Urbana frustrates Knights

‘‘We played well,” Thames said. ‘‘We possessed the ball a lot and moved it around from side to side.”

Entering Tuesday, Thames had been limited to just nine games, scoring only once while dishing out four assists. Adamant about extending the Hawks’ season, his initial goal came off an Ayao Sossou feed in the 26th minute. Number two occurred six minutes later with the finale, a free kick, finding its mark from 30 yards out at 12:11 in the second half.

‘‘Their wall was decent, but it was far enough to the left that I just hit it real quick,” Thames said of his third goal.

Sossou, Justin Memenza and goalkeeper Brian Kukucka have been instrumental in carrying the Hawks (8-6-1) throughout the season. Leading Urbana in both goals (five) and assists (six), Sossou—just a sophomore— provided the firepower Urbana used to rebound from their injury plagued 1-4 start. Memenza’s added 10 points (three goals, four assists) with Kukucka repelling 60 shots and sporting a 1.36 goals-against-average in roughly 13 appearances.

The contest became increasingly heated in the second half with yellow cards and numerous free kicks issued to both sides. Following Thames’ final tally, Wheaton head coach Oscar Amaguana received his second yellow card for dissent and was ejected from the game by official Jeff Gardner. Since the Knights did not have an assistant coach, Gardner was forced to call a forfeit due to Maryland Public Secondary School Athletic Association rules.

‘‘After given a caution for his second infraction he informed us that he did not have any additional bench personal,” Gardner said. ‘‘High school rules mandate a representative of the school be on the bench.”

Urbana takes on Paint Branch, who defeated Frederick 2-1 Tuesday, Saturday at 3 p.m. at Tuscarora High in the Class 3A West Semifinals. Head coach Scott Schartner hopes his team’s performance against Wheaton carries over to Saturday and beyond.

‘‘This is the brand of soccer we’ve been striving to play all season,” Schartner said.

‘‘We started on the right foot, but had a couple of big injuries early which kind of threw a monkey wrench into the works but it’s great to see us play this kind of soccer right now. It’s been our goal all season and the pieces are coming together right now so it’s real exciting.”

Linganore girls advance

Freshman Stephanie Gianguili’s overtime goal gave Linganore the winning goal in a 2-1 win over second seed Perry Hall in Tuesday’s Class 4A North Region quarterfinal girls soccer game.

Anna Tressler assisted on the game winner. Gianguili also scored the Lancers first goal off of an assist from fellow freshman Shannon Carr.

Junior Goalkeeper Kelsey Quinn had recorded three saves in the game.

Linganore head coach Gene Whitney was excited by his team’s play.

‘‘This win was truly a full team effort,” he said. ‘‘Special mention goes to junior defender Samantha Gianguili for a solid defensive performance throughout the game.”

The Lancers will face either C. Milton Wright in the region semifinals on Friday at 1 p.m.