Notre Dame Prep defender Aubree Zabkowski was playing her typical steady game in back Monday against host Spalding when she got a rare, special chance to be impactful at the other end.
The senior center back, a captain for the Blazers, pounced.
Pushed up for a corner kick four minutes into the second half, she scored on a nifty half volley take from just inside the penalty area. The goal, her first of the season, was the difference as the No. 3 Blazers claimed a 1-0 win over the No. 5 Cavaliers in the Interscholastic Athletic Association of Maryland A Conference opener for both teams.
Notre Dame Prep, which got a six-save effort from senior goalie Lydia Itzoe, improves to 4-1-2, handing the defending conference champion Cavaliers (4-1-3) their first loss this season.
Evenly matched with quality back-and-forth pace, the game’s margin of error was at a minimum. When Tess McCarthy served in a corner kick right out in front, a Spalding defender alertly got a head on it but wasn’t able to get the ball out of danger.
It found Zabkowski at the edge of the penalty area and she quickly placed it inside the far corner.
“I saw my defender and I saw a little window. We do juggling before practice and that trained me for that — one-touch and get it on the frame,” she said. “It’s my senior year and I go into each game with the mentality that this could be my last time playing Spalding or this could be my last time against Mercy or another team. So I’m doing it for myself and also my teammates. It was great. There was a lot of people here watching, and we were excited to put on a show.”
Itzoe did her part in both halves with the Cavaliers creating challenging moments. Midway through the first half, Cavaliers midfielder Brianna DeLaCruz hit a clean strike from 20 yards, forcing Itzoe to make a diving save.
After taking the lead, the Blazers did well to continue to push and possess, but there was still pressure to contend with from the home team. With 25 minutes left to play, Karrington Gregory got time and space to unleash a chance from 20 yards that Itzoe again turned aside with a dive.
“Being the last line of defense, I really trust everybody we have on the field,” she said. “I really trust my back line, so just being able to make that save … make that happen for my team was great to let them know I have their backs and they can trust me, too. That’s what I want to bring to the game.”
In the final minutes, Morgan Bucht served a dangerous free kick to the middle that Blazers center back Finley Cuomo headed out. Gregory had one last free kick from 25 yards that went just high over the crossbar.
While the loss was difficult, the Cavaliers expect to bounce back. Last season, they took a 2-4 conference record into the playoffs as the fifth seed and enjoyed an impressive playoff run to win the crown.
“Giving the goal up on the corner kick was disappointing. We had a clearance, but it went to their player and she put it away,” Spalding coach Ashly Kennedy said. “I told them team going into the game, it’s going to be a tight margin of error and that we’re the team to beat. [Notre Dame Prep] came prepared, they were hungry and wanting to show up and they did.”
Notre Dame Prep coach Albert Oni believes this close game will prove a microcosm for conference play, with so many quality sides in the mix for the championship.
“This year, I think the conference has the most parity ever,” he said. “Any team in our conference can win it and I don’t think we’ve ever had that before, so I think that’s awesome. So really it’s just one game at a time for us, how can we have success, learn from it and get ready for the playoffs and win when it counts.”
Both teams continue with conference play this week. Spalding hosts St. Paul’s at 4 p.m. Tuesday and Notre Dame Prep heads home to play No. 2 Mercy at 4 p.m. Wednesday.
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Goals: NDP — Zabkowski
Saves: NDP — Itzoe 6; S — Fedorchak 4
Half: 0-0