Northern dominates

Patriots girls down Lackey, boys beat Stone to face La Plata

Friday, Nov. 6, 2009

Northern High School was the site of a Class 3A South region boys and girls soccer quarterfinal doubleheader Tuesday evening.

The chill in the air only fired up the hometown Patriots as the girls completed an 8-1 rout of Lackey, then the boys took the field and took care of Thomas Stone, 5-0.

"We lost a lot of valuable players last year," Northern girls head coach Jay Loveless said, "but they really surprised me with how well they're playing this year. We need just a little more continuity in our passing and finishing, but we're hoping to go back to states and win regions. Everybody overall has stepped it up. We don't have one superstar here, they're really playing as a team."

The second-seeded Northern girls will tackle with sixth-seeded Largo at 4:30 p.m. today, while the boys, the top seed, take on fourth-seeded La Plata right after that at around 6.

"La Plata has a really good team this year," Northern boys head coach John Rossi said. "It's been a growing rivalry and I think they'll be a nice challenge for us. Two SMAC teams facing off in the playoffs –– it will be a fun one. We need to keep focused and keep the defense organized. All in all I'm very pleased with the effort here tonight. We have two great keepers this year. Chris [Glasgow] is a great leader and Ryan [Welp] as a sophomore has done a great job; I'm just blessed to have two great keepers so I think we're ready."

Sophomore Valerie Cwiek got things started for the Patriots when she scored the first of two goals just under 11 minutes into the game after Northern had put pressure on Lackey goalkeeper Leah Norris with three prior attempts.

Senior Megan Bicevskis was scored on a penalty kick, putting the Patriots up 2-0. Bicevskis in turn would end the night with a hat trick.

"This was a good win for us," Cwiek said.

The Patriots ended the first half with a taste for one more goal as junior Catie Blauvelt tapped one in with a head bump to make it 3-0 off an assist from senior midfielder Danielle Franklin. She later scored her second goal in the 53rd minute of the game.

"We've been practicing really hard this season and working out all the kinks." Blauvelt said. "We come out strong every game, looking for the win. Hopefully all the hard work will all pay off in the end."

Cwiek got her second goal less than four minutes into the second half and Lackey came alive with a shot from junior midfielder Jaclyn Enlow five minutes later that found its way into the net to break up the shutout, 4-1.

The Patriots' passing game and footwork had the hosts winning the battle for the ball and taking more shots on goal throughout the game.

Junior Sam McIntire got the ball from Mary Campbell and took a shot, scoring the fifth goal for the Patriots. Then, Blauvelt took a penalty shot, scoring her second of the night, the sixth for Northern.

Bicevskis finished what she started, scoring two within the last four minutes as the Patriots advanced to the semifinals.

Patriots boys move on

The shutout for the boys came in part from the high intensity play of seniors Matt Cross, Dane Slavin, Jason Bennett and Quentin Leadbeter and junior Andrew Turgeon.

"I thought they executed well tonight," Northern head coach John Rossi said. "A lot of stuff we've done in training this week they were able to execute which was nice to see."

In the 19th minute of the game, Cross fired a shot once he was freed of the tight coverage from Stone's William Trusnovic. The persistence paid off for Cross, who scored to put Northern on the board with an assist to Slavin.

"They tested our ability tonight," Cross said. "I know the score doesn't reflect that, but they did play us pretty well. I hope we can take what we're learning in practice and put it out on the field for playoffs. If we do that, we'll be successful."

The second goal for Northern was a true team effort. With many legs in front of the goal, Slavin tossed his hand in the air to claim the second for the Patriots and the hosts led 2-0 at halftime. Slavin went on to end the night with three assists.

"We just need to stick to our team mentality and not get down on each other," Slavin said. "If we do that, we can beat anyone. La Plata beat us on our home field last year in the playoffs, so it's a big revenge game for me, personally and I know a lot of my teammates agree."

Northern scored three goals in a five-minute span early in the second half.

Seven minutes into the half, Bennett was awarded a penalty kick and was successful, putting the Patriots up 3-0.

Less than two minutes later, Turgeon found the right side corner of the net open and hooked a shot into the net. And Slavin found Leadbeter in front of the net with an open shot to push Northern ahead, 5-0.

"Unfortunately we did graduate a lot of seniors," said Thomas Stone head coach Tom Parker, who plans to be back next year for his 34th season as head coach. "I think we have some good young players. We just have to keep working on our soccer skills."

tshowalter@somdnews.com

Results

Boys

Northern 5, Thomas Stone 0

Stone 0 0

Northern 2 3

Goals: Northern (Cross, Slavin, Bennett, Turgeon, Leadbeter)

Saves: Thomas Stone (B. Turgeon 14); Northern (Glasgow 2, Welp 3)

Girls

Northern 8, Lackey 1

Lackey 0 1

Northern 3 5

Goals: Lackey (J. Enlow); Northern (Cwiek 2, Bicevskis 3, Blauvelt 2, McIntire)

Saves: Lackey (Norris 10); Northern (Cirillo 2)