Riso's Kick Sends River Hill to Final

By Jeff Nelson and Ryan Mink
Special to The Washington Post
Sunday, November 11, 2007

Tony Riso is about as low-key as they come, the perfect example of an athlete whose emotions rarely affect his play. That's exactly why River Hill Coach Matt Shagogue picked the sophomore for moments like yesterday.

Four minutes into the second sudden-death overtime, sophomore Jon Talbot drew a foul in the box and Riso buried the ensuing penalty kick to lift the Hawks past Liberty, 1-0, in the 2A state semifinals at North Hagerstown.

After getting mobbed by his teammates, Riso exuded all the excitement of a student in study hall. When asked about his game-winner, he showed no trace of a smile.

"I try to go to the left side panel every time," he said. "I knew where I was going to go from the very beginning."

Said Shagogue: "That's why I love the kid so much. You can see he's happy, but there's never too many highs or lows. He's just a cool customer, he has fantastic touch on the ball and you'd never know he was a sophomore in high school."

River Hill (15-4), which has won 14 consecutive games, will try to claim its eighth state title in the school's 12 years of existence when it plays Loch Raven on Saturday at South River.

The Hawks won four straight championships from 2002 to '05, but failed to make it out of the region last year, Shagogue's first at the school. Only one current Hawks player was on the 2005 team.

"I make it a point to walk by the two trophy cases at our school, and none of those [trophies] are from my teams," Shagogue said. "It is motivation."

B-CC Rallies

Already down two goals to Northern, Bethesda-Chevy Chase went a man down early in the second half last night. It was just the spark the Barons needed.

Subsequent goals by sophomore Ben Fernandez and junior Chris Woodruff tied the 3A state semifinal and Woodruff won it just over a minute into the second sudden-death overtime as the Barons prevailed in a feisty contest, 4-3.

Bethesda-Chevy Chase (11-3-2), which played with 10 men for the final 46 minutes -- a span in which it outscored Northern 3-0 -- will face Bel Air at South River next Saturday for a chance at its first state title since 2001.

"When [a teammate] falls down, you help him up," said junior David Williams, who ran nearly half the field to set up Woodruff's game-winner. "One person can't do it by himself. It's all about the team."

"It didn't faze us" to lose a man, said Woodruff, who had a hat trick. "It just fired us up."

Falcons Frustrated

Severna Park's 4A semifinal game against Perry Hall was frustrating from the first minute. Literally.

Perry Hall scored 55 seconds into the game and ultimately beat the Falcons, 4-0, in Chestertown.

"I'm completely shocked at our performance," Severna Park Coach Bob Thomas said.

The Falcons (15-4) had a throw-in deep in their defensive zone, but Chris Myers's throw never made it inbounds, giving Perry Hall (16-1-3) a throw-in from that spot. The Gators' throw-in was flicked toward the middle of the goal, and Chris Sokolis scored on a volley.

Perry Hall will face Magruder, which defeated Bowie, 4-1, in the other semifinal match yesterday in Chestertown.

Top-ranked Magruder improved to 18-0; Bowie ends the season 12-6.

And even though the Colonials' season is not over, the career of Magruder senior forward Alex Lee is.

After Lee set Magruder's all-time single-season scoring record about 15 minutes into the second half, he received his second yellow card and a soft red, meaning that he will be ineligible to play in Saturday's final at South River.

It will mark the third game this season that Lee will have to sit out. He also received a double yellow against Watkins Mill earlier this season.