No. 12 Glenelg girls soccer rallies to beat Hereford, 3-2, advances to second straight 2A state title game
Nov. 13—Glenelg girls soccer found itself in uncharted territory trailing Hereford by two goals in the 31st minute Friday night. But the Gladiators didn't flinch, mounting an immediate response.
Junior Stephanie Lathrop scored on a free kick less than a minute after the Bulls' second goal. She added another goal in the second half, as did Ginny Sung, to lift No. 3 seed Glenelg to a 3-2 come-from-behind win over No. 7 seed Hereford at Gaithersburg High.
The Gladiators advance to their second straight Class 2A state championship game and will face the winner of No. 5 seed Century and No. 8 seed Sparrows Point.
"We know that the game's not over no matter what the score is," Lathrop said. "There's still lots of time to play and honestly just getting in the best position to help the team out is what I wanted to do the best."
Glenelg boys soccer avenges state semifinal loss, defeating Parkside 2-0, advancing to first state title game since 1997 https://t.co/2uOHfyipMW
— Baltimore Sun Sports (@BaltSunSports) November 12, 2022
In a rematch of last year's Class 2A state championship game the Gladiators won, 2-1, Hereford started fast. The Bulls had four corner kicks in the opening 10 minutes, and Lauren Orner knocked in a cross from Ainsley Yates in the eighth minute. Hereford nearly doubled its lead 10 minutes later, but a shot ricocheted of the crossbar. They doubled the lead in the 31st minute after a cross bounced over Gladiators goalie Bella Buscher's head and Lindsey Moneymaker chipped it in.
"We've been here before and we looked like we've been here before," Hereford coach Brad Duvall said of the fast start. "That's what I told them, I said, 'That's a young team over there with a couple of real good superstars returning.' Just knowing that almost every one of these kids has played at this level and the next game, so taking advantage of that for the first 15 minutes. I knew Glenelg was going to settle in."
The Gladiators did exactly that on Lathrop's free kick in the 32nd minute. Howard County's second leading scorer didn't miss the set piece opportunity, trimming the Bulls' lead to one after they seemingly had all of the momentum. Hereford held a 2-1 advantage at the break, but that quickly changed to start the second half.
"Their ability and strengths, they weren't able to showcase in the first half," Glenelg coach Vincente D'Antuono said. "The fact that the game still had 40 minutes left, we were fortunate to be [trailing] at 2-1 at half. The kids keep believing, keep working and striving and putting things together. It's fun. They're a great group of kids."
Forty-six seconds into the second half, the Bulls were called for a handball in the box. That set up a penalty kick opportunity for Lathrop, who buried the shot inside the lower right corner of the net. Back even once again, Glenelg's attack surged forward.
Two minutes later, Isabelle Brought delivered a cross to Sung toward the far post. Sung didn't miss the high-quality chance, chipping the ball past Annabelle Grenzer for the Gladiators' first lead of the evening.
"It was a beautiful ball," Sung said of the pass that set up her goal. "We were working on taking the line, crossing it in. That's what we've been working on at practice."
Trailing for the first time all evening, Hereford sought the equalizer. They nearly found it in the 65th minute, as Yates' shot rolled just wide of goal. That wasn't her last high-quality chance, however, as she narrowly missed a low angle shot in the 78th minute. By then, time on the Bulls' comeback hopes began to dwindle.
Glenelg spent the final 90 seconds keeping the ball away from Buscher on the Bulls' side of the field. Soon after, the final whistle blew, sending the Gladiators sprinting toward Buscher in celebration. Their jubilation carried over to the Gladiators' fans, who watched both the boys and girls programs cement their spots in next week's state championship games at Loyola Maryland.
"It's another great opportunity on the table that we've got to cherish, enjoy and work for," Lathrop said.
