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Heading into last week, Pikesville and Franklin were the last two undefeated boys’ soccer teams in Baltimore County. And now, just one remains. The Panthers and Indians faced off on Thursday last week, settling the debate for the clear top team in the county. Click this link or scroll down to read more about the battle of the unbeaten.

On Thursday, Oct. 8, the top ranked Franklin Indians kept their win streak alive, Pikesville Panthers 6-2.

Entering the game, Franklin, sitting at 8-0, had outscored their opponents 72-5, with a statement win at home against Parkville, beating the team that sat undefeated this time last season eight to nothing. Additionally, Pikesville entered having not lost a game, rather tying 1-1 against Hereford on opening night. The battle of the unbeaten went down at Pikesville’s Boushell Field.

Throughout the season, the Indians averaged 8.25 goals per game, a feat they looked to be ready to continue early. Franklin opened up the scoring with a goal in the seventh minute, coming after a pass from the right corner of the penalty box into the middle of the box before the shot.

With 30 seconds left in the half, Franklin tacked on another goal, coming on a shot from the top of the box into the top right corner of the net, giving the Indians a 2-0 lead at the break.

In the second half, the Indians’ offense exploded.

Just three minutes into the half, Franklin took a corner, and after the ball was batted around inside the six-yard box, the ball rolled into the bottom right corner of the net for the score. Three and a half minutes later, in the 47th minute, the Indians scored again on a corner kick, again into the bottom right corner.

In the 55th, Franklin has the ball in the corner of the penalty box, and Pikesville’s goalkeeper charged at the ball, but the Franklin forward floated the ball over the Panther keeper’s head for the team’s fifth goal. Three minutes later, Pikesville put their first goal on the board, coming on a penalty shot into the bottom left corner, seemingly tipping off the hand of Franklin’s keeper. That goal made it a 5-1 game with 20 minutes to play.

With less than three minutes to go, Franklin took a free kick and curled it into the bottom left of the let, around Pikesville’s wall. Pikesville responded to this one, scoring a goal inside the six-yard box with 58.7 seconds left in the game, cementing the contest’s final score of 6-2 in favor of the Indians.

Franklin, now 9-0, will return to action on Tuesday at Western Tech while Pikesville, now 6-1-1, faces the Patterson Clippers on Monday.

As of last Monday, Pikesville’s volleyball team has not lost a regular season contest in 1,089 days. That streak was ended last week by Milford Mill in a four set win on Friday. Click this link or scroll down to read about the Millers’ upset win over the Panthers.

Milford Mill handed Pikesville volleyball their first regular season loss in over 1,000 days as the Millers beat the Panthers in four sets on Friday.

Coming into the contest, the Millers held a 5-3 record fresh off a three set road win over Woodlawn. Pikesville had won each of their nine games this season, surrendering three total sets (two vs. CMIT-North on 9/22 and one vs. Western Tech on 9/23).

The Panthers got out of the gate hot in the first set, taking an early 7-1 lead, but the Millers closed that gap to a one-point differential. They took their first lead of the day midway through the set, going up 12-11, and a point later, Pikesville was forced to take a timeout after giving Milford Mill a 12-5 run. Their run continued following the timeout, scoring 10 while allowing just two. Pikesville tried to come back, but the Millers earned the set one win 25-18.

In the second, Pikesville looked to exact revenge on the set one loss, but Milford kept it close early. After falling behind 4-3, the Panthers won five straight points, forcing a Miller timeout. The brake seemed to work as Milford went on a 4-1 run, but the Panthers scored eight straight points, making it a 17-9 set. Like Pikesville in the first set, Milford tried to claw their way back, but Pikesville still earned a 25-17 set win.

The Millers wanted their revenge in the third set, jumping out to an 8-4 lead, but Pikesville brought it back to 10-8. It stayed a one to two point Miller lead for the majority of the set, but in a 21-21 tie, the Panthers won the point and took a late set lead. After a timeout, the Millers went on to win four straight points and claim a 25-22 set three win.

