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Maryland's #10 Riley Barger scored twice to lead her team to the win (file photo from 2012 regular season courtesy of Ken Herriford/KLH Photography)

You’ve got to think that ACF Torino was licking their lips a bit after the Washington Spirit lost to Maryland, 2-0, last week. With this match, they had a chance for local bragging rights. And it would have been sweet payback for Spirit management saying they weren’t a sufficiently competitive opponent for an exhibition. It wasn’t quite to be as Maryland managed one more goal in this game than the one against the professionals, and it took several excellent saves from Shannon Zickler to keep it that close as Maryland forwards repeatedly managed to get through the Torino back line.

Maryland forward Hayley Brock got through twice in the first half, sending a ball off the crossbar in the 6th minute and then right to Zickler in the 33rd. Amanda Gerlitz was subbed in but had similar luck, her shot going off the goalkeeper in the 37th minute, then with another open opportunity in the 40th minute she tried to dodge around Zickler but the Torino netminder managed to dive and corral the ball before Gerlitz could shoot. It took midfielder Ashley Spivey, through a minute later, to send the ball into the net for the first goal of the match.

Alexis Prior-Brown had her chance six minutes into the second half but likewise sent the ball right to Zickler. Four minutes later, though, Spivey and fellow midfielder Riley Barger would team up on a sensational score. Spivey, near the center circle with her back toward goal, sent the ball over her left shoulder to Barger, who charged in on goal, got around her defender on the right side of the box, and put the ball into the left side netting.

Barger would score again with seven minutes to go in the match, after Maryland executed a good give-and-go on the right sideline to free up an open cross. There was a bit of a scramble in the box as Spivey and then Barger tried to put the ball in. Zickler eventually grabbed it, but the assistant referee raised his flag to indicate that the ball had crossed the line.

Despite the result, Maryland head coach Jonathan Morgan was disappointed in his team’s performance. “Credit to ACF, their effort and energy. I thought they did good tonight. I thought it wasn’t a very good performance by our group on the whole. We just didn’t bring the energy.” He attributed it in part to the team’s tendency to let down their intensity against ostensibly less formidable opponents, something they had problems with during the regular season as well. “It’s something we have to work through right now. It’s pretty easy to get up for the big names, but we’ve struggled with some of the lesser names.”

That being said, he’s optimistic about the coming season. “I’m really excited. This team is talented. They work hard for each other.”

ACF Torino head coach David Jones was pleased with his team’s performance this early in their development, given that they’re still missing a number of key players who are still in school. He also thought the match was closer than the score indicated. The second goal was brilliant, he admitted, but he thought Spivey was offside on the first and that the AR’s ruling on the ball crossing the line on the third was dubious.

Torino defender Bailey Bodell – a Terrapin herself – was pleased as well. “The team looks really good, lots of really good players from this area.”

And for those of us who have been following local women’s soccer for a while, she’s absolutely right. Familiar names (to me, at least) on the night included Emily Janss, Jill Porto, Anabel Jimenez, Ashly Kennedy, and Ali Andrzejewski, all of whom played at various times for the Washington Freedom.

ACF Torino, who as the Maryland Capitols last year won the WPSL Atlantic-South Division, begin their 2013 season on Saturday, May 18, at 6 pm as they take on the Maryland Lions at Fairland Regional Park, Laurel, MD.

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