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Double the fun for Raiders girls in shutout of Great Mills
Moving on
Friday, Nov. 6, 2009
 Click here to enlarge this photo Staff photo by REID SILVERMAN
Leonardtown's Teresa Paz heads the ball over top teammate Lauren Dononvan.
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One game down, four more games to win if the Leonardtown Raiders girls soccer team want to repeat as Class 4A Maryland state champions.
Leonardtown's postseason journey began Tuesday night in a designated home game played at Chopticon High School against its county rival in No. 7 seed Great Mills Hornets.
The No. 2 seed Raiders picked up a 6-0 victory over the Hornets, led by two goals each from senior Johanna Rambo and Teresa Paz.
Rambo notched the first goal of the game only 5 1/2 minutes in, and Paz added her first goal only one minute later.
"It's always helpful to get a goal early on and set the pace for the game," Rambo said. "That's ideally what you want to do. I was excited that I was the one who got that goal. … Starting our playoff season like this was definitely good, and we want to carry this momentum through."
"It feels great. This was a good way to start the playoffs," Paz said. "This is going to give us momentum going into the rest of the postseason. … I thought we hustled well tonight, but there is always room for improvement."
Leonardtown continued to add pressure, scoring its third goal, that from Lauren Dononvan, and eventual fourth goal before the half, Paz's second.
Leonardtown head coach Jennifer Henderson was worried about possible rust as the team had not played since Oct. 22, a 5-1 victory at Chopticon. However, those worries were erased with three goals in the first 12 minutes of play.
"It was nice to come out with some intensity at the beginning of the game and get some early goals," Henderson said. "It was good to get back on the field to play a game after such a long layoff."
Rambo added her second goal of the contest early in the second half, and junior Lindsay Egbert hit the net to take the game to 6-0.
Great Mills (4-11-1) came out in the second half and applied much pressure to the Raiders resulting in three shots on goal.
Great Mills head coach Amy Herndon noticed the second-half attitude adjustment as well, adding, jokingly: "I yelled at them at halftime. … Maybe it was the intimidation factor. Leonardtown stepped in front and won all of the 50-50 balls. … But, if you go out there and play your best, you never know what's going to happen."
Jessica Manning was one of six Great Mills seniors to finish their respective careers.
"We had a great squad this season," Manning said. "Our team chemistry was great and everyone really liked each other, we are all best friends. This season was a lot of fun, and I couldn't have asked for a better senior year."
"The seniors this year were the building blocks to the program," Herndon said. "They have come a long way from 10 years ago when we were not winning games and getting blown out 10-0 every game. They are the base of the team, and helped start a new attitude for the program."
The Raiders faced third-seeded South River in a game that was scheduled for Thursday, a contest that finished too late for inclusion into this edition.
"The girls now, they need to be focused and come out with intensity in the playoffs," Henderson said. "They know it is the playoffs, and it's a one-time deal. You get one chance to come out and win that night or your season is done. … They know they have to work as a team to play another game."
"We are definitely motivated," Rambo added. "But, it is a lot of pressure. The girls want it and we are definitely going to try our best. … Hopefully we have four more games left."
The game was played at Chopticon due to bad field conditions at Leonardtown.
