B-CC 5, Whitman 1

By John Donnelly


On a brisk fall night, the Lady Barons on Wednesday rallied from an early 1-0 deficit against arch-rival Whitman to score five straight goals, winning convincingly 5-1 and retaining the coveted Queens of Bethesda title.

Senior captain Sunny Cobb led the scoring with two goals, including one on a penalty stroke, while the other scorers were junior Jenn Dewey and seniors Rachel Ruda and Ruth Andrews – for Andrews, a senior defense player, it was the first goal of her high school career.

For coach Amy Wood and her players – now 7-2 on the season – the key moment of the contest, and perhaps a defining moment of the season so far, happened just five minutes into the game.

Whitman had just opened scoring off a penalty corner from a defensive lapse – a Whitman player, alone at the goal mouth, tapped in a rebound for an easy goal – when B-CC stormed back. The team made several crisp, quick passes and then playmaker and senior captain Charlotte Kettler passed to Cobb, who directed the ball to Ruda. Ruda, 12 feet from the goal, sent a low scorcher into the goal to tie the game. It came just one minute after Whitman’s score.

``That’s what I liked most from the game,’’ Coach Wood said afterward. ``What they did was impressive. They moved the ball and scored right away. It was a sign of confidence that they didn’t have at this time last year. It was fun to watch – a lot of fun.’’

For the next 20 minutes, the Lady Barons dominated. Kettler controlled the midfield, deftly maneuvering in and around the defenders; Cobb sent long hard shots 20 or 30 yards repeatedly downfield; senior captain Paige Donnelly outran defenders and helped control the right side of the field despite spraining her ankle early in the game; defenders Meredith Storm, Rachel Natoli, Rebecca Natoli, and Andrews stifled Whitman’s offensive attempts, and, in the net, goalie Lauren Serpan, while rarely tested, shouted directions that kept her defense well-positioned throughout.

And for long periods of the game, players made one-touch passes to teammates, expertly moving the ball down the field.

Two other Lady Baron goals completed the scoring in the first half. First, Dewey tapped one in near the goal mouth, and then, off the fourth penalty corner in a four-minute span, Dewey controlled a rebound and passed to Andrews who fired off a low shot in the right corner to score just before time ran out.

In the second half, Whitman exerted pressure on the Lady Baron’s defensive end for the first nine minutes, but the Lady Barons then took control. In one impressive sequence, Ruda sent a long ball down the right sideline, Donnelly pushed it ahead in a dash 30 yards down the field before making a cross-field pass to junior Julie Michon. Only an excellent leg save by Whitman’s goalie stopped Michon from scoring.

Cobb then scored twice – the first on one of her patented hard shots from the top of the key off a penalty corner, assisted by Rebecca Natoli, and the second on the penalty stroke after the Whitman goalie sat on the ball.

Amy’s apple went to Donnelly and Ruda for their hustling play.

After the game, although excited about her first career goal, Andrews focused on the quality of the team’s play.

``We had a lot of good one-time passes,’’ she said.

Ruda, standing next to her, added, ``We had a lot of give-and-gos.’’

``And we were communicating really well,’’ Andrews said. ``Lauren (Serpan) was doing a good job of talking with the defenders. We communicated much better in this game.’’

Wood also was pleased with the teamwork. ``It was just touch-touch-touch,’’ she said of the ball movement. ``Especially down the right side of the field. We controlled the right side. It was really good to see them really believe in themselves as we go forward into the last part of the season.’’