Second-Half Stalwart Dulaney Wins Conference Opener

The Lions started conference play with a win Wednesday thanks to a late second-half spurt against Owings Mills High School on the road.

Although out shooting their opponents in the first-half, Dulaney wasn't able to register as many shots on target as the Eagles who surprised the 4A giants.

"They were a lot stronger than we thought they were going to be. I think we came here thinking we were better than we are. We have to be more consistent," said Dulaney head coach Jerry Tana. "We underestimated them today. They were very strong and they did some good things in the backfield."

The Lions, ranked 11^th in the state, are proving to be an efficient second-half team coming from a thrilling overtime victory at home against Hereford. The first-half saw shot after shot gleaming well over and wide of the target, while the Eagles got off six good knocks between the posts, into the hands of senior keeper Ryan Deuber.

Junior forward Oneall Mogliazzi was able to break the deadlock with less than 20 minutes to go in regulation, followed shortly by a solid half-volley from co-captain Mike Constantine.

"I'm feeling good. My teammate Mike [Constantine] finished it 2 – 0. It's a good win," Mogliazzi said.  "We work off each other, but a lot of times we get hustle goals."

Mogliazzi found the ball at his feet inside the box, around the penalty area. He beat one defender with a long touch, forcing him to catch-up to the ball. Facing another defender and the keeper, he kept the ball the low, sliding it past them for the 1-0 lead.

Constantine, who played the hero against Hereford a week ago, followed up in similar fashion. A botched cleared took two bounces before the senior midfielder smacked it into the side netting from distance.

Owings Mills played neck-a-neck with the Lions for 60 minutes, presenting a dangerous counter-attack from defense. In the end, poor conditioning beat the Eagles, according to head coach Tom Blumenauer

"It's one of those things I feel like we're always that team that could always step up to the next level," he said. "It's a tough loss. We ran out of gas late at the end." 

An earlier version of this article incorrectly identified Dulaney High School's starting goalkeeper as Alex Wolf. Senior co-captain Ryan Deuber is the starter. Patch regrets this mistake.