Pride In SP: 10U Girls Claim Trophy At August Cup

The Severna Park U10 Pride girls soccer team started the fall season by netting a trophy with a 4-0 performance at the August Cup in Germantown.

The team of Avery Billmyer, Izzy Burleson, Claire Farley, Molly Koistinen, Rilynn Kusiak, Ella McLaughlin, Lilly Mosher, Brooke Nobleza, Audrey Smith, Harper Wallace and Keira Wittlinger outscored the opposition 24-3 in four victories, including a pair of blowout wins and a couple of hard-fought nail-biters over Lee Mount Vernon and Soccer Association of Columbia.

Burleson banked a whopping 10 goals in the tournament, while Farley scored five, Mosher scored three, Billmyer scored two and Kusiak, Smith, Wittlinger and Koistinen each added goals.

Burleson’s goal against Lee Mount Vernon off an assist from Mosher came with less than four minutes to play and broke a 2-2 tie to give Severna Park a 3-2 win. Burleson followed with a brace in Severna Park’s 2-1 win over SAC Premier Blue in the tournament’s championship game.

Playing goalkeeper, Farley came up with a handful of clutch saves in the second half to preserve the championship victory over SAC.

Father-daughter coaching duo of John Brady and Kiley Kusiak were proud to see the girls exemplify the team’s ideals in winning the tournament.

“These girls won as a team this weekend,” said coach Kusiak. “After every practice and game, we tell these girls to shake hands and tell someone ‘good job,’ to have pride in what they do on and off the field, and I believe it showed this weekend. They dug deep to fight every minute of every game so they could have a win for their teammates.”

Mosher expressed confidence in her team, which won the Central Maryland Short-Sided League U9 Division 1 championship this past spring with a 6-1-1 record, moving forward this season.

“I love playing soccer, and I’m on a great team of girls,” Mosher said. “I’m excited that we’re going to have a great season.”