Magic rolls to B Conference title
Easy win gives team its fourth championship in the past five seasons
Savannah Safchuck took a pass from Laney Schmith and fired a highlight-reel behind-the-back goal for Mercy lacrosse.
It was that kind of day for the Magic, who had almost every play go their way against Park in the Interscholastic Athletic Association of Maryland B Conference championship game Saturday.
Jamie Collender finished with five goals, while Sydney Miles, Schmith and Safchuck added hat tricks, leading Mercy to a 19-2 victory at USA Lacrosse headquarters in Sparks.
The Magic won their fourth title in five seasons and fifth overall in the IAAM.
“Our entire team is an offensive weapon,” Collender said. “We had all of our offense on today. We worked really well. We clicked on the cuts. We clicked on the dodges. We found the seams to cut through. Overall, we just worked really well today and that’s what made the big difference.”
Last season, Park beat Mercy, 11-10 in overtime, for the title, ending the Magic’s threeyear reign as champions.
This time, Mercy (15-4) put together an impressive first half and never looked back.
Park (10-4) managed to dominate possession early in the game and kept Mercy on its heels. Cassandra Kitchen gave the Bruins a 1-0 lead almost three minutes into the first half.
Mercy goalie Lila Stachowski made a couple of point-blank stops that kept Park from extending that early lead. From there, the Magic took complete control of the game, reeling off the next eight goals.
“Last year, we had an almost perfect
season and fell short in a really tough overtime game,” Safchuck said. “Obviously, we came back super hungry this year. We worked hard. We played every game remembering what happened last year. We were thinking about this day the entire year and getting back this trophy at our school.”
After Talia Maria tied the game with just over 20 minutes remaining, Mercy took its first lead, 2-1, on a goal by Miles with 15:30 left. The Magic dominated the ground-ball battle and goals by Schmith, Safchuck, Carly Hax and Miles boosted the lead to 6-1 with just under six minutes remaining.
Park struggled with turnovers, which opened the door for the Magic to run quick counterattacks. The Bruins did a solid job winning draws, but they couldn’t keep possession.
“Their pressure through the midfield really just got us,” Park coach Robin Lowe said. “They’re fast, they’re talented and they were allowed to play really physical and that took us out of our game. We typically are not a team that turns the ball over quite as [much as] we did. But give them credit for causing a lot of them.”
Collender and Schmith extended the lead to 8-1 with 3:46 left. Park finally stopped the run on Kitchen’s second goal of the game.
Safchuck killed that momentum with the behind-the-back goal and then added another score in the final minute that boosted the lead to 10-2 at the break.
Collender, Schmith, Wojcik, Miles, Hannah Scott and Ella Gembicki scored in the second half and Mercy sprinted away with the title.
The Magic swept the regular-season series against Park, also securing 21-7 and 17-9 wins.
“Last year, we felt we didn’t play our best and some things did not go our way,” Mercy coach Brian Casserly said. “So, we made a committed effort to come and play really hard this year. We challenged the kids.”