Crofton dominates Severna Park with 2 goals from Corcoran
If not for Severna Park’s Amanda Giebels, Crofton could’ve walked out with a 29-1 win — a testament not only to the prolific goalkeeper but to just how dominant Crofton has become.
Two storms rolled toward Severna Park’s grounds Monday — the one that delayed play by a half hour and the one that pelted three dozen shots at the perennial power, two-thirds of which had to be stopped and three that hit the back of the cage for a 3-1 Crofton win.
No. 4 Crofton, the defending Class 3A state champion, comes armed with a roster teeming with All-County, three-year varsity starters, and it’s a far cry from the team that couldn’t beat the No. 5 Falcons two years ago, or needed overtime to do it in 2022.
“Everyone’s two years older. They played together for two years,” Cardinals coach Amy Skrickus said. “It shows how hard they’ve worked and how much they’ve worked to improve their game as a unit and not just individually.”
The Cardinals (3-0) knew Severna Park (1-1) would give them a feisty competition, and that’s just how it started. Truthfully, said senior Kylie Corcoran who scored twice, the nerves just don’t leave her squad alone in those first few minutes, no matter how seasoned they get.
The objective was to cut off the Falcons’ passes in the midfield and put the ball in the circle. From there, the tallest figure on the turf, Corcoran imposed her will from Crofton’s first possession, from drawing the first three corners to slamming one of them between the pipes for the first Cardinals goal.
“Our goal is always scoring the ball in the first five minutes,” Corcoran said. “Going down and doing that brought our momentum.”
Severna Park deployed its offense in brief sparks, expiring against Crofton’s defenders or turning over in the midfield to the likes of midfielders Jackie Kerner or Olivia Feeley. The scarcity of Falcons possessions exasperated in the second quarter when five straight Cardinals corners — of nine in the first half — guzzled the clock down. It wouldn’t be any of those chances that awarded Crofton its second goal, not with Giebels protecting her cage, using her entire body to block shots.
Severna Park coach Shannon Garden beamed with pride over her goalkeeper. After years of standing behind Boston Collegebound Charlotte Kramer, Giebels had her moment to rise and took it, collecting 26 saves.
“I think she was waiting, and wow,” Garden said. “That was incredible. She is incredible. I’m so happy and proud of her.”
Apparently, the Cardinals didn’t need all that time with the ball to strike. They just needed Corcoran, threading through the circle like water streams through sand, and stroking her second goal.
At a point, Crofton’s corners were just the bookends to goals. Giebels tossed herself on the 10th corner’s shot; a minute later, Kerner lashed her try toward the net. Her teammates roared their approval when it hit the back of the strings, unaware for the moment that junior Grace Morris contributed the final touch for the goal.
“Jackie’s skills are incredible. She