Arundel tops Broadneck; clinches Anne Arundel title

For the Arundel High boys’ soccer team, the only thing standing in its way of a undefeated regular season in Anne Arundel County was Broadneck.

On a foggy Wednesday night , No. 9 Arundel toppled the sixth-ranked Bruins, 2-0, for the county championship and a spot in the District V championship game against the Howard County champion.

“It meant a lot for us on a more personal level and hopefully we have three more championship games left to go,” said Wildcats senior forward Mike Kovach, whose team advanced its mark to 11-0-3 overall, 10-0-1 in Anne Arundel play. 

“I never expected it, I’m thrilled, it’s super, they [Arundel] practiced very hard and I think it’s well deserved,” said Arundel coach Nick Jauschnegg. “To go undefeated is very special and they wanted to that and they played with that kind of effort.”

“It’s important to come out to a game like this and play with a passion and emotion and we did tonight. I think both teams played with a lot of intensity and I give Arundel all the credit in the world for finishing their chances.” said Broadneck coach Sean Tettermer.

Before the start of the game emotions ran high as it was senior night for Broadneck (11-3, 9-2 Anne Arundel). The Bruins said farewell to 12 seniors including Evan Camm and Josh Schwartz, who helped propel the Bruins in the opening minutes as Broadneck able to play on Arundel’s side of the field for the opening minutes of the first half.

As the first half came to a close, the Wildcats took over and started applying pressure to the Bruins. That pressure eventually turned into a goal for Arundel as senior halfback Billy Fowler went airborne and booted a shot of a Bruin defender from 18 yards to give his team a 1-0 lead 31 minutes into the game.

“[Billy] Fowler just hit a great volley as far as I am concern the key to shots like that is that you have to make great contact and that’s a good a goal you’re ever gonna see, even the pros,” said Jauschnegg.

Five minutes after the Fowler goal the Wildcats continued to show more elements of their explosive offensive. At the 35 minutes mark junior halfback Joon Lee delivered a pass to senior Mike Kovach as he guided the ball pass four Broadneck defenders to put Arundel up, 2-0 heading into halftime.

“Me and Joon Lee have played together for a long time and we know where each other is going to be, just lucky enough he was able to find me and get a shot on goal,” said Kovach.

“We kept the ball moving and Mike Kovach just made a good strike on the ball and we got a good result of that,” said Jauschnegg.

Even with a firm grasp of the lead, Arundel was not content with being up 2-0 in the second half and continued to attack Broadneck on the offensive end. Arundel finished the game by taken six shots on goal while Broadneck fired four shots as Arundel goalkeeper Bryan Bagley who had four saves.

“They [Arundel] are a very good defensive team, they have very technical defenders and they don’t allow anyone to get behind them and they are usually the first ones to the ball,” said Tettermer.

The defense of Arundel held true as it posted its 11th shutout of the regular season. The Wildcats now turn their attention to the postseason.

“We are just going to take some time and enjoy going undefeated and then we have start focusing on the post season. Nobody is better than anybody else, everyone is 0-0 and it’s all a matter of how we play,” said Jauschnegg.

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