Friends and Ryan DeSmit (white jersey) required extra kick to get by Annapolis Area Chrisitian in Tuesday's MIAA B Conference semifinal
and Lem Satterfield
Nearly a month and a half ago, the Friends school had no trouble with MIAA B Conference rival Annapolis Area Christian, coming away with a six-goal shutout in their game on Sept. 25.
Tuesday's semifinal game was an entirely different story, as the visiting Quakers required overtime and,eventually, penalty kicks to advance into Saturday's title game, 5-4, over the Eagles (11-7), earning a third meeting with rival Boys' Latin, a 3-0 shutout winner over visiting Severn in the other semifinal.
Juniors Marrio Davis and Ben Schachtel, seniors Tommy Goldman and Justin Prushansky, and junior Ryan DeSmit accounted for the shootout goals by the Quakers, who led, 1-0, two minutes into the game on a goal by Goldman.
Goldman's goal was the result of a corner kick from Davis, which was headed on by Prushansky for his seventh assist of the season to go with 19 goals.
Goldman, in turn, headed the ball into the net.
But instead of being able to build on their lead, as they did the first time, the Quakers wound up being in a tie game at halftime.
Four minutes before the intermission, the Eagles' senior Travis Masters out-maneuvered the Quakers' defense on a counter attack.
After receiving a ball near midfield, Masters dribbled past the Quakers and beat the visiting goalie, one-on-one.
In the penalty kick session, the Eagles scored on their first three shots before Quakers' senior goalie, Marshall Daly (five saves) blocked their fourth attempt.
Despite an excellent effort by the Eagles' junior goalie, Dan Beall, who finished with 11 saves, each of the Quakers' five shooters scored, with Ryan DeSmit's being the decisive goal.
"The win was the result we were hoping for, but PK's were not the way we wanted to get it. AACS played an extremely physical game. And despite fatigue going into overtime, AACS did not falter on defense," said Friends coach Doug
DeSmit, whose son, Ryan, has 12 goals and 11 assists.
"I thought their goalie, Beall, made a big difference in getting the game into OT and to PKs," said Doug DeSmit.
The Quakers (15-3-1) and the Boys' Latin Lakers (14-5-1) split regular-season victories, with Boys' Latin winning, 2-1, on Sept. 14, and Friends winning, 1-0, in overtime on Oct. 16.
The Quakers rode a seven-game unbeaten streak (6-0-1) into their last meeting with the Lakers, who came into the contest with an eight-game winning streak and having won nine of their previous 10 outtings overall.
The Quakers also ended for the Lakers a 10-game winning streak against the B Conference.