Chesapeake-AA tops Westminster for 1st title

CHESTERTOWN — Regardless of what happened Saturday, this season was going to go down as the best in the history of Chesapeake-Anne Arundel field hockey.

Playing in the state final for the first time, the Cougars made their fall even more memorable with a 3-1 victory over Westminster in the Class 3A state final at Washington College.

“It doesn’t feel real right now,” Chesapeake coach Joan Johnson said. “This is my first class I’ve had all four years. It’s really important for me to know that all the hard work they put in paid off. They believed in me and what we wanted to do with the program.”

Despite dominating the first half and the first 19 minutes of the second, the Cougars found themselves in a tie game with 11 minutes left after a goal by Westminster’s Chloe Sankovich. With the momentum seemingly on the Owls’ side, Chesapeake’s Hannah McKeon scored what proved to be the game-winning goal two minutes later.

“It was very important, because usually if you don’t score soon, you lose it,” McKeon said. “You might not have the spirit to keep playing. This is the best thing in the world. It feels great. We lost so many seniors from last year, but we really unified this year.”

The Cougars held off Westminster’s late push and iced the game with 1:30 left when Rachel Fleig scored to set off a wild celebration among the large group of fans who made the trip from Pasadena.

Fleig finished with a goal and an assist, and Eryn Beal scored the first goal of the game for the Cougars, who had won five region titles but never advanced past the state semifinals. Chesapeake (13-5) fell to Westminster in its region final two years ago and again last year in the state semifinals.

“I’m so happy for the seniors on this team,” Johnson said. “They’ve all worked very hard. I just love them.”