Vikings in prime position
Mount Hebron in line for county championship
A week ago, the Mount Hebron field hockey team held a one-goal lead over Marriotts Ridge late in the game, only to give up three goals in the final 10 minutes for its first county loss of the season.
On Wednesday, with a one-goal lead over River Hill and the county championship on the line, the Vikings held strong to defeat the Hawks 1-0 and put themselves in prime position to win the county championship.
“We’re very excited,” said Mount Hebron head coach Jeannette Ireland. “We knew we were in for a battle. We struggled the first half, but we found enough game in the second half. That was the lesson learned from Marriotts Ridge. I told them that we weren’t playing great, but we needed to find a way, and we did.”
If Mount Hebron (6-1 Howard County, 10-3) beats Long Reach (2-4, 4-6) on Friday, the Vikings will win their first county championship since 2013.
“It was an amazing win,” said senior goalie Hailey Conklin. “In my first three years, we’d never been county champions, so this is special. ... We need to go forward believing in ourselves on Friday (against Long Reach).”
Bryn Mawr 1, Severn 1, OT: Ally Dixon scored for the Admirals (10-3-1, 3-2-1 Interscholastic Athletic Association of Maryland B Conference) and Emma Campbell had a goal for the host Mawrtians (6-3-1, 4-1-1).
Boys soccer
No. 4 McDonogh 4, No. 13 Gilman 0: The visiting Eagles (9-4-1, 7-3-0 Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association A Conference Red Division) recorded their fifth shutout by beating the Greyhounds (7-7-1, 4-7).
Goal scorers included: Vincent Petrera, Jacob Murrell, Braden Peacock and Ethan Glaser.
No. 6 Loyola Blakefield at No. 8 Calvert Hall: The game between Dons (8-3-2, 6-2-2 MIAA A Conference Black Division) and host Cardinals (6-5-1, 5-4-1) was postponed and will be made up at a later date.
No. 15 Annapolis 6, Northeast 1: Anderson Iriarte Herrera had a hat trick and two assists to lead the Panthers (10-1) past the host Eagles (2-8-1). Annapolis scored three goals per half.
Severn 2, Glenelg Country 1, OT: The visiting Admirals (8-7-1, 6-6-1 MIAA B Conference) ended a two-game losing streak by beating the Dragons (4-11-1, 2-11-1)
Key School 4, St. John’s Catholic Prep 1: Daniel Fagobhunka scored twice and Patrick Tormey had two assists to lead the visiting Obezags (8-3, 5-0 MIAA C Conference) over the Vikings (6-3-1, 2-2). Key School led 2-0 in the first half.
Girls volleyball
Mount Hebron 3, River Hill 2: Mount Hebron first-year coach Tina Catanach saw everything her team had worked for this season slowly slipping away. Host River Hill rallied from behind to win the first two sets, and letting another go would have cost them the top spot in the Howard County championship race with just three matches remaining.
“It would have been heartbreaking,” she admitted.
The Vikings have had their backs against the wall time and again this season, and each time they have answered the challenge. They did it again on Wednesday, winning the final three sets to beat the Hawks, 23-25, 24-26, 25-19, 25-22, 15-10.
“I’m incredibly proud of my girls,” Catanach said. “They do everything for each other and our theme this year is ‘together we rise,’ and that was almost all seniors out there, and the fact that they could step in and come back from a two-game deficit, girls playing positions they never play, it was incredibly gratifying as a coach.”
Catonsville 3, Franklin 0: The Comets (8-4) celebrated senior night with a 25-10, 25-14, 25-17 sweep of the visiting Indians.
Catonsville rode the strong play of senior outside hitters Sylvia Johnson (12 kills, six aces) and Sophi Wrisk (nine kills), senior middle hitters Maddi McLean (six kills, two blocks) and Brooke Nelson (three kills) and senior defensive specialist Don’ya Truesdale.
Franklin’s Leilani Calhoun had a teamhigh seven kills.