The second goalkeeper Sam Akinwande slumped on the ground, Glen Burnie boys soccer’s season flashed before its eyes.
The goalkeeper thrust his hands out to batter the shot attempt back, rocketing from 10 yards away off the foot of a North County player. Akinwande made contact, but his stop the rebound rolled toward waiting Knights. The keeper scrambled out of the net to recover, but North County freshman Mason Johns arrived first.
The shot seemed postmarked to the close corner. If it landed, the Class 4A East I Region would be tied at 2 and spelled doom for Glen Burnie. After all, how many heartbreaks had coach Donald Gibson’s teams suffered at the feet of the Knights? Glen Burnie hadn’t won a home match against their crosstown rivals in Gibson’s seven years as coach.
But the shot didn’t land. The score remained 2-1, which held to the finish.
“First thing I thought was, ‘Go behind that goal,” Gopher defender Fran Garcia said, gazing back at the net as if he could see the action replaying. “I knew if that one went in, that could’ve meant the end of our season. But I saw the ball – first thing I did was put my body to clear it.”
Garcia hurtled down just in time to deflect the shot.
“I had to do it for the seniors,” Garcia said. “Winning this means a lot to us.”
The top-seeded Gophers live to play No. 3 Meade on Tuesday for the region championship.
That might’ve been the single moment that saved Glen Burnie in the end, but that play had plenty of competition in the final two minutes.
Akinwande, a teammate and a handful of Knights collided in pursuit of a ball, which sped toward North County senior Mitchell Nathan for the taking. Instead, defender Julian Queen launched forward to fend it off.
In the same minute, again Akinwande dropped to his knees for a save and again North County scooped the ricochet for a shot. That time, junior Nestor Orellana Mejia reached it first to drive out of the box.
Gibson set the final goal as winning a region plaque at last. He can’t recall the last time any Glen Burnie boys soccer team had. But Garcia can see “the potential” in his team to do more.
“Our main goal is to make it to states,” Garcia said. “Every time I saw that ball in the box, my mindset was to clear it out.”
Glen Burnie might not have needed such heroics had it carried its early-game dominance to the end. Senior Oscar Silva Fuentes converted a penalty kick in the first five minutes. Senior Gavin Braun finished a wild delivery from senior Brayden Morgan out of the corner for a 2-0 lead 22 minutes later. A litany of other close calls whistled around the Knights’ net or struck junior keeper Barrett Meikrantz’ hands.
The spirit Glen Burnie powered its high-speed attacks with in the first half shut off after North County scored – a strike from sophomore Arvin Ortega-Barrera. Throughout the second half, the Knights installed a monopoly on 50-50 balls. Nothing seemed to get through to energize the Gophers, not even the very obvious symbolism of the Glen Burnie stadium lights shutting down for a few minutes after the worst of North County’s presses.
A gleaming silver trophy sat next to North County’s bench – the “Battle of 648” Cup – awarded to whichever of the two Glen Burnie area teams beat the other in the designated game that year.
It didn’t seem to want to leave.
“This is a special group. This is the first time seeing it all coming together,” Gibson said, “so I’m really hoping it keeps consistent when we play on Tuesday.”
The Gophers’ defense was able to dismantle North County’s forays into the box but not prevent them from coming back.
“Cut down the sidelines. Every ball in the air, header it out,” Garcia recounted.
Akinwande stood tall in the final 30 seconds. A Knights header soared toward the top shelf – Akinwande dove, stretching his arm to nudge it out. A long ball flew his way – the keeper fell upon it, hugging it beneath him while three Knights leapt over his body on the hunt.
Three goaltenders battled for the right to start all season, but Gibson gifted the role to Akinwande on Saturday night because of the work he’d demonstrated with keepers coach Mason Smith and in past performances.
“Some of the saves he made tonight were indicative of what he’s doing in practice,” Gibson said. “He’s getting better and better.”
Most teams rush the goalkeeper when they win, but beating North County in the playoffs and claiming their trophy is too new a phenomenon for the Gophers. The players rushed the stands to celebrate with their parents and community, and then again with the hulking silver hardware, parading it down the sideline.
“It’s gonna stay here until I graduate,” Garcia said.
Have a sports tip? Contact Katherine Fominykh at [email protected] or DM @capgazsports on Instagram.
