by Lem Satterfield

(See video interviews below)

Two years ago, Cindy Michael had to endure watching the sophomore season of her daughter, Jenny, end as the result of a torn anterior cruciate ligament injury.

But on Monday, Cindy Michael was all smiles as she stood beside Jenny, now a Centennial High senior midfielder, in the aftermath of a milestone, 11-8, Howard County League victory over visiting Reservoir.

"It's been a great year. She's really come back from her injury and just put it all together this year," said Cindy Michael, whose daughter will enroll at William & Mary in the fall. "It's been a lot of fun to watch. I'm really proud of her, but it's time for her to go [to college.] And no, I'm not going to start crying."

Jenny Michael scored twice, senior teammate Sarah Parks scored a team-high four goals to go with an assist, and junior Chloe Heckman scored three times and assisted on a fourth goal as the Eagles (11-2) vanquished the Gators (9-4).

Senior Laura Burrows and sophomore Kelsey Norris contributed one goal each, Laura Catalano added an assist, and Mary Teeters made nine saves as the Eagles earned their fifth straight win, a berth in Tuesday's league championship game opposite Glenelg (9-4), and an opportunity to avenge an earlier loss to the Gladiators.

"This is really exciting. We're looking forward to tomorrow. Hopefully, we can pull it off and rebound from the last game and pull together a county championship," said Jenny Michael, referring to a 21-6 setback against the Gladiators that was the last previously for her Eagles.

"I'm just really proud of all of them," said Cindy Michael. "I've coached a lot of them in club, and it's great to see them all have a great senior year, and they're going to be going off to their colleges in the fall."

First, however, the Eagles have to make an attempt to rebound against the Gladiators, who have gone unbeaten in county league play. The loss to the Gladiators had come only a few days after the Centennial had defeated traditional league power, Mount Hebron, 7-5.

The Eagles' win over Mount Hebron, during which Teeters made 19 saves, had come over a program which had not lost in Howard County since 1990, when the Eagles defeated the Vikings, 3-2.

The Gladiators also later won, 13-11, in overtime, over the Vikings, who have dominated county play since winning their first of 19 titles in 1988. The Vikings have won 15 state titles -- including the past 11 consecutively.

Against the Gators on Monday, the Eagles led, 9-2, at halftime, despite a solid day in the goal by losing keeper, Emily Latimer (10 saves)

"It was a great win. We didn't come out too strong, but our coach [Katie Clark] gave us a little talk and a timeout," said Heckman. "It's our first time ever in the county championship, and we knew that if it wasn't going to be us, then it was going to be them. But we showed how badly we wanted it."

The Gators played a spirited second half, out-scoring the Eagles, 6-2.

Lauren Ignacio scored four times, McKenzie Stough and Julia Joo had two goals and one assist each, and Brittany McMullan and Kelsey Reiff each added an assist for the Gators.

"They're a good team. Reservoir has really come a long way. That's a tribute to Trish Stewart. She's a previous Mount Hebron player, and she's really put a lot of time and effort into what she's done with that program and it shows," said Eagles' coach Katie Clark, a 1995 Mount Hebron graduate.

"They're a really good team, and they gave us a good run today," Clark said. "We'll have a tough one tomorrow at the county championships."

Clark credited assistant coach, Jacquie Sica, for her work with the defense.

"I'm the defensive coach and the goalie coach, and I've been tough on them this year, and we've come a long way," said Sica, a  former goalie and native of Syracuse, N.Y., who earned All-American honors as a four-year player at Towson University.

"Really, just making sure that we get in front of our cutters and making sure that we're really just working together as a defense," said Sica. "We want to have our defense working all together, not just one-on-one. Team defense."


Centennial 11, Reservoir 8


Reservoir                            2                                           6                                              8

Centennial                          9                                           2                                              11

 
Goals: R- Ignacio 4, Stough 2, Joo 2.   C- Parks 4, Heckman 3, Michael 2, Norris, Burrows. Assists: R- Joo, Reiff, Stough, McMullan. C- Parks, Heckman, Catalano. Saves: R- Latimer 10. C- Teeters 9.

Half: 9-2, C