Eagles cruise to 180th straight win

McDonogh’s No. 1 girls lacrosse team survived the week of upsets — and it wasn’t even close.

The Eagles’ national-record winning streak climbed to 180 games as they defeated Novato (Calif.), 14-6, on Saturday to finish spring break in Florida with a 3-0 start to the season. The Hornets (5-1) were the toughest team the Eagles faced on the trip, pulling within two late in the first half before McDonogh closed it out with a 9-3 run.

While the Eagles kept rolling, the Interscholastic Athletic Association of Maryland A Conference was turning upside down at home. No. 2 Glenelg Country School, last season’s No. 5 team, defeated No. 3 Notre Dame Prep, 10-9, on Tuesday. Then Maryvale, which won only one conference game last season, surprised No. 10 Roland Park, 12-7, on Friday.

Down in Vero Beach, Fla., the Eagles picked up where they left off in May when they capped their eighth straight undefeated season with their ninth straight A Conference championship. Under new coach Nancy Love, they rolled over their first two opponents — Vero Beach, 16-3, and The Hill Academy from Ontario, Canada, 18-5 — before getting a stronger test from Novato.

The Eagles needed a big performance from senior goalie Julia Cooper, who had nine saves against Novato, located just north of San Francisco and about an hour from Stanford, where she will play next season.

While McDonogh is No. 1 in the US Lacrosse National Girls Top 25, Novato is No. 22. The Hornets have won three straight North Coast Section Division I championships and they know what a win streak means. They had won 43 straight games until falling to Davis (Calif.), 10-9, last April.

Izzy Marsh led the Eagles with four goals while Julia Hoffman and Blair Pearre scored three each.