Maryland Community Newspapers Online
The Walkersville High boys soccer team saw its season come to an ugly ending in Thursday's Class 2A West Region first-round contest.
Host Francis Scott Key benefitted from a couple of deflections to take a 1-0 victory in overtime.
In the last minute of the extra session, FSK junior midfielder Tim Miller took a free kick, which was deflected from teammate and senior defender Shawn Eyler to senior midfielder Jon Dooley, who booted in the score.
The shot advanced FSK (9-5-1) in the quarterfinals against No. 2-seeded Carroll County rival Century, while ending the season for the Lions (8-6-1).
The last insult that left the Walkersville sideline in a foul mood was the parting gift of a red card against the Lions' bench after an assistant coach chose to angrily protest the game-ending direct kick. With Walkersville eliminated from the postseason, the red card was largely ceremonial.
The game was a rematch of two foes from the old Piedmont Conference of the Monocacy Valley Athletic League. Walkersville head coach Kevin Conley noted that he was pretty sure it was the first time the two teams have met in playoff competition.
"It's the first year in about eight years that we didn't play against each other in the regular season," Conley said.
Each team was in a bit of a rebuilding phase, with eight seniors on each of their rosters, along with a combined total of three freshmen and six sophomores.
Conley noted that this was the team he built at the start of the season, and they were able to get their footing fairly quickly. Both teams came into the match with identical 8-5-1 records, which were decent, but not enough to earn one of the four top seeds in the region.
Because FSK was randomly awarded the higher seed of No. 7 to Walkersville's No. 10, it gave the Patriots one home game. Conley was unhappy with the field conditions, describing them as "atrocious" and "pretty much unplayable."
Mud took out most of the sidelines, leading to an argument over crossing the line while throwing the ball in. Footing was nearly nonexistent along the edges, creating lots of slips and spills at inopportune times. In general, the game grew more confrontational as the teams fought to a scoreless tie to end regulation.
"Unfortunately, every time it's in Carroll County, it's a spirited game," Conley said.
On both sides of the field, the goalies turned in exceptional games. Walkersville's sophomore goalkeeper Evan Raimist picked up 14 saves, while FSK senior keeper Mike Miller had 12 saves.