South River overwhelms No. 5 Broadneck

South River’s boys soccer team picked a perfect time to play its best game of the season.

On Senior Night, the No. 15 Seahawks put on a dominating show, controlling the tempo throughout the contest to hand fifth-ranked Broadneck its first Anne Arundel County loss, 4-0, in Edgewater Thursday.

The Seahawks were on the attack from the start, putting six shots on goal and tallying three goals in the first half.

“Fast start is always important,” South River coach Marlyn Argueta said. “We have been playing like this all year. We just came out quick and got rewarded for it.”

After peppering the goal with shots in the first 20 minutes of the game, the Seahawks broke through with 9:25 left in the first half. A free kick into the box was deflected into the air by Broadneck and South River junior Jack Brusse used his head to knock the ball past Seahawks goaltender Matt Tettemer.

That score opened the floodgates for South River (10-1-1 overall, 7-1 Anne Arundel) as senior Lucas Evans followed just two minutes later with his first goal of the night for a 2-0 Seahawks’ lead.

“Overall, it was a good team effort,” Evans said. “[This game] was very important – very big for our confidence. We came to play. Senior night, we all wanted this. Feels good to win.”

Evans wasn’t done as he added another at the 2:28 mark to make it 3-0 and cap off an impressive half from the Seahawks.

“I’m proud of all my seniors but Lucas in general,” Argueta said. “He’s had injury troubles in the past, so I am happy he was able to play this year. [He] showed one of the best teams in the county that we have talent on our team and he is one of the most talented.”

Any thoughts of a second half comeback from Broadneck (10-1, 7-1 Anne Arundel) were squashed early. South River continued to attack out of the break and added a final tally when junior Hunter Marsden put a loose ball into the goal with 38 minutes left.

Despite suffering its loss of the county season, Bruins coach Sean Tettemer didn’t think his team performed poorly. He credited the Seahawks for coming out and putting together a complete performance.

“It’s a credit to South River - they were definitely ready to play,” Sean Tettemer said. “I don’t think we came out flat, they were just at a different level. We couldn’t match it.”

The defeat was a missed opportunity for the Bruins, who’ve clinched a spot in the county final. As of now, nothing is decided as three teams - South River, Severna Park and Broadneck - are deadlocked for the county lead with identical records.

The trio each have two games remaining and the tiebreaker scenario is complicated with Broadneck owning a victory over Severna Park two weeks ago, Severna Park beating South River last week, and South River topping Broadneck Thursday.

“It’s huge [and] we definitely needed it,” Argueta said. “It’s going to make the end of the season very interesting for Broadneck, Severna Park and us.”

Tettemer knows his team cannot focus on potential tiebreaking scenarios – they need to take care of business in the final stretch of the season and see where they stand after that.

“There’s no tiebreaker,” Sean Tettemer said. “We all have one loss [and] we all beat each other. It is going to be decided in the next week.”

No. 15 South River 4, No. 5 Broadneck 0

South River 3 1 -- 4

Broadneck 0 0 -- 0

Goals: South River – Lucas Evans 2, Jack Brusse, Hunter Marsden.

Assists: South River – Cole Mastal

Saves: Broadneck – Matt Tettemer 5; South River - Jay Jenkins 2