Soccer matches started early and ended late at the IAAM Challenge on Saturday at Mercy, where John Carroll started things off by beating No. 14 Hereford, 2-1, and Calvert knocked off 15th-ranked Calvert by the same score.

No. 1 McDonogh dominated Severn, 7-0, in the first afternoon match before No. 2 Archbishop Spalding toppled Our Lady of Good Counsel, 2-1.

No. 6 Notre Dame Prep (2-0) and 11th-ranked Perry Hall (2-1) put on a good show in the following contest with the Blazers breaking through in the 54th minute to claim a 1-0 victory.

Senior forward Sarah Goodison pounced on a loose ball and slipped it past Perry Hall junior keeper Serenity Jankowiak for the game-winner after the NDP offense created plenty of pressure against the Gators’ bend-but-only-break-once backline.”

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We were really working so hard for that goal,” Goodison said. “We deserved it. It was a team effort. I knew I had to finish it.”

NDP coach Cynthia Walsh said that she’s not worried about her team’s ability to score.

”It’s clear that we have enough talent to put the ball in the back of the net,” she said. “We just need to have more composure in the final third.”

A brilliant one-handed save by Jankowiak on a lefty rocket by NDP senior midfielder Natalie O’Brocki in the fifth minute kept the Blazers from taking an early lead.

They were much more aggressive after the intermission, although Perry Hall’s defense, led by senior Xondie Neal, could hold up for only so long.

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”We pride ourselves on having a solid backline,” Perry Hall coach Matt Smoot said. “And we were excited that we held on for so long against that pressure. But we’re disappointed we allowed so much pressure.”

In the concluding game, No. 5 Broadneck (1-0-1), which tied Spalding last week, displayed a very disciplined and efficient offense in a 3-0 verdict over the host Magic.

The Bruins’ defense was also stellar in producing a shutout against the previously unbeaten Magic (3-1).

The combination was lethal for Mercy, which fell behind, 1-0, after junior midfielder/forward Maddie Capps lofted a free kick from 35 yards that found the upper part of the net in the seventh minute.

Capps then assisted Sadie Wilkinson early in the second half to widen the advantage that stretched to 3-0 with 26:35 remaining in regulation when the senior forward netted her second score of the day with a helper from junior midfielder Brooke Velez.

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Wilkinson said she has been struggling to score so far in the young season.

”I was finally able to execute,” she said.Senior center midfielder Nevaeh Dowell said that while Capps’ goal gave the Bruins some momentum, they remembered last year’s game at the same site when the Magic scored two quick goals in the second half.

”We knew we had to come out fast in the second half,” she said.

Capps said that the offense often started with the defense.

”Our backline was playing the ball out instead of clearing it,” she said. “They played it to the midfield and then they helped to find the forwards.”

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Broadneck coach John Camm praised his three backs, senior Lilly Kelley, junior Lily Trout and freshman Ellie McGilvray, for maintaing order.

”They’re very athletic, smart and they mark up really well,” he said. “We do well against athletic teams.”

Mercy coach Doug Pryor said that his team’s inability to score doomed it to defeat, although Magic senior forward Sydney Feiler had a couple of near-miss shots that bounced off the post.

”No matter what, you have to score,” he said. “It doesn’t matter how you do it, but you have to score. We know that the talent is here. We just have to see how we respond.”

NO. 5 BROADNECK 3, NO. 8 MERCY 0

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Broadneck 1 2 — 3

Mercy 0 0 — 0

Goals: B-Sadie Wilkinson 2, Maddie Capps.

Assists: B-Sadie Wilkinson, Maddie Capps, Brooke Velez.

Saves: B-Kyleigh Bland 8; M-Soliel Umbarger 2, Christina Ellis.

NO. 6 NOTRE DAME PREP 1, NO. 11 PERRY HALL 0

PH 0 0 — 0

NDP 0 1 — 1

Goal: NDP-Sarah Goodison.

Saves: PH-Serenity Jankowiak 10; NDP-Lydia Itzoe 6.

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