Maddie Vasilios scores hat trick in No. 7 River Hill field hockey’s 5-0 win over No. 8 Marriotts Ridge – Baltimore Sun

Scoreless early in the second one quarter, River Hill senior midfielder Maddie Vasilios had not anything however open field in entrance of her.

As Marriotts Ridge goalie Will Fullerton aggressively got here out of the function, Vasilios faked within and stepped out of doors, chipping the ball into the cage.

It was once the primary of Vasilios’ 3 objectives at the afternoon in No. 7 River Hill’s 5-0 victory over No. 8 Marriotts Ridge. Vasilios, Howard County’s main scorer, has scored two or extra objectives in seven consecutive video games.

It additionally prolonged River Hill’s undefeated file in county play, giving it a two-game merit for the common season county name. The Hawks (9-2 total, 7-0 Howard County) defeated the Mustangs for the second one time this season, additionally profitable, 6-3, on Sept. 22.

“I feel like as a team we’ve been growing a lot throughout the season, really working on and focusing on teams like Marriotts Ridge and Glenelg,” Vasilios stated. “Winning against them is just a huge thing for us and keeps us going. They are the top teams in the county, and they have amazing players. In both games, we’ve scored first, which is a huge game-changer because it makes us more aggressive, and we know that we’re in it.”

(*7*)(*8*)

Defenses managed the hole quarter, proscribing high quality possibilities. However, in the second one, the Hawks ended the shutout. After Vasilios’ opening function, sophomore Carolyn Dzubak prolonged River Hill’s merit. Fullerton made an preliminary save off a penalty nook, however the rebound bounced again to Dzubak for the end.

Marriotts Ridge (6-3, 6-2) generated two nook alternatives in the 3rd however was once not able to transform on both. Senior Natalie Freeman’s photographs on every alternative went simply vast of the submit. With Marriotts Ridge not able to trim the deficit, River Hill’s offense discovered a groove overdue in the 3rd. Puja Nanjappa led transition alternatives, pushing the ball upfield.

“In club I play defense, too, so it’s really just making sure that you’re first to the ball and anything that’s coming in you try to first see where they’re going and then go to that space,” Nanjappa stated. “It’s mainly just getting it and giving it out. You can never dribble in the circle, which is one of the biggest things in what we learn. It’s about focusing on what the attacker is doing, it’s never what you’re doing.”

Fellow senior Ava Foss prolonged the Hawks’ result in 3, tapping the ball in after a chip in the circle. Two mins later, Vasilios maintained her good fortune scoring on a rebound, extending River Hill’s result in 4 in a while earlier than the 3rd quarter ended. Fourth-quarter photographs from Freeman and Sophia Baxter sailed over the online and vast, because the Mustangs completed 0-for-7 on penalty corners.

“The biggest thing for the girls is figuring out mentally what we need to do to get past the roadblock,” Marriotts Ridge trainer Molly Milani stated as her staff fell to 6-3, 6-2. “That’s what it comes down to. Both times we played them it just has not been our team out there, playing our style of play. The biggest thing will be figuring out how we get back to our true selves and coming in confident to games and not overthinking everything that we’re doing.”

[ High school sports roundup from Oct. 10.  ]

While the Mustangs struggled off corners, Vasilios scored her 3rd function at the Hawks’ ultimate nook of the sport. As the general buzzer sounded, the Hawks’ celebrated with goalie Jocelyn Baker, shifting one step nearer to a county name.

“I think the biggest thing is everybody on the team has really stepped up from what we started with at the beginning of the season,” River Hill trainer Shelly Chamness stated. “We had a bunch of new players and of course, we’re so lucky to have Maddie and Puja. Now with everybody stepping up it allows us to pass and get away from them a little bit, so that we can use their use skills. Otherwise, if they’re the only two out there, everybody’s just going to crowd around them.”