Key School capture first C Conference soccer title since 2013
The Obezags outlasted Gunston School, on penalty kicks, in the championship match
by Derek Toney
For the first time since 2013, Key School has a soccer championship, thanks to Angus Lunt Woodward.
More specifically, his left foot. The senior’s kick save in the fifth PK set, clinched victory for the Obezags, as they topped Gunston School, 2-2 (3-2), in the opening game of Sunday's MIAA soccer championship triple header at UMBC Stadium. Freshman Anthony Aguilar and junior Tommy Donnelly scored in regulation for Key (11-5 overall)
After two scoreless 10-minute overtime sessions, the match moved to penalty kicks. Austin Neise and Alex Bubnov converted, respectively, in the first two rounds for Key. In the fourth round, Davis Chapman drove his chance into the corner, giving the Obezags a 3-2 advantage.
Lunt Woodward slightly leaned right on Dylan Kroncke’s shot to start the fifth and final round, but got his foot out to deflect the ball.
“As a keeper you got to guess one way and react,” said Lunt Woodward, who will attend Bard College next school year and play baseball. “I guess left side and saw the ball going to the middle…I really didn’t think about anything and just stuck my foot out there.”
“I’ve said since the beginning of the season we’re going to be in every game because we have the best goalie in the league,” said Obezags coach Jake Rainey. “You saw that in full display today.”
Lunt Woodward’s final stop signaled the end of Key’s title decade-long title drought. The Obezags, the No. 2 seed, were C runner-ups in 2018 and 2019.
Gunston School, in its first season as a MIAA member, got both its goals from junior Ethan Harper, including an amazing effort where he was shielded from the ball by a Key defender, but still got his foot on the ball and flicked it high over Lunt Woodward into the net.
Gunston coach Juan Angarita was proud of team’s progression this fall. The fourth-seeded Herons (10-6) eliminated top-seed Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Thursday’s semifinals.
“We did not know what to expect, we hadn’t play any of the teams in the league,” said Angarita, who had four starters from 2023 back this fall. “I’m very proud of how the boys accepted the challenge.”
Under second-year coach Jake Rainey, Key was able to regain its edge after losing the final two regular season games. Lunt Woodward, Bubnov, Wyatt Christrup and Neise returned to the starting lineup from last fall.
“This means so much, I’ve been to four championships and won all four,” said Lunt Woodward. “I’m incredibly grateful, winning it with different guys, different families, different brothers.”