With Shutout, Falcons Get Over Hump And Return To Boys Soccer Region Finals

Two straight years, the Severna Park boys soccer team had nail-biting county championship games, only to lose in the region semifinals the next weekend.

The senior class wasn’t about to let that happen for a third time in a row.

Behind a goal and an assist from Garrett Moden and further goals from Braxton Barr, Caden Morris and Zephyr Elliott, the Falcons put away James M. Bennett 4-0 on October 25 to advance to their first region final since 2022.

“I feel like everyone who’s been on the team the last two years where we’ve lost this game on this same Saturday, we didn’t want to lose again. We came out to make sure that didn’t happen,” Moden said. “Watching film and knowing our personnel, we were faster going in behind, especially being able to move the ball the way we do and getting through balls.”

Moden opened the scoring in the first half by driving into the penalty area and drawing a foul. He converted from the penalty spot to put the Falcons ahead, but they had trouble generating sustained pressure despite carrying the bulk of offensive possession.

There was greater success in the second half. Stephen Bacho attacked from the right wing and drew both the keeper and the defense toward him, allowing him to pass the ball along the six-yard box to Barr, who tapped it into an empty net. Moden floated a corner kick that Morris powered in with a header not too long later, and JV callup Elliott finished the scoring shortly before the end with a breakaway effort.

“This game was everything to us, just to get over that hump. We know our final goal is that state ring and it’s what we’ve been working for all year,” Barr said. “We saw that they were playing back on us, so we just had to find the gaps and the holes.”

Severna Park earned the No. 2 seed in the region playoffs on the back of a strong finish to the regular season: they won their last five games of the regular season and were unbeaten in their final nine. That forced both a coin toss with Bennett for the No. 2 seed and a coin toss with Crofton for the right to represent their division in the county championship. Severna Park won both tosses.

Though the county championship ended with a disappointing 2-1 loss to Broadneck, a team the Falcons beat in September on the Bruins’ home field by the same score, they refused to let the loss hang over them and lead to another home playoff defeat.

“We can dwell on (the county championship) for a week or whatever, but the reality is we’re not going to have another county championship, and the end goal is a state championship,” Moden said. “We had to just put it out of our mind and focus on the end goal.”

The Falcons traveled to Stephen Decatur on October 28 for a spot in the state level of the playoffs, where they haven’t been since reaching the 4A championship game three years ago. Follow @SPVoiceSports on X for updates.