Severna Park Boys Notch Memorable Playoff Win With 2-1 OT Ouster Of Annapolis

You see it almost every year in the 4A boys soccer playoffs: the competition is so cutthroat, inevitably one of the region’s top teams sees its season end sooner than expected.

This year’s victim is Annapolis. The vanquisher is Severna Park.

On October 25, the Falcons went to the home turf of the Panthers and came out with a 2-1 overtime win, knocking Annapolis out of the 4A East playoffs and advancing into the bracket’s final 16 teams.

“It was just a great atmosphere. Just a great high school game, back and forth in the beginning, but we played really well in the second half, and really the whole game we played very well,” said Severna Park coach Ryan Parisi.

Annapolis took a 1-0 lead inside nine minutes on a rebound goal by Eddie Contreras. From there, the Falcons began to turn the momentum and apply steady pressure throughout the rest of the night.

Trailing 1-0 midway through the second half, Severna Park equalized on a score by Bennett Jefferds, who headed home a set-piece pass from Gordie Bernlohr.

“They had some opportunities in the second half, but for most of the second half we were knocking on the door,” said Parisi. “The goal was coming, and it finally came when Bennett got one.”

The game went into overtime, then double overtime, before Severna Park brought the night to a halt. Jay Pierce beat his man to the end line and sent a cross through the box. Bernlohr gathered the pass at the far post, took a touch and smashed a shot past Annapolis’s goalie to win the game and vault Severna Park into the next round.

The Panthers (12-2) were enjoying one of their all-time finest seasons. They suffered only one regular season loss, all the way back on September 24—to Severna Park. Elliott Skopp scored unassisted and Ben McLay had five saves in the Falcons’ shutout win over the Panthers back in September.

From there Annapolis proceeded to rattle off seven straight wins. The Panthers defeated Arundel on the final day of the regular season to win the regular-season county championship and usurp Arundel’s berth in the county championship game on October 21. Once in the county championship, Annapolis defeated Meade 2-1 in overtime on a game-winning goal and brace by Iriarete Herrera.

But Severna Park was the Panthers’ bugaboo. The Falcons improved to 10-2-2 overall and demonstrated once again why the 4A East playoffs are where signature seasons are brought to ruthless ends.

“Annapolis was great this year. What a great year for their program,” said Parisi. “I can’t really say enough about them and their program and [coach Jake Shinn] and the kids on that team to turn the program around…But we played well all night. Even when we were down 1-0, we had them on the ropes. It was a slugfest between two really good teams.”

The Falcons travel to Leonardtown on Tuesday, October 29 for the next round of the 4A playoffs. The Raiders defeated Broadneck 2-1 on Saturday, October 26.

View a photo gallery of the Falcons in a 1-1 tie against Chesapeake on October 17. Photos by Colin Murphy