Chesapeake Girls Take It To Northeast, Defeat Eagles 1-0

You can always count on a Northeast-Chesapeake game to deliver physical play and an outcome decided by the slimmest of margins.

That was certainly the case Thursday when the Chesapeake and Northeast girls soccer team played 80 minutes of rough-and-tumble soccer that was ultimately decided early, as sophomore Leia Black’s first-half goal was the difference in a 1-0 win for the Cougars.

The Cougars, who started 0-3-1 against tough early opposition, won their second straight and improved to 2-3-1 (Chesapeake defeated Meade on Tuesday, when Black assisted Haley Downin’s winning score in a 1-0 victory over the Mustangs).

Northeast fell to 1-2 on the season.

Black, who scored the winning goal in a 2-1 playoff victory over Northeast last season as a freshman, ran onto a beautifully lofted, 45-yard free kick from center back Madison Wheeler in the game’s ninth minute. The Eagles failed to clear the ball before it bounced, and Black pounced on it, slotting a shot into the bottom right corner past diving Northeast goalie Sam Baysic.

“Maddie Wheeler played a ball through, it bounced over one of the center backs, and I was just there to clean it up in the right corner,” said Black, adding that the rivalry win is always a big one to put in the bank. “It definitely builds up our confidence, which we needed,” she said.

Northeast got on the attacking foot in the second half and applied steady pressure to Chesapeake’s back line, but Cougar goalie Ellen Ziaja played far out of net in a sweeper-keeper role, and the defense kept most of the play in front of them and snuffed out Northeast’s biggest threats.

“I think we played as a team,” said Wheeler. “We covered each other. We needed to get back a little faster, but I think that covering each other really kept us in the game, and that got us back into the offensive third.”

Wheeler, a senior, kept an all-business game face throughout Thursday’s contest but cracked a smile at the suggestion that the Cougars had wrested the rivalry back in their favor over the past couple seasons after Northeast’s banner year in 2015.

“It feels good to go out with a win against Northeast, it really does,” she said. “Hopefully in the playoffs, we might see them again.”

PHOTO GALLERY: Chesapeake vs. Northeast girls soccer, 9.21.17

Update October 16, 2017:

The Cougars, who started 0-3-1 against tough early opposition, used the victory over Northeast and a prior victory over Meade (when Black assisted Haley Downin’s winning score in a 1-0 victory over the Mustangs) to jump-start a run of six wins in eight games. Chesapeake is 6-5-1 through October 12 with games against Broadneck and Glen Burnie still to play before the playoff draws are set. Chesapeake produced its highest-scoring output of the season in a 5-0 shutout over Annapolis on October 12, when Downin, Peyton Colhouer, Ashley Chew, Brooke Hurst and Wheeler all notched goals and Ziaja had six saves.

Beset by injuries, Northeast has posted an unflattering 2-7-1 season record despite being competitive in nearly every game. Kinlee Bruns scored twice in a 3-2 loss to Severna Park, one of the county’s best teams, on October 12, and head coach Scott Langlois likes his side’s competitiveness and playoff chances.

“We are improving regardless of the outcome,” Langlois said. “We have had injury issues. I think we should be firing on all cylinders come playoffs. The seniors are doing a great job mentoring the younger players. They never give up.”

It's a wrap. Leia Black's first-half goal stands up as Chesapeake girls soccer defeats Northeast 1-0.

— PasadenaVoiceSports (@PVoiceSports) September 21, 2017