Atholton senior forward Denive Guy-Williams wouldn’t let one play define her. Guy-Williams, who entered Tuesday night’s game against River Hill with six goals, was stuffed on a free kick.
The veteran quickly rebounded a minute later to break a scoreless tie. She took an initial touch and shot faked before taking the sliver of space in front of her.
The senior rocketed a right-footed shot narrowly under the crossbar, beating leaping Hawks goalie Jenna Khleif in the 68th minute. Guy-Williams’ clutch goal was the difference in Atholton’s 1-0 win over fifth-ranked River Hill, the Raiders’ seventh clean sheet of the season.
“She just does impossible things,” Atholton coach Robert Thompson said of Guy-Williams. “Every single time, perfect touch, perfect play. I was joking with her because there’s been a number of goals that I’m telling my assistant coach, ‘That’s not going to go.’ Then it goes in. It’s not me doubting, but I say, ‘She doesn’t have an angle, they’re in front of her.’ She got it. My jaw was dropped, I couldn’t believe she got it.”
Atholton (9-1-1) now controls its destiny for the county title and clinches it with a win at Wilde Lake on Friday. The Raiders also clinched the Sierra Division with Long Reach’s 2-1 double overtime loss to Howard. Tuesday’s win also marks the first time any of the Raiders have defeated the Hawks in their high school careers.
The Raiders entered Tuesday night’s marquee matchup well aware of the magnitude and implications. Thompson gave a speech earlier in the day, referencing the Raiders’ struggles against the Hawks in recent seasons and the hard work they’ve put in throughout the season.
Atholton galvanized around that fact and played with a relentless intensity.
“This is something that we were really hungry for,” Atholton senior captain and defender Chloe Coughlan said. “We wanted it. We came into this game knowing, ‘We are going to win.’ We had no doubt about it. We’ve worked really hard this season, just knowing that we’re going to come out strong. We did and we got the result.”
The Raiders started fast this season with a three-game winning streak. However, they suffered a 3-0 loss to Long Reach on Sept. 18, which proved to be a valuable reset.
Atholton admittedly played with complacency in that contest, which was evident in the result. The Raiders learned a valuable lesson in that no Howard County game is easy. Atholton answered by winning six of seven games since, the other a scoreless tie against Mt. Hebron.
Atholton’s team-wide trust was evident Tuesday night, particularly defensively against the Hawks’ high-octane offense. The Raiders’ defense faced the tall task of slowing down Hawks’ standout senior forward Marella Virmani.
Virmani, Howard County public school’s leading scorer with 60 points (26 goals, 8 assists) is a tactician and clinical goal scorer. Yet, on Tuesday, she was constantly flanked by multiple Atholton defenders, namely Coughlan, a Gardner-Webb University commit. Coughlan marked Virmani for much of the evening and kept the prolific goal scorer from generating many chances on net.
Prior to the game, Coughlan and fellow senior defender Mikele Griffin talked about the importance of identifying Virmani at all times and utilizing constant communication. While Virmani did get free and generate a couple of shots on net in the first half, Raiders’ goalie Julia Ferrer was there to shut the door.
River Hill (8-1-2) began the contest as the stronger side with possession on Atholton’s side of the field for much of the first 20 minutes. The Raiders improved their play as the first half wore on and elevated that level in the second half.
Atholton displayed its potent counterattack early in the second half, which set up some of its best chances of the game. After Guy-Williams’ go-ahead goal, River Hill furiously pressed forward and spent much of the final 10 minutes in the Raiders’ attacking third.
Yet, the defense remained composed and held strong to keep the Hawks off the board. Atholton continued to support one another until the final horn sounded.
In that moment, intense celebration ensued as the Raiders translated that hunger and drive into a doubly sweet victory, which moves them 80 minutes from a county championship.
“This means everything to me,” Guy-Williams said. “The hard work, everything that we’ve put into this game of soccer. We just have to show it. Trusting my teammates and lifting everybody up. feel like that’s one of the most important things about our team. We always lift each other up and I feel like that’s why we’re in the position that we are now. Those big moments, we just have to make sure that we focus on it and we’re ready to play on Friday. Ready to compete.”
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