Milnes Stunner Nets Broadneck Girls County Title

Late in regulation of the October 24 girls soccer county championship game with Severna Park, Broadneck forward Raegan Milnes had a golden chance to score her team’s second goal and likely seal the championship.

But as she rounded the keeper, the junior forward slipped to a knee and couldn’t get enough power on the shot into the open goal, allowing a defender time to hustle back and clear it off the line.

In overtime, Milnes maximized her second opportunity and ensured she wouldn’t need a third.

With teammate Mia Orso cutting in from the right to put the ball on her left foot, Milnes surged from midfield and got to a slightly heavy touch, lashing it from 25 yards past the outstretched arm of the diving keeper. The shot rippled into the side netting inside the left-hand post, giving Broadneck a 2-1 win and setting off wild celebrations.

“We had been trying to rush, but we needed to calm it down and take our time. That helps us do our best to get it in the goal,” Milnes said. “Mia was about to take the shot, but I decided that I’d let it rip and see how it went.”

The score punctuated a wild 96 minutes in which much of the game felt more like basketball on turf. The teams traded attacks and counterattacks, before Severna Park settled into its possession game in the overtime period. When both teams spurned golden opportunities to score into an open goal, it became clear a moment of magic would settle the matter.

The game went 83 minutes between goals, after Delaney Jones tied the game for Severna Park nine minutes after Broadneck senior defender Avery Katzen opened the scoring.

Katzen, one of the smallest players on the field, spotted an open patch of turf on a fourth-minute corner. As Orso played the ball in, a Falcon came to mark Katzen, who shrugged the defender off and drifted into another pocket of space. Now completely unmarked, she guided a header back the other way inside the post to give the Bruins an early lead.

“I don’t get a lot of opportunities to score, so when I go up for corners that’s the only thing I’m thinking of,” Katzen said. “Our No. 1 goal is to start every game as hard as we can. To score in the first five minutes really boosted us and helped us remember that no matter what we’re in the game and we need to keep going.”

It was that kind of mentality that allowed Broadneck to rally from an apparent knockout blow from Crofton two days prior. Milnes put the Bruins up 2-0 with 12 minutes left in the game, only for five more goals to go in, the next three to Crofton in a five-minute stretch to send Broadneck reeling.

But Orso immediately tied it again, and in officials’ time Rory Terhune was judged to have been pulled down in the outermost corner of the Crofton penalty area, allowing Orso to dispatch the penalty kick and help the Bruins escape.

“I feel like that game helped us build our courage up and reminded us to not give up,” Milnes said. “We didn’t let down and we were able to stay motivated to get the goal. I feel like we have great confidence in each other, and we will be able to get it done, no matter who it is.”

Through the county championship, Broadneck has had balanced scoring from a trio of players. Milnes’ winner gave her the team lead with 16 goals, while Orso is at 15 and Terhune has 11. Terhune leads the team with 13 assists, with Orso at nine and Lola Banks at seven.

Broadneck (13-1-1) finished the regular season tied with Leonardtown atop the 4A East 2 standings, meaning a coin toss was necessary to determine the seeding order for the playoffs. That toss was held after press time on October 26.

The Bruins will host a region semifinal game on October 30 against either the Annapolis-North Point winner or the Crofton-Bowie winner.