The Reality of Competition

What would you do in this situation?

You are fed a ball up the middle of the field and your best friend is approaching the ball from the opposite side.  She is the only thing between you and a regional title, and after you win the ball, do you take the shot on the open goal, or do you hold back?

Luckily for C. Milton Wright, there was no doubt in Megan Will’s mind that she was going to take that shot, Tuesday, and it resulted in the 1-0 win over North Harford to claim the 3A North Regional Title.

“The ball was sent in to the middle and the goalie came out,” Will explained.  “I just stayed high pressure and it ended up wide open and was able to hit it.”

Will’s goal was against Hawks’ keeper Haley Ford, a teammate of Will’s on their club lacrosse team.  And as the two embraced after the game, Will said there were no hard feelings.

“I wanted to do it for my team, but it was kind of hard because we are best friends.  But I did it for the team.

“She was pretty upset about it, but she is an amazing goalie and she worked really hard and didn’t give up.  But I just needed to put one in, so I had to do it.”

The goal, coming in the 66th minute, was the lone score of the game, and won a regional crown that the Mustangs fell short of in 2009.  And the play it came on was simply a battle of two seniors, each charging the ball to make the play that would earn a regional championship their respective team.

“I’m not sure she should have stayed back, either,” North Harford Head Coach Tom Berg said of Ford’s actions on the game-winning goal.  “She stays back and the girl walks the ball into the goal, so, either way, she made the play she had to try and make and it just didn’t work out for her.”

According to Berg, Ford is and all-state honorable mention keeper who allowed just eight goals in 17 games this season.  But as fantastic as she is in soccer, she will be heading to Penn State next year on a lacrosse scholarship.

“We knew that they would come out and play physical and tough since it is a rivalry game,” Mustang Head Coach Paul Austin said.  “In the first half, we had a lot of chances and didn’t put any in.  

“We just told our girls to stay the course, keep putting it in, have composure in front of the frame, and Megan came up with just a hustle goal an a great shot.”

The game-winner was one of just 15 shots the Mustangs ripped, including an early header off the crossbar by senior Kathryn Brown to and force Ford record 11 saves in the regional final.

“We played hard,” Berg said of his girls.  “We always tell our kids that your not always responsible for the result, you’re responsible for the effort, and I thought they gave everything they could tonight.”

The two teams met earlier in 2010, with the Mustangs scoring the 1-0 goal in the final minutes of the game, and walking off the field Tuesday was something Berg said was tough to do.

“It’s always tough.  It’s like Dr. Seuss said, ‘Don’t cry because it’s over.  Smile because it happened.’  That’s not easy to do… I’m sitting here crying, myself,” Berg said with tear-filled eyes.

“I’ve coached for 38 years, I have coached girls’ soccer longer than anyone else in Maryland, and I absolutely love it.  And to see these kids play that hard and lose is tough, but to see the seniors and know that this is the last time I’m going to see them together with the team, that’s even tougher.”

“We knew this year that our goal needed to be higher,” Austin said, whose team will face the winner of Huntingtown and Northern Calvert in the state semifinals.  “We have 13 freshmen and sophomores, and six seniors, and we have really blended well.  “They are very talented and just work real hard, and a game like that really shows it.”