By Reid Featherstone. Pictures by Colin A.J. Murphy.

Severna Park's Alex Moore was flying high after his 10th minute goal gave the Falcons a 1-0 lead. Park went on to knock out South River by a score of 3-1.

The Severna Park boys soccer team notched an impressive 3-1 victory over South River on Tuesday night in the two schools' MPSSAA Class 4A East Region quarterfinal matchup. Crisp ball control in the early going allowed the Falcons to take a 1-0 lead ten minutes in on an Alexander Moore chip shot that arched perfectly over South River's goalie and into the net. The score spurred South River into a kamikaze offensive game plan, forcing the Falcons to adjust their possession-based style of play. Severna Park handled the Seahawks' pressure well before adding two more goals on fast break counters in the second half to take home the 3-1 win.

“I thought we controlled the first 20 minutes of the first half and South River controlled the second 20 minutes of the first half,” said Severna Park Head Coach Roy Dunshee after the game. “In the second half we wanted to keep the ball, but we couldn't because they pressed us very well…so we played very defensively and tried to hit them on the counter attack, and it worked.”

Indeed that counter attack variation was the story offensively in the second half. In the 53rd minute, a fast break counter yielded a corner kick for the Falcons, and as Cole Strong headed Charlie Smith's hard cross on the corner into the back of the net, giving the Falcons a 2-0 lead. That goal would prove to be the game winner later, but it momentarily incited a slight scrum in front of the cage between both sides. The referee did a nice job to breaking up the pushing and shoving quickly, maintaining a trend throughout the game of allowing some physical play without resorting to yellow or red cards.

At 2-0 midway through the second half Severna Park sucked in its defense to handle South River's all-in offensive risks, and maintained only one striker forward. Subsequently, South River would struggle to get off a clean shot until the 65th minute, when Philip Cocchiaro settled the ball perfectly while surrounded by Severna Park defenders before feeding Dale Appleman, who ripped a fantastic volley from 20 yards out to make it 2-1. Appleman would get a couple more good looks as the game wound down, but outstanding shadow defense in the midfield by Strong and fellow captain midfielder Billy Zito neutralized South River's two most dangerous scoring threats in Appleman and Cocchiaro. The Seahawks continued to push, sending everyone but the goalie into their attacking third of the field late in the second half.

Sending everyone forward allowed the Falcons to strike back quickly on the counter, and freshman Daniel Kwon's left-footed goal in the 80th minute off a feed from Moore iced the contest. Kwon took the ball solo, racing just ahead of two Seahawk defenders before angling for a line drive that nestled into the right side of the net, and the Falcons closed out the 3-1 win.

Freshman Daniel Kwon scored yet again for Severna Park, as his 80th minute goal iced a 3-1 victory for the Falcons. Severna Park will host Broadneck High School on Friday, November 4 in the MPSSAA Class 4A East Region semifinals.

After the game the freshman, who moved up to varsity midseason, reflected on how much fun the season has been. “It feels amazing to get the opportunity to play with the big guys,” said Kwon. “Hopefully we can win states.”

The Falcons seemed perfectly capable of that late Tuesday night. First they'll have to get through archrival Broadneck High School, as the Bruins won on penalty kicks over Arundel following a scoreless tie through overtime in the other quarterfinal in the regional bracket's top half on Tuesday night.

Strong gave a characteristically succinct outlook on Severna Park's mentality heading into a rematch with Broadneck, who they tied 1-1 at Broadneck on October 17. “We're looking forward to the challenge.”

Click here to read about the girls team and their thrilling 3-2 overtime win over Chesapeake.

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