Huskies pull it together to advance

8-goal runs fuels dominant performance in semifinals

The Patterson Mill girls lacrosse team is headed to the Maryland State Class 1A Championship.

The Huskies, whose only other state final trip came in 2009, were tied briefly with McDonough, but an eight-goal run led to a 17-4 state semifinal win at the James R. Harris Stadiium in Havre de Grace.

The Huskies (11-5) will play for the school’s first ever state girls lacrosse title next week at Stevenson University.

“I think our whole team has had a different outlook than the past couple seasons, we’ve been more motovational and all together and we do a lot more things together,” senior Olivia Beil said. “I think today we came out strong because we wanted this.”

Unlike the region title win played Wednesday, the Huskies scored first. Beil, on a nice move around the goal, scored just 1:11 into the game.

The Rams (12-5) answered quickly with freshman Ainsley Kidwell netting her only goal 50 seconds later, but the Huskies rolled from there.

“You never know what to expect from a team you haven’t played before, so we talked about our last game and how we were asleep at the begining and we can’t let that happen again today,” Huskies coach Kim Burgasser said. “You got to come right out at the first draw and that’s what we did.”

The Huskies, who actually lost four of the first five draws, led 4-1 less than 10 minutes in.

Elise Alders, a junior, used a nice spin move to put the Huskies back ahead. Junior Bethany Bruck, who led the scoring with four goals, scored her first with assist from freshman Anna Salerno.

Salerno then added her lone goal with an assist from fellow freshman Delaney Madsen for the 4-1 lead.

Patterson Mill scored four more before McDonough tallied its other first half goal.

Katelyn Springer scored on a free position shot and Alders added her second goal on a feed from Salerno, putting the Huskies solid transition game on display.

Bruck scored the next two just :17 apart. “I just think that what’s helped us is like mentally preparing rather than physically,” Bruck said. “We do a lot of team-building exercises now and it just makes us all closer. When you’re closer, you trust each other more. Makes it easier on the field.”

McDonough junior Emily Edwards put a halt to the Patterson Mill run as the Rams finished a transition goal.

The Huskies though, closed the half with three more goals, to take a 12-2 lead into the half.