Deja vu for the Huskies in Region Finals

It was just a year ago that the Patterson Mill Huskies were battling for a 1A North Regional title in boys’ soccer, and the team again found itself vying for another title, Tuesday, facing Brunswick for a second straight year.

But the 80-minute battle favored the Railroaders yet again, providing another 2-1 victory for the regional championship.

“We were resilient tonight,” Brunswick Head Coach Kenny Putnam said.  “We went down 1-0 and kept digging in, kept putting the pressure on and got the two goals we deserved to win our second in a row here tonight.”

The Huskies won the sprint to the scoreboard, seeing junior Kyle Walczak turn and take a quick shot at the Brunswick goal for a 1-0 lead in the 51st minute, but would fail to win the race to the finish as the Railroaders added two goals, the second in the final six minutes, to claim the win.

Teammates Drew Demich and Michael Millett were the point winners for the Railroaders, scoring in the 60th and 74th minutes, respectively.

“Someone played a ball across, and Anthony Lukens just flicked it up and I was one-on-one with the goalie and just put it in the corner,” Demich said of his goal.

Millett, also scoring  on a one-touch goal, was sent in a ball and sent it into the upper-right corner of the net for the game-winner.

“It means a great deal to us, our program our school and our community,” Putnam said of the win.  “This is our second in-a-row, and these guys are just resilient and have worked hard the entire year to get to this game.  We are headed back to the state tournament and we are very proud to be going there.

Brunswick will take on the 1A South champion, the winner of Owings Mills and Sparrows Point, in the state semifinals, set to be played on Saturday at North County High School.
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The Patterson Mill boys ended their 2010 season as regional runner-ups and the UCBAC’s Susquehanna Division Champions, allowing them a chance to play in the conference’s Chesapeake Division in 2011.

“I think we will be alright,” Hueskies’ head coach Wes Rich explained of the move.  “We only lose four kids, and we already play most of those teams with our conference play, so I font think it will be much different.

““They had a great year and we had a ton of fun.  They stayed together as a team and were positive all season.  They played a great game, but we just couldn’t finish and win this final game.”