CUMBERLAND — With No. 3 Southern leading No. 5 Fort Hill 2-0 late in the first half, the final 60 seconds proved to be the most consequential.
The Sentinels (4-9, 0-8 Western Maryland Athletic Conference) scored with 52 seconds to play, then the Rams (6-4-1, 3-4 WestMAC) answered 21 seconds later, extending their halftime lead to 3-1.
Southern controlled the second half and pulled away to win 5-1 on Wednesday at Greenway Avenue Stadium.
“Good game, I thought a good bounce back for us from Monday,” Southern head coach Devin Smith said. “I thought we were a lot cleaner in some areas, our first touch, our passing. We were able to possess the ball some and create some good chances for us.”
As the first half came to a close, Fort Hill’s Kylee Rice had a one-on-one with a defender for about 50 yards before firing a shot down the middle of the net.
“I thought we got ourselves right back in the game, then they got the one right before the half that killed the morale a bit,” Fort Hill head coach Dave Neff said. “Second half, we came out decently, played well defensively until the very end. Then I think we lost our legs again.”
Norah Musselman answered for the Rams 21 seconds later off an assist by Jayden Weaver to push Southern’s lead back up to two goals at the break.
“It definitely did because you felt like you got right back into it,” Neff said of the momentum shifting. “Like we were gonna be looking up going into the second half. And then it just kinda killed it.”
In the second half, Emily Sweitzer scored off a cross from Reeslyn Sisler about 15 minutes in.
With just under 16 minutes to play, Weaver beat two defenders down the right sideline and fired a shot in the bottom left corner to conclude the scoring.
The Rams opened the scoring about 12 minutes in on a goal by Natalie Bell off an assist from Weaver.
With 14:28 remaining in the first half, Weaver set up Sydney Scott for a score.
Weaver finished with three assists and a goal for Southern.
“We thought that was kinda a big thing, we talked about getting off to a good start,” Smith said. “Obviously, anytime you score first and see one go in the back of the net, it energizes you and gives you some confidence.”
Southern led in shots 43-6, 24-5 on goal and 6-3 in corner kicks.
Jemma Stafford recorded 19 saves for the Sentinels while Abi Teets finished with four for the Rams.
As the regular season winds down, both teams begin the push toward the playoffs.
The Sentinels have one regular season game scheduled while the Rams await three more.
“Our main goal every time we play and every time we practice is compete as hard as we can,” Smith said. “Challenge ourselves to get better each time we step on the field.”
Both teams are at home on Monday.
Southern faces Petersburg (1-10-1) at 5 p.m. while Fort Hill hosts Frankfort (3-13) at 7 p.m.