CUMBERLAND — Ella Shade scored twice, sending top-ranked Allegany’s seniors out with a 3-0 Senior Night victory over No. 4 Northern on Wednesday at Greenway Avenue Stadium.
“We came out, and we tried something different,” Allegany head coach Andy Farrell said. “We were pretty good offensively at the beginning. I think we got out-hustled today, and I don’t really know why. But we’ll have to get back to the drawing board and fix that.”
It only took 52 seconds for the Campers (11-0-1, 6-0 Western Maryland Athletic Conference) to open the scoring.
Shade sent a cross to Madalyn Bucy for a tap-in goal.
“It was great, that was actually the first goal we’ve scored that quick all season,” Farrell said. “We’ve been harping on it all season and we were finally able to do it today. I think that definitely built the momentum for us on Senior Night.”
About 11 minutes later, Bucy returned the favor, sending a cross to Shade for a goal in the left corner of the net to double Alco’s lead to 2-0 at halftime.
“I’m really pleased with the girls,” Northern head coach Nathan Sorber said. “We gave up a goal in the first minute, we didn’t collapse, fought back and competed. That’s a really good team. Just proud of the girls for fighting, I think we really competed in the second half.”
Shade concluded the scoring with 17:26 remaining in the second half off a Myia Miller assist.
“They have such talented players on their team, so if you give them space, if you don’t attack them right away, they’re gonna punish you,” Sorber said. “I think the girls realized you gotta play tough on defense right from the get-go. I think that’s when they settled in.”
Both teams want to win by possession, but the Campers won the battle.
Alco led 21-7 in shots, 13-7 on goal and 3-0 in corner kicks.
“We like to maintain possession as well, not overcommit,” Sorber said. “We have good strength in the midfield, kinda play with them in that space, compete all over the field. I think we did a pretty good job, we just weren’t able to solve their defense and their goalkeeper was exceptional.”
Veda Rebuck recorded 18 saves for the Huskies (9-4, 3-4 WestMAC) and Brilyyn Beatty finished with seven for the Campers.
Allegany recognized four seniors before the game — Elexa Mazuran, Shade, Miller and Ellena Nelson.
“All four of our players are impact players,” Farrell said. “They do an amazing job at the positions they play. They’re not selfish whatsoever. It was great to honor them tonight and put a shutout on the board.”
Both teams face No. 2 Mountain Ridge (9-1, 5-1 WestMAC) in their next games.
The Campers head to Frostburg on Monday at 7 p.m. and the Huskies host the Miners on Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. in Northern’s regular-season finale.
“Mountain Ridge plays a very similar style to us,” Farrell said. “We know it’s gonna be a dogfight anytime you play Mountain Ridge. That game’s circled on the calendar and we go up there for a Monday night game. It’ll be cold under the lights, and we’re looking forward to it.”