CUMBERLAND — Northern was fortunate to make it to overtime Tuesday, and Ainsley McHenry-Sober cashed in on its luck.
The Huskies led comfortably throughout and had a two-goal lead with 21 minutes to play before a pair of goals by Sadie Hamilton leveled the tally at 4 to force an extra period. The Sentinels nearly won it with a barrage of shots in the final minutes.
McHenry-Sober called game, however, by placing a free kick from 25 yards out into the top of the net 5:21 into the first overtime, lifting fourth-ranked Northern to a 5-4 victory over No. 5 Fort Hill to spoil the Sentinels’ Senior Night on Tuesday at Greenway Avenue Stadium.
“Tonight was a scrambling weird night,” Northern head coach Nate Sorber said. “We don’t have a deep bench. We have one starter sick, and we had a concussion early from (Jenna) Bowser, and that required a lot of people to shift and play in different positions.
“Fort Hill threw everything at us in that situation. We found a way to pull it out. Happy to get out of here with a win. We still have work to do, but happy how it turned out tonight for us.”
The win is Northern’s third in a row and ups the Huskies to 6-3 overall and 1-3 in the Western Maryland Athletic Conference. Fort Hill fell to 4-5 (0-4 WestMAC).
Hamilton pulled Fort Hill within a goal with 21:04 to play after Cady Neff earned a penalty kick following a Northern foul in the box.
Hamilton converted, and she tied the score by powering a long shot from 32 yards out into the net with 6:33 remaining in regulation.
Fort Hill controlled more than 70% of the possession in the final 15 minutes, a shocking turnaround from 2-0, 3-1 and 4-2 deficits at points during the match.
“That’s probably the most fun I’ve had as a coach here in the last four years since I arrived here,” Fort Hill head coach Dave Neff said. “This group, we have had a rough season. We haven’t been playing really well as a team. We haven’t been urgent or anything like that to the ball.
“And tonight they brought it all together and they gave everything they had. And that’s all I can ask for the seniors to see them off on Senior Night.”
Fort Hill had a pair of shots early in the first overtime period, but a foul from 25 yards out set up a free kick opportunity for Northern.
“Ainsley on goal,” coach Sober called out, and the junior midfielder delivered with a strike to end it.
“We ask Ainsley to do a lot,” coach Sorber said. “We picked up the foul and wanted to get her on the free kick. Thought she could tuck it in.
“They had us on the ropes at the end of regulation, but a good defensive stop, a good save, we built it up and that brought us the opportunity at the six-minute mark.”
Abby Nelson scored three of Northern’s first four goals for a hat trick.
Nelson tallied the first two, unassisted at the 30:35 mark of the first half and assisted by McHenry-Sober with 27:55 on the clock, and Kennedy Fickes added another with 1:18 left for a 3-1 halftime lead.
Allie Hipp garnered Fort Hill’s first-half goal, assisted by Hamilton, with 24:27 remaining.
Karter Marshall pulled the Sentinels within 3-2 with a looping 35-yard boot near the right sideline that bounced up over the Northern keeper with 31:06 to play in regulation.
“Sometimes you need that one goal to get you back in the game,” coach Neff said. “Once we got on the board from that fluky goal, the game opened right back up.”
Nelson found her hat trick minutes later with a rip into the left corner with 27:14 on the clock.
Northern had a 20-18 edge in shots (14-11 on goal) and 9-2 margin in corner kicks. Fort Hill goalie Jemma Stafford made 11 saves, and Northern keeper Veda Rebuck had six stops.
Northern welcomes Petersburg on Thursday at 6 p.m.
Fort Hill turns to Homecoming against No. 1 Allegany (8-0-1), which still hasn’t allowed a goal this season, on Thursday at 5 p.m.
“I feel like we came on strong last year at the end of the season, and I think this year is looking like it is trending that way,” coach Neff said. “We’ve got a tough game coming up with Allegany at Homecoming. Hope to come out and have a solid match with them.”