South River develops into region title contender

South River's amazing 2009 campaign continued last night, but keeping it going and advancing to the Class 4A East Region boys soccer semifinals was anything but easy.

The fourth-seeded Seahawks twice opened up a one-goal lead only to see feisty seventh-ranked Meade respond, including a score by Jean Toussaint with about 22 minutes left. But Carlos Rios-Reyes's second goal two minutes later lifted South River to a 3-2 victory.

The Seahawks (15-1), who won a combined eight matches the past two seasons, will now play the winner of today's game between No. 1 Broadneck and No. 9 North County. South River owns a victory against each squad this season.

"Being my third year - we struggled my first year, obviously three wins and five wins last year, and now we're at 15," South River coach Jeff Vincent said. "It's nice to be with a group and see them develop and get better. We'll see if we can keep it going."

Rios-Reyes kept the run going with his game-winning goal that came with 20 minutes, 40 seconds left. It came on a thrown-in by George Blancke that went to Mike Kane, who was able to get the ball to an open Rios-Reyes in front of the goal for the shot.

"Mike Kane, he just flicked it back in and I just tapped it in," Rios-Reyes said. "I just ran in and crashed into the goal. It was overwhelming."

Rios-Reyes scored the first goal as well, crushing in a through ball from Jimmy Romero in the 11th minute. He beat a couple of defenders to the ball and shot just past goalkeeper Tyler Hall, who had nine saves, including a couple of spectacular ones.

The Mustangs (7-9) answered back about 10½ minutes later on a long shot from Tyler Eppienstien. Eppienstien was about halfway between the penalty area and midfield when he cracked a shot that ricocheted off Seahawks goalkeeper Jake Smith's hands and into the right corner.

South River regained the lead with 31 minutes, 23 seconds left on a goal by Anase N'Gadi during a throw-in. The thrown ball sailed into the penalty area and skimmed off a Seahawk's head to N'Gadi, who made a jumping kick into the goal for the 2-1 advantage.

Toussaint responded for Meade, just beating Smith on an open shot on the right side of the goal. The Mustangs took a free kick and the ball bounced around through a sea of humanity before rolling to the open Toussaint.

Meade almost tied things again with less than two minutes left, but Smith was able to tip away a good look from Mekah Baker on a fast break.

"We played a really good team," Mustangs coach Brian Layman said. "We prepared for them well. We tied it up and then two minutes, they go ahead. But 3-2 against one of the best teams in our county, it's a nice way to end our season. We were looking forward to upsetting them, and I think we had them on the ropes."

Meade (7-9) 1 1 - 2

South River (15-1) 1 2 - 3

GOALS: ME - Eppienstien, Toussaint; SR - Rios-Reyes 2, N'Gadi. ASSISTS: SR - Kane, Romero. SAVES: ME - Hall 9; SR - Smith 3. SHOTS: ME - 5; SR - 22. CORNER KICKS: ME - 1; SR - 4.