Falcon Girls Cruise To County Title

The last time Severna Park faced Broadneck in girls lacrosse, the Falcons lost their leading scorer, had to figure out how to play without her on the fly, and needed a late comeback to win the game in overtime.

On Monday, they had no doubt, and left no doubt, they were the most complete team in the county.

Severna Park had six players score and they kept Broadneck off the scoresheet for almost 24 minutes between the first and third quarters, building a huge lead and holding off a late charge for a 13-9 win to claim the Anne Arundel County public school championship.

The Falcons’ emphasized focus on moving the ball didn’t show up on the stat sheet, as they logged just one assist on their 13 goals. But that was the product of patient ball movement setting up an isolation where individual players capitalized on their one-on-one matchups.

“Behind the goal was very open. My teammates were pulling defenders and were clearing for each other,” said Severna Park’s Kate Evans, who had two goals in the game. “I think that’s how we can get the 1v1s because people are looking for drives and clearing for each other. We work on 1v1s in practice, so we make sure that everyone is fully capable of doing it, and then on the day we can see which one of us is working their defender better.”

On Monday, it seemed like all the Falcons felt like they could work their defenders. The first six goals were scored by six players, as virtually the entire attack got into the act.

Erin Hussey, Maria Bragg and Francesca Dunoyer each scored three times, while Peyton Jeffers and Bella Van Gieson both added a goal. It was a holistic effort in the wake of the Falcons losing star senior Alyssa Gore-Chung to injury the last time they played Broadneck. Gore-Chung is not expected to return before the season ends.

“Any team has their go-to player, but I just think that they work so well together. It’s daunting where it happened, but they’ve picked right up,” said Severna Park coach Annie Houghton. “It’s made some other people step up, which as a coach is great to see.”

On the other end, Broadneck couldn’t sustain momentum. The Bruins led 3-2 late in the first quarter, but their offense went silent for nearly two full periods before they scored again. Broadneck got two quick goals at the end of the third and four more in the final three minutes of the game, but by that time the Falcons had pulled away through the combination of stingy defense and patient, precise attack.

“We realized what defenders are pushing out on who, and we realize when a drive doesn’t work, we don’t force it. We recognize when we need to slow down, which is the main factor coming into a close game,” said Hussey. “We all just have become more developed and learned how each other plays. When something’s not working, we know what to change, and we recognize when it does work that we need to stick with that.”

Lily Trout scored three of Broadneck’s goals, while Nora Lopes, Olivia Orso and Sienna Miller each had two.

Both teams return to action in their respective region semifinals later this week. Broadneck hosts Annapolis on Thursday, while Severna Park will host either South River or Suitland on Friday.