What’s the best way to bounce back from a disappointing loss, especially the team’s first of the season?

The answer: end the hopes of an undefeated season for another squad in the very next contest.

That’s exactly what the Archbishop Spalding girls soccer team did Friday afternoon, as the top-ranked Cavaliers recovered from Wednesday’s 2-1 setback to upstart and IAAM A foe John Carroll with a 1-0 victory over previously unbeaten and No. 3 Mount Hebron in a non-conference special in Anne Arundel County.

The game-winning goal came off the foot of Spalding center back Meghan Bernetti, roughly 90 seconds into the second half. She banged in a free kick from just outside the penalty area that ricocheted off the right post and then violently into the back of the net.

“Me, Sophie (Thibeault), Gabby (Wisbeck) either take the kick. I guess I was just really feeling good; I like wanted the shot,” said Bernetti, who initiated a lot of Spalding’s offense with precision passing and long through balls from the back while teaming with Adriane Skelton and Emma Coyne to keep the Mount Hebron offense at bay for much of the match. “So, we all talked about it, and I just went through it, ripped the ball, leaned over, made sure I stayed over the ball. The goalie left the back post pretty open, so I was able to get to that and execute it.

We knew we had to win. We knew we wanted to capitalize. It was a tough loss. We definitely could have played better that game, so bouncing back now was really important for us to move on with McDonogh on Wednesday.”

Bernetti’s strike was set up by the hard-charging Wisbeck, who was taken down while knifing her way through a pair of Vikings defenders near the top left of the penalty area to start what was a dominating second half in terms of possession and scoring chances for the Cavaliers, who improved to 7-1-1.

“That was a point of emphasis: playing the ball quicker and then finding and occupying our weakside player and getting our outside backs forward and creating more attacking width and services in the box,” Spalding coach Ashly Kennedy said. “We were wanting to see how resilient they were to bounce back. I was really proud of the group for their response to (the loss). It was important for us to find a way to find results . . . . My biggest takeaway from this was their response coming off Wednesday’s game.”

The Vikings (7-1-1) showed no ill effects from suffering an identical 1-0 loss to the Cavaliers a year ago, rebounding to go undefeated the rest of the way en route to the Class 3A state crown. Both losses came on set pieces as last year’s lone score was delivered during a Spaldingcorner kick.

“What I like to see the girls do is persevere,” Mount Hebron coach Tim Deppen said. “We know we are playing a team that possesses the ball extremely well. We know in the run of play, we’re pretty good at handling the pressure. I look to put the pressure on my defense and see if they rise to the occasion, and they did. In the run of play, we shut them down fairly well, so I’m happy with how our defense played.”

Offensively, however, the Vikings struggled to challenge Spalding goalkeepers Maeve Konstantoulas and Julia Little, who recorded a combined one save in the match. Mount Hebron did not record a shot on goal in the final 40 minutes of action.

“I think we could have been a little bit more controlled in possession going forward in our attack,” Deppen said. “I didn’t think we put together enough passes in our attacking third to really put together a solid effort. If we got anything, it was lean . . . but overall, very happy with the way we played tonight against a very, very good team.”

NO. 1 SPALDING 1, NO. 3 MOUNT HEBRON 0

Mount Hebron 0 0 - 0

Spalding 0 1 - 1

Goals: Spalding - Meghan Bernetti

Saves: Mount Hebron - Claire Fitzsimmons 4; Spalding - Maeve Konstantoulas 1