Girls soccer: Albertus Magnus breaks national No. 1 Bearden's 57-game win streak in draw

After achieving state-wide supremacy last fall, Albertus Magnus went down to Tennessee to make a national statement.

The Falcons took on two-time reigning Tennessee state champion Bearden, who entered Saturday's contest as the top-ranked team in the country. The Bulldogs also finished at No. 1 last season and were named United Soccer Coaches' national champion.

The two teams battled to a 1-1 draw on Saturday. In doing so, Albertus Magnus broke Bearden's 57-game winning streak. It was the first time since Aug. 30, 2021, that the Bulldogs had lost or tied an opposing team.

"We know their history of success and the girls that went through their program, we've done research on them and the current girls they have now," Albertus Magnus coach Dan Samimi said. "They have two girls going to the SEC and a bunch of other Division I commits, so we know they're great, but in our minds, we said we're a really good team too. We had a game plan the girls executed really well and they left everything they had on the field.

"I took away that the girls are not scared to play anyone and they'll give it their all against anyone. I think we're as good as anyone in terms of the game of soccer."

Bearden got on the board first, capitalizing on a defensive miscue by the Falcons in the first nine minutes of the match. Jayla Blue found the back of the net to put the Bulldogs up early.

Albertus Magnus didn't panic though and answered back near the end of the first half. Maggie Murphy sent a pass to Gabby Chan for the equalizer.

"I knew Aubrey (Haesche) was going to punt it far and we would start a counterattack," Murphy said of the events leading to her game-tying assist. "When it was coming to me, I knew their '6' was going to press, so I wanted to flick it to Gabby. I saw an open space for her to go on and run into. Once I played that pass, I knew she'd run onto it."

While there were some nerves early, as the game progressed, the Falcons felt they could hold their own. It can be intimidating making the long trip to play the No. 1 team at their house, but as the clock ticked, it became just another soccer game for Albertus Magnus.

"We knew after settling into the game, that we could do so much more than we originally thought we were able to," Albertus Magnus senior Grace Burns said. "It was definitely intimidating going down at first and knowing that they're the No. 1 team in the country, but as we settled into the game, we realized we can do this."

It was a back-and-forth game, with the Falcons and Bulldogs able to build up solid possessions. While both teams had their chances, neither side would find the back of the net for the remainder of the game, but it was a tense stalemate throughout.

Aubrey Haesche made 11 saves for the Falcons in the draw.

"She did great," Samimi said. "They did score the one goal, but she made a lot of big saves today. They scored their goal at the 9:30 mark, and they had another great shot at the 10-minute mark where she made a diving upper-90 save for that one. If a goalkeeper can make a save like that for the team, it lifts everyone else up."

Last season, the Falcons finished 22-1 during their run to a Class A state title. They were unscored upon by Section 1 opponents and unbeaten against New York teams, giving up only two goals to in-state competition along the way, so they're not used to being underdogs.

On Saturday, they embraced the feeling.

"We were all super excited and before the game, we said we're the underdogs this time and we have nothing to lose," Murphy said. "Let's just play 120%, and that's what we did. Everyone worked really hard, and played their hearts out and we're happy to come out with a tie. Playing the No. 1 team in the country is not something that you do often, it's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and we're all super happy to have experienced that. It was a hard battle, Bearden was great, and we're happy with the result."

Albertus Magnus is now 5-0-2. The Falcons have two other out-of-section heavyweights left on their schedule in five-time reigning CHSAA state champion St. Anthony's and New Jersey power Pennington, but their eyes are on their ultimate goal: defending their section and state title.

This result gives them plenty of momentum to achieve all the above moving forward.

"This definitely gave us the confidence boost I think we all needed," Burns said. "It just really encourages us to realize that we can go all the way again this year, because we did have a couple of breakdowns in past games, but this definitely brought our team closer together and gives us a lot more confidence than we thought we had.

"I'm really happy with our whole team play. We played together, we played as one, and we definitely played the best we have in weeks. I think it shows to everyone in New York and the country that we are a team that can be unstoppable."

Follow Eugene Rapay on Twitter at @erapay5 and on Instagram at @byeugenerapay.

This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Girls soccer: Albertus Magnus, national No. 1 Bearden battle in draw