McDonough boys soccer tops Patuxent

On a day when intermittent heavy rains made things miserable for players and onlookers alike, the McDonough High School boys soccer team benefited from a trio of seniors on Tuesday to edge visiting Patuxent 3-1 in a Southern Maryland Athletic Conference contest n Pomfret.

McDonough got a pair of goals from senior Marvin Bates-Williams and fellow senior Ryan Casas had a goal and as assist on one of Bates-Williams tallies and the Rams got several tough saves later from senior keeper Andrew Scott to preserve the victory.

Patuxent’s Jackson Harding ended Scott’s shutout bid with 25 minutes remaining, but the Rams’ keeper nullified his last attempt 20 minutes later to subvert any dramatics.

Bates-Williams gave the Rams the early 1-0 lead on a centering pass from Casas roughly 10 minutes into the contest. Then Casas gave the hosts a 2-0 lead when he scored on a penalty kick roughly 10 minutes later.

McDonough nearly added another goal before intermission, but after being denied his second goal of the contest right before the half Bates-Williams made it 3-0 with 30 minutes remaining.

“That first goal I got a great pass from my teammate and I was able to put in a spot where the keeper had no chance to get it,” Bates-Williams said. “Then that third goal I picked up a free ball and got behind the defender and I was able to get away a good shot again.”

“We have a lot of history with that team dating back to last year, so it was good to come out here and beat them,” Casas said. “This was kind of a bounce back effort from a loss we had last week. On my goal I was playing mind games with their keeper and I kept looking left and then finally sent the shot into the lower right hand corner of the net.”

Harding downplayed his goal on Tuesday and the overall significance of the setback as the Panthers prepare for their next game against Huntingtown this evening.

“I just think our work rate needs to be better, honestly,” Harding said. “We have some players that don’t really put the work in and we have to stay focused on coming out here every day and getting better. I saw the keeper out around the 30, so I thought I would take a shot. It felt pretty good to get it. We just have to put this behind us and look ahead to our game against Huntingtown and then prepare for the region. If we play better we can definitely go pretty far in our region.”