In rainy Brokklandville, on Thursday afternoon, St. Paul’s defeated visiting Annapolis Area Christian, 2-0, to mark a return trip to the MIAA B Conference soccer finals. The St. Paul’s win avenged a loss to AACS in last year’s league championship, which came on penalty kicks.
Both Crusader goals were scored by Will Ridgely in the second half. The first was a header off of a corner kick, with 21:13 to play, and the second was a powerful blast that squirted through the hands of the AACS keeper, with under two minutes remaining.
“Ridgely has been huge for us as a four year starter, and we got lucky on the corner kick, and their goalkeeper made some tremendous saves to keep them in the game,” said St. Paul’s head coach Greg Schreiner. “Anytime we have the ball served into the box we have to have some pressure there.”
To say the weather played a factor in the game would be an understatement, as the cold rain showered down on Tullai field, making the surface slick and the ball slippery.
On the second goal, Ridgley stole the ball and the senior dribbled it down the field until he was one-on-one with the goalie.
St. Paul’s (12-5-1) will advance to play in the championship game, which will kickoff at 2:00 p.m. on Sunday at Archbishop Spalding. The Crusaders will play the winner the other semifinal between Boys’ Latin and Friends game, which was postponed until Friday.
Annapolis Area Christian completed its season at 10-3-2.
