hall coach Danny Skelton in his first year at the school. 28 Years Westminster coach Fran McCullin has coached in Carroll County.

It was a moment Jake Pace had dreamed about his entire life. In the first overtime of last year's Class 2A state championship game against Loch Raven, the River Hill midfielder knew he had positioned himself perfectly just inside the penalty area as teammate Tony Riso lined up a corner kick. As the ball curled toward the near post, Pace timed his run through the box to meet it. The Loch Raven defenders tried to clog the penalty area, but they were left helpless as Pace jumped and fiercely headed the ball into the bottom corner of the net. Pace is one of several players in the metro area who has a reputation for making a difference when the game is on the line.

Nervous is how St. Vincent Pallotti senior defender Jazzmine Chandler described the moment. Even a little scared. She didn't feel the jittery flash before the two Interscholastic Athletic Association of Maryland A Conference championship games she has played in, or any of the many times a top-notch forward was trying to race past her. So what had Chandler frazzled? The day after tryouts during her freshman year, the new team was assembled and each player was asked to stand up and say what she could improve on for the coming season.

Cassie Cooke * Winters Mill, midfield * Carroll County's Player of the Year in 2007, the dynamic senior owns the middle of the field and is a constant source of offense (12 goals, 16 assists last season) for the defending county champs. Monica Fischer * Fallston, forward * A threat every time she touches the ball, the four-year starter had 25 goals and nine assists last season, sparking the Cougars to their first UCBAC championship. Peyton Johnson * Catonsville, midfield * The junior center midfielder, who scored eight goals and had 10 assists in the Comets' run to the state tournament, has an impeccable first touch and uncanny field sense to set the tempo.

Senior Kim McKinney of C. Milton Wright played junior varsity soccer for two years before being cut in the fall of 2006 when going out for the varsity. McKinney was disappointed but kept working on her game and gave it another shot this season. McKinney not only made the team, but she also earned a starting spot and played a key role on a team that surprised many by reaching the Class 4A state title game. McKinney said she learned valuable lessons from the experience, and coach Paul Austin said he was delighted with how she rebounded and became a big part of this year's team.

Harford Tech junior Tan Le is adjusting to life in the United States as well as life on the varsity soccer team. He's been in this country for about five years, coming over from Vietnam. His family lived in the central part of Vietnam. Le's father died when he was young, and Le came to America with nine brothers and sisters. He's been working hard to learn the language, customs and life in this country, and now speaks English well. Le, 16, tried out for the Harford Tech junior varsity soccer team as a freshman, but he was cut and didn't try out last year.

Tom Beck, a retired Baltimore County public schools teacher and the father of 12, died of an aneurysm Friday at St. Joseph Medical Center. The Freeland resident was 69. Born Charles Thomas Beck in Baltimore and raised on Fairmount Avenue, he was a 1953 graduate of Mount St. Joseph High School, playing on its varsity soccer and basketball teams. He also played on soccer teams that competed in Patterson Park. He earned a bachelor's degree from what is now Towson University and a master's degree from Morgan State University.

A popular Wilde Lake High School varsity soccer player is in serious condition after crashing his Honda Civic on Friday less than a mile from school. Marco Filipponi, 18, of the 4700 block of Rams Horn Row in Ellicott City, was speeding east on Governor Warfield Parkway near Windstream Drive about 10:30 a.m. when he lost control, slid onto the median and began to spin, police said. His car then struck the rear of a vehicle that was waiting on Windstream Drive, according to police. Filipponi was traveling to a work-study assignment.