No. 6 Crofton field hockey rolls to 4-0 victory over No. 10 South River
Against host South River, Crofton field hockey got its first penalty corner opportunity midway through the first quarter Thursday night. After a quiet start for both teams, it represented the first real chance for the Cardinals to score.
After the insert, sophomore Charlotte DeForest took control of the ball and launched it toward the right side of the cage. Waiting was junior Kylie Corcoran, who corralled the ball and tapped it in for No. 6 Crofton’s first goal.
The Cardinals used two more penalty corners to stretch their lead later in the first quarter and once more in the second half. With four penalty corner goals, including two from Corcoran, Crofton breezed through No. 10 South River for a 4-0 victory.
“We were never comfortable,” Crofton coach Amy Skrickus said. “South River’s a very good team, they can come back. I told the girls, ‘We scored three goals, they can score three equally as fast.’ … I don’t think we really lost the momentum, and that was a good feeling.”
Crofton’s trio of defenders, headlined by sophomore Bree Riggs, stifled a South River attack that was never able to get in a rhythm. The unit limited chances, allowing just five shots on goal while the Crofton offense doubled that output.
Goalie Ryleigh Osborne, who touts a .847 save percentage, collected three saves.
“She makes some crazy saves,” Skrickus said. “She’s just great, I can’t say enough good things about her. She is vocal. She makes some saves where you don’t even know how she got to that ball.”
Corcoran led the way for an unrelenting attack in front of a suffocating defense that combined to shut out a top-10 foe on the road.
“[Corcoran’s] skills are phenomenal,” Skrickus said. “She is able to just dribble around so many defenders, which is good. And I think we have other girls when they double-team Kylie that step up and she sees them and dishes the ball to them. We have some very strong, skilled attackers that are able to dodge defenders and get that ball in there.”
Volleyball
No. 7 River Hill 3, No. 11 Glenelg 0: The challenges keep lining up for River Hill.
Two days after a five-set victory over Crofton, River Hill went on the road to face reigning Class 2A state champion Glenelg.
However, the No. 7 Hawks remained composed in the ladder stages of each set, defeating the No. 11 Gladiators, 25-17, 25-20, 25-20.
For River Hill setter Mackenzie Calhoun, the match brought a multitude of emotions.*
Calhoun was a member of the Gladiators last season and was the 2021 Howard County leader in kills as an outside hitter. Facing her old friends and teammates for the first time, Calhoun treated it as any other match.
“I think when I get into a game I lock into it,” Calhoun said. “I wasn’t really listening to the crowd or who I was playing. I just kept it simple and just played my game. That was just the mentality I had.”
South Carroll’s Cali Kalishek remembers what it was like walking into Westminster’s gym as a freshman and being intimidated. Thursday night, as a senior, she walked out a winner.
The Cavaliers used a timely offense and a stingy defense to rally from a set down, winning the fourth and fifth sets to defeat host Westminster, 17-25, 25-20, 15-25, 25-17, 15-13. It was the first win by a Carroll County opponent over Westminster since Winters Mill bested the Owls in 2018.
“Honestly, our program hasn’t beaten them in at least eight years, so this is very special,” an emotional Kalishek said. “We just played as a team and kept it going.”
South Carroll 3, Westminster 2:
Annapolis Area Christian School 3 , Notre Dame Prep 0
Bel Air 3 , North Harford 0
South River 3 , Huntingtown 1 Century 3 , Winters Mill 0
Boys soccer
Gerstell 1 , Friends 0
C. Milton Wright 3 , Havre de Grace 2 Broadneck 2 , Chesapeake 0
Bel Air 3 , Liberty 2
Manchester Valley 3 , Dulaney 1
Old Mill 3 , Northeast 2
South River 2 , North County 0 Severna Park 3 , Meade 0
Oakland Mills 3 , Marriotts Ridge 2
Girls soccer
Severn 2 , Northern-Calvert 0 Perry Hall 3 , Westminster 1 Atholton 1 , Catonsville 1 Winters Mill 1 0 , Pikesville 0 Severna Park 8 , Meade 0
Old Mill 5 , Northeast 0
South River 4 , North County 0 Southern 2 , Arundel 0
Golf
South Carroll 1 5 7, Westminster 1 74 Dulaney 1 6 2 , Lansdowne 2 0 9
Baltimore Sun Media staff contributed to this article.