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Meiser is money vs. Cavs
Scores winning goal again, this time vs. county rivals
Friday, Nov. 6, 2009
 Click here to enlarge this photo Staff photos by DARWIN WEIGEL
Patuxent's Lindsay Lane, left, and Calvert's Mack go up for a loose ball during the second half.
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After missing much of the regular season with an ankle injury, Patuxent senior Ellie Meiser is making up for lost time, and in a big way.
Meiser scored in the 11th minute and the visiting Panthers upended county rival Calvert 1-0 in a Class 2A South regional quarterfinal matchup Tuesday.
The win gave the 11th-seeded Panthers (8-5-1), who defeated McDonough 1-0 in a first round game last week, a berth in the 2A South semifinals against second-seeded Glenelg. That game is scheduled for 5 p.m. today.
"There's a high intensity level when you play in-county and we knew we played pretty good against them last time and that gave them some confidence," said Patuxent head coach Charles Grubby, whose team blanked Calvert 2-0 in a regular season match on Sept. 29. "I don't think we gained any confidence out of our game [against McDonough]. We knew we had to play better than that. [Tonight] we showed at times that we played pretty good. We got into a kick [ball game] when balls were in our end and we panicked a bit and just hit the ball up into the air. But I think it showed that we've been in this situation many times this year and they've played through it and they hung onto it."
One of the players Grubby might have been referring to was Meiser, who broke her left ankle during a 3-1 win over Lackey on Sept. 16 and feared her senior year was in the books.
"I definitely knew it was bad right away," she said of the break. "I definitely thought I was out for the rest of the season."
But two weeks ago, Meiser had her cast removed and her physician told her she could resume playing if she wore an air cast and attended physical therapy twice a day. She happily agreed.
After missing the last eight games of the regular season, she returned in time for the playoffs and has immediately made her presence felt after scoring the lone goal in Patuxent's first two playoff games.
Tuesday night, she was the offensive hero when she redirected a cross by Jillian Hatcherson past Calvert goalie Kelly Collins in the 11th minute.
"I could have only hoped I'd be back for regionals and I'm so lucky I am," Meiser said. "I definitely think that part of [my offensive heroics] is we want to go as far as we can because it's our senior year. I just think I work well with some of the other girls that are up top. It's been all four years [we've played together], so we have that connection back."
"That was difficult," Calvert first-year coach Dawn Lister said. "It's hard to come back when you have to play from behind. We haven't done well with that all season."
But third-seeded Cavaliers (7-5) would not go quietly.
Collins did her part defensively as she made 13 saves, including 10 in the second half. Of her highlight reel saves, perhaps none was as important as her diving stop of a Megan Sears laser in the 59th minute that was ticketed for the far corner.
"Kelly always does that for us," Lister said. "She is a go-to player for us, along with some of my other players. She gives her heart and soul out there to make sure goals don't come through and if one gets by, it's not a letdown on her part, it usually comes from somewhere further up the field."
And the Cavaliers had some quality chances to tie the game, especially in the latter stages.
Calvert's best chance came in the 68th minute when Jordan Howerton collided with Panthers goalkeeper Liz Chambers (six saves) and the ball squirted free. Howerton was unable to get to the loose ball and defender Amy Samilton cleared the ball from just outside the goal line.
"We had many chances and we worked hard all week to prepare with possession and I think it showed on the field that we possessed well," Lister said. Her team's one-goal loss was its second of the season. "We just couldn't capitalize on those possessions.
"It's been an amazing season. I'm very proud to say that I'm the coach of these girls."
"First let me say that Calvert has done a great job," Grubby said. "They actually have a better record than us and we knew it was going to be tough. This has played out a couple years past where they knocked us out one year and we knocked them out one year.
"It's the worst game I want to play because I don't like taking them out [of the playoffs]."
Results
Patuxent 1, Calvert 0
Patuxent 1 0
Calvert 0
Goal: Patuxent (Meiser)
Saves: Patuxent (Chambers 6); Calvert (Collins 13)
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