[Baltimore Sun] St. Mary’s boys soccer ups unbeaten streak to 10, blanks Indian Creek, 6-0
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A few days ago, St. Mary’s boys soccer coach Corey Childs gathered up his 10 seniors and asked how many had played for a Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association B Conference championship.
Nine raised their hands, players who watched their Saints suffer two straight losses to rival Severn. None of them had even been alive when St. Mary’s last captured a title in 2005.
“They’re all contributing now, and they’re hungry. They’re really, really hungry,” Childs said.
Indian Creek became another meal for the voracious Saints on St. Mary’s senior night Wednesday, a 6-0 rout behind endless first-half pressure that resulted in five of the six goals. All six were scored by seniors.
“We’ve been at the top before. Crashing out and burning in the quarterfinals last year — I mean, barely sneaking into the playoffs to begin with — really taught us a lot,” Childs said. “And we’re proving it at this moment.”
St. Mary’s upped its unbeaten conference record to 5-0 and overall mark to 9-0-1, something that padding the early season with difficult public school opponents like Old Mill and Broadneck prepared it for. Consistency drives the Saints forward, from the front line to the back. The defense, laden with dangerous backs on every inch of the third, has only surrendered four goals this fall and made the Eagles its eighth consecutive shutout.
Before St. Mary’s swapped to give its senior goalkeeper Jake Parker some time in the second half, junior Graham Williams only had to make three saves. The rare times Indian Creek midfielders did cross midfield in the first half, they met unforgiving pickpockets who quickly transferred their stolen goods back into enemy territory.
“We want to be a team that can defend well, that can counter and possess the ball well,” Childs said. “The guys bought into the preparation, and we’ve got players that can run doing things we wanted to do against this opponent. It opened a lot of attacking opportunities for us.”
For 15 minutes, Indian Creek’s defense held against St. Mary’s attacks, but the flood never ended.
From first whistle, St. Mary’s rushed against the Eagles defense with little interruption. Seniors Charlie Roy and Landon Ross peppered most of St. Mary’s first five shots, either into senior keeper Brayden Marcus’ clutches, between the football uprights or off the top bar.
But when Roy did punch through, he opened a crack in the Eagles’ wall they never were able to close.
Ross crashed through the opening within a minute. He tried it again shortly after, finally finishing off a flurry with a goal. Roy hardly gave the Eagles time to notice before netting another.
“There were just gaps in the backline,” Ross said. “We found the balls to take the shots and just kept hammering.”
Only after Ross flung his third goal on an empty net did Indian Creek muster its first shot on goal. Disappointment dogged Indian Creek coach Isaiah Noreiga. While the Eagles missed sophomore Sebastian Coons, who missed Wednesday’s game to try out for the Costa Rican U17 national team, their lack of true response to St. Mary’s attacks couldn’t be chalked up to one absentee. The Eagles’ nonconference performances showed promise. Now, they’re 0-3 in-conference.
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“We played horrible in the first half. We’re very much a possession team, and we were just kicking it long,” Noriega said. “We played scared. And we just can’t.”
By the second half, the Saints deployed all the bench players they could.
Enter senior Will Rome.
Starters muttered, held breath and shouted encouragement as Rome broke from the pack and careened toward the cage.
When his shot struck the back of the net, Rome had only moments before his teammates practically carried him to the corner to pelt him with hugs and friendly shoulder-punches. They’d been waiting to do it for so long.
“We’re a brotherhood,” Rome said. “It’s just so special, especially on senior night, to get my first varsity goal, especially with all my guys celebrating me at the end. My family was here and everything – it was a great moment.”
After Friday’s matchup with defending B champion and similarly unbeaten St. Paul’s (4-0), the Saints will take a week off before the most intense stretch of the season kicks off.
“I’m confident we can continue to be resilient,” Childs said. “It’s important we stay fresh and focus.”
Indian Creek — 0 0 — 0
St. Mary’s — 5 1 — 6
Shots: SM — 20; IC — 6. Goals: SM — Ross 3, Roy 2, Rome 1. Saves: SM — Williams 3, Parker 3; IC — Marcus 9
Have a sports news tip? Contact Katherine Fominykh at kfominykh@baltsun.com or DM at @capgazsports on Instagram.
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