Falcons Girls Soccer Team Returns To Title Game On Cover’s OT Winner

As the Severna Park girls soccer team prepared to start the first overtime period of their 3A state semifinal battle with Chesapeake on Saturday, Abby Cover had a moment of intuition, which she shared with fellow holding midfielder Isabella Van Gieson.

“I told Bella, ‘I think I need to push up a little bit,’ and asked her to slide over and cover when I go forward,” Cover said.

Less than six minutes later, the instinct proved prophetic. A cross-field pass put Cover into space, which she happily took. She laid the ball off for Ava Scott and kept running into the penalty area, anticipating the return pass from Scott that soon came.

With the defense closing and her shooting angle growing tighter, Cover let fly with a dipping shot that bounced past the diving Chesapeake goalkeeper and rippled the net just inside that far post, sparking bedlam.

Cover’s strike, the first and only goal of the game, sent the defending champions back to the 3A state final and gave them their third victory this season over their county foes.

“It’s all about advancing at this point, and Chesapeake gave us the best test of the season yet,” said Severna Park coach Rick Stimpson, whose team took a pair of 2-0 wins over Chesapeake in the regular season and the county championship. “At this stage of the season, games come down to one or two moments, and we were confident that we would get that moment. Fortunately for us, Abby gave us that moment.”

It was a moment that took 86 minutes to come to fruition, but the signs of Severna Park’s breakthrough were evident as the second half progressed. Both teams had quality chances, but the Falcons grew more into the game. But for a series of top-drawer saves from Chesapeake goalkeeper Ryleigh Smoot, the Falcons might have advanced in regulation.

Instead, Severna Park entered overtime for the second time in the postseason, while Chesapeake embarked on their fourth straight game that finished level after regulation.

The longer the game goes with the dominant team struggling to score, the questions of whether it’s your day, and the likelihood of a sucker punch from the underdog, begin to grow. But the only thought Severna Park had was ending the game in their favor.

“I don’t think that thought ever creeps in for us,” Stimpson said. “That’s not in our mentality, and that’s not anything that we try to teach the girls. We believe that it’s going to happen.”

The Falcons return to Loyola University on Thursday when they play Towson, looking for a second successive state title.