The early part of the fourth set was much more in favor of the Millers, who ran up an early 7-2 lead, extending it to 1-4 before a Panther timeout. Milford Mill kept it between a six and nine point lead, going up by as much as 15-6 in the set. Pikesville began to claw their way back from there, shrinking Milford Mill’s lead to 17-14 after an 8-2 run. Despite the momentum against them, the Millers evened the run to 8-8, winning the set 25-22 and the game three sets to one.

The game marked Pikesville’s first loss since Oct. 12, 2023, a four set loss at Lansdowne. Now 9-1, the Panthers will look to regroup before their out of conference match on Monday at home against Patterson Mill. Milford Mill improves to 6-3, and they’ll have a few days off before a road match against the Carver Wildcats on Wednesday.

Towson continues to cement themselves as one of the best teams in the county, staying the only undefeated team two-thirds of the way through the regular season. The undefeated stretch continues after a 43-12 home win over Loch Raven on Friday. The Generals are gearing up for their toughest game of the season, traveling to No. 5 Eastern Tech in week seven.

Next week will still see other high-quality games including No. 2 Franklin at No. 7 Dundalk, No. 9 Randallstown at No. 8 New Town, and No. 3 Milford Mill at 3-3 Woodlawn, all of which being played on Thursday night. One of the county’s biggest rivalry games, Hereford and Dulaney, is set to be played on Saturday afternoon.

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The Panthers and Owls are holding down the top of the standings this week, both leading the county at 6-0. Pikesville hasn’t given up a point in two weeks, most recently beating Hereford 34-0 at home. Dundalk also won a shutout this week, beating Overlea on the road 29-0.

No. 1 Pikesville, with a +209 point differential in six games, will face No. 8 Dulaney on Monday, but a bigger game on the Monday slate will see undefeated vs. undefeated with No. 3 Randallstown hosting No. 4 Milford Mill. Later this week, No. 2 Dundalk will look to finish an undefeated campaign against No. 6 Perry Hall at home.

Lansdowne continues to hold down the top spot at 5-0, staying perfect after a 5-1 win at Western Tech last Tuesday. Franklin is right on their tail at 8-1, and would jump to first with a Lansdowne loss. The Indians went 2-1 in their three games last week, beating Dundalk and Kenwood while falling against Hereford.

Tuesday’s slate is full of great games, headlined by No. 5 Sparrows Point hitting the road to play No. 4 Dulaney, No. 9 Patapsco hosting No. 1 Lansdowne, and No. 8 Kenwood playing at No. 10 Carver. Thursday also has several good games including Rising Sun (6-3, Cecil Co.) at No. 5 Sparrows Point, No. 2 Franklin at No. 10 Carver, and No. 7 Eastern Tech at Patterson Mill (8-2, Harford Co.)

Eastern Tech and Dulaney are knotted at the top of the standings, both holding 6-2 record through six weeks. The Mavericks won a pair of games last week, beating Pikesville 7-0 and Patapsco 11-0. The Lions played just one game last week, beating Bel Air 6-1 on Tuesday.

No. 3 Towson and No.2 Dulaney are set to face off on Tuesday, potentially springing a new leader to the top of the standings. The Generals have a second tough game on their schedule this week, facing the North Harford Hawks (6-5, Harford Co.) on Thursday evening.

BCPS Cross Country teams are gearing up for their second straight week of in-county action. Another pair of BCPS meets are scheduled for this Wednesday:

The Eastside Meet, hosted by Overlea High, will feature Carver, Dulaney, Dundalk, Eastern Tech, Kenwood, Loch Raven, Overlea, Parkville, Patapsco, Perry Hall, Sparrows Point, and Towson

The Westside Meet, hosted by Milford Mill, will feature Catonsville, Chesapeake, Franklin, Hereford, Lansdowne, Milford Mill, New Town, Owings Mills, Pikesville, Randallstown, Western Tech, and Woodlawn.

CSZ photographer Brendon Truong headed to a pair of games this week, including Dulaney volleyball’s three-set win over Garrison Forest, avenging a 2025 loss, and Milford Mill’s football game against New Town where the Titans held the Millers to their smallest win margin of the season. Check out his best shots below!

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