The Sparrows Point girls soccer team picked up a big win on Friday after upsetting No. 11 Loch Raven, 3-2.
The two Baltimore County Division I rivals played to a scoreless first half. The Raiders dominated the run of play in the first half and continued to push into the second.
Loch Raven (8-5-0 overall, 4-2 league) was able to penetrate deep into the Pointers’ defense and scored two goals on close shots in the first 20 minutes. Christine Moyer and Chelsea Hunt accounted for those scores.
But that is when Sparrows Point (8-3-0, 3-3-0) came to life. Freshman Lauren Spivey started to take control of the middle of the field at her center midfield position.
She won the ball and carried it past three defenders before sending a pass to classmate Autumn Ciarpella down the right wing. Ciarpella juked her defender with two cuts and finished with a tough shot from the corner of the 18 to cut the lead to 2-1.
Later, Spivey sent a corner kick in that Katie Beam got a piece of. It deflected off a Raiders defender and into the goal to tie the game.
Then, with four seconds left to play, Becca Zafia, on her senior night, sent a shot from the left side soaring over the Loch Raven goalkeeper Abigail Ruppel’s head. The game-winning goal, too, came from a pass from Spivey.
“Maggie Shifflett came up with some huge saves,” said Sparrows Point coach Caitlin Brennan. “Junior Nikki Nash, an outside defender, played amazingly as well, clearing one ball right off the line in the first half. This was a matchup of last year’s 1A Regional final in which we lost a 3-1 lead in a 4-3 final score. Loch Raven went on to win the State championship.”
Sparrows Point 3, No. 11 Loch Raven
LR 0 2 — 2
SP 0 3 — 3
Goals: LR-Moyer, Hunt; SP-Ciarpella, Beam, Zafia.
Assists: SP-Spivey 3.
Saves: LR-Ruppel 4; SP-Shifflett 7.
