Annapolis Blues Women Close Regular Season Undefeated, Will Host Playoff Game

The first regular season for the Annapolis Blues women’s soccer team ended with a trophy presentation in the field in front of a loyal house.

Striker Riley Demartino and midfielder Sarah Martin scored when Blues closed the regular season of the USL League by beating Richmond Ivy, 2-0, in front of the crowd announced by 5,843 at the Navy-Marine Corps Stadium.

Annapolis (9-0-1) completed running unbeaten through the Chesapeake Division and coach Ashly Kennedy was served with the championship trophy. Kennedy quickly handed over the trophy to the players, who wore a warning t-shirt stating Blues as the Chasapeake division champion.

Kennedy said he “put the base” to succeed during the team meeting before the season where hope was clearly defined.

“This is proof of the work ethics of the players. They sacrifice this summer. They are committed to being here and working together to place good products on the field,” Kennedy said. “It came to our overall mentality. I want to make this a pleasant experience for the players, while at the same time doing work.”

Annapolis will host the playoff match next Thursday, July 3, against opponents to be determined. North Carolina Courage (9-0-2) has won the South Atlantic division, while Eagle FC has won Mid-Atlantic.

Kennedy believes Blues can win two matches and win the Eastern Region championship.

“We have a strong and talented team,” he said. “We just have to continue playing our style, which has worked well. We have to play with our strength.”

Demartino placed blues on the board in the 15th minute with spectacular shots. Prominent Notre Dame University uses several slippery dribbling to create space and then drill high shots that surge into the upper corner just below the crossbar.

“That’s brilliant,” Kennedy said. “Riley’s vision and ability to get extraordinary separation. He has a small window to put the ball into the upper corner and executed.”

Annapolis dominated ownership and had several other dangerous opportunities before Martin repented to provide a pillow. Spalding products, which now play in Vermont, take a good bait from the front of Kelsey Smith, finish the ball then shot the left foot that divides two defenders and skip the artificial grass to the near corner right inside the pole.

“Kelsey did a good job to trap me. I turned around and saw the gap so I aimed and shot. Fortunately, it came in,” said Martin, whose shot had just sailed through the arms that were stretched out of the diving goalkeeper.

The two goals will be all the blues needed thanks to the dominant defense throughout the season. Ava Schultz (Severna Park High, William & Mary), Abby Hanks (Spalding, Villanova), Zoe Vidaurre (Clarksburg residents, George Mason) and Sascha Beasley (Walt Whitman, Wisconsin Commit

Goalkeeper Caroline Duffy only needs to make a rather difficult rescue from a hard shot in the 85th minute to send Shutout again. The Blues have outperformed their opponents 34-5 this season.

“We went with an approach to remain disciplined with our defense, connect our bait and manage the game well and I think we did all that,” Kennedy said. “We are proud of keeping Shutout and we do it too.”

Richmond coach Fred Owusu Sekyre, whose troops lost to Annapolis three times this season, impressed by the first year team.

“They are trained very well and are very organized. They have many talented athletes and play very well as a team,” he said. “They are very tough to score goals. It’s hard to break them up and put the ball behind the defense.”

Have news tips? Contact Bill Wagner at bwagner@capgaznews.com443-534-0102 and x.com/@bwagner_capgaz.

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