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Bowie (15-2) relied heavily on senior goalkeeper Mary Theresa Callahan in the first half, as she recorded 12 saves and stopped numerous Leonardtown shots taken from inside the penalty area. But early in the second half, Leonardtown (16-0-1) scored two goals in the span of less than a minute on shots in the box that few goalies would have been able to save. Senior Jessica Cooke broke the scoreless tie, and 45 seconds later sophomore Cara McLaughlin made it 2-0 on an assist from senior Emily Gehrig.
"That second goal really hurt," said Callahan. "I got screened on the first goal, but that second goal hurt. I think we got down on ourselves after that one. It was a great season and I’m proud of the girls. We have a lot of younger girls on this team. I think they’ll make it back to states next year. It was exciting to get this far. It had been four years since Bowie won the region, so to be a part of it my senior year was special."
Leonardtown will face 4A West champion Quince Orchard in the state final in a rematch of the 2006 championship game. Quince Orchard defeated Thomas Johnson, 7-6, in penalty kicks in the other semifinal at Richard Montgomery High on Saturday. The state soccer finals will be played Thursday through Saturday at the University of Maryland-Baltimore County in Catonsville. Exact game times and dates had not been determined Saturday night.
Longtime Leonardtown coach Jennifer Henderson, who is rapidly approaching 200 career victories during her 15 seasons at the school, is eagerly anticipating the chance to play for a state title.
"I thought my girls really played well," said Henderson, whose team has allowed only two goals all season. "We had a lot of really good chances in the first half, but we just didn’t finish. In the second half, we did a better job finishing. We’ll have to work hard in practice this week."
Gehrig, who plans to play soccer at Towson University next fall, gave the Bulldogs trouble all night with her dribbling and passing skills, and she sent several shots on goal that forced Callahan to make difficult saves.
Now she is hoping the Raiders can muster another victory in the state title game next week.
"I thought we did a really good job passing," Gehrig said. "In the first half, we just didn’t finish. But we knew their goalie was good and she made some tremendous saves. In the second half, we took some better shots and we kept up the pressure. When Jessica scored that was a big relief and then when Cara scored the second goal we knew we were in good shape. Now we have to get ready for Quince Orchard. I was only a sophomore my first year when we played them, so I’m glad that we get them again my senior year."