Seahawks claim title after regaining focus
Clement scores go-ahead goal, Wallace makes clutch saves in win
The Anne Arundel County championship appeared to be slipping away from the South River field hockey team’s grasp on Wednesday.
After watching a two-goal lead against Broadneck disappear in the span of three minutes, the Seahawks needed someone to be the hero.
Those heroes were Darcy Clement and Kaitlyn Wallace. Clement scored the goahead goal off a penalty corner with 7 minutes, 4 seconds left in regulation, while Wallace made a pair of clutch saves in the final minutes to preserve the No. 5 Seahawks’ 3-2 victory in the county championship game played at Southern High.
Clement had a hand in all three goals for the Seahawks. She scored the team’s opening goal three minutes into the game and assisted on Alexis Seidel’s goal midway through the first half that gave the Seahawks a 2-0 lead.
“A lot of times this season we’ve been up a lot. What we’ve been focusing on is having mental toughness and being able to keep the lead,” Clement said. “It felt so good to get the leading goal, especially with it coming off a corner. We always try to execute on corners and take advantage of them because they’re such good opportunities.”
South River (12-3) wasn’t out of the woods yet. The No. 7 Bruins applied plenty of pressure over the final seven minutes of the contest. Wallace, who finished with six saves, was forced to make a pair of diving stops in the final four minutes to help maintain the lead and avoid overtime.
“I knew that we were up 3-2 and that we needed to win this game. I was doing everything in my power to try to stop the ball,” Wallace said. “When they were coming down the right side and I dove, I South River's Caroline Kerr, left, reaches her stick out to block a shot by Broadneck's Emily Eckels during the Anne Arundel County championship game. was thinking, ‘I have to get this ball.’ I just needed to make whatever save I needed to make to keep that lead 3-2.”
The Seahawks, the two-time defending Class 4A state champions, will enter the upcoming region playoffs as the top seed in Section II of the East region. That could mean another meeting with the Bruins in the section final.
“We’ve talked a lot about being mentally strong at the end of these games,” South River coach Megan Atkinson said. “We know that, even with a lead, things can go away quickly. We didn’t have a lot of opportunities after they scored their second goal, but that one that we did get we made sure we finished. After that we talked about playing very smart and possessing the ball, and that’s what we did.”
Allison Corey assisted on both of Clement’s goals for the Seahawks, who enter the playoffs on a five-game winning streak.
Anna Feick scored both goals for the Bruins in a three-minute span of the second half. Her first goal at the 15:59 mark came on a penalty stroke, followed by the tying goal at the 12:37 mark on a penalty corner off an assist from Sammy Dupcak.
“This is our team. They’re not afraid of being down,” Broadneck coach Jen Plack said. “We’ve had teams in the past who’ve struggled to get that intensity back, but this team has a lot of fight in them.”
Alex Clough stopped six shots for Broadneck (10-3-2), which should be the No. 2 seed in Section II of the Class 4A East Region playoffs and will most likely open with Leonardtown.
“It’s an awesome honor to play in the county championship. It means your team did well during the season,” Plack said. “I think the first time we played them we felt like we were super flat. We played a much better game today and we can learn a lot and hopefully we can make some adjustments.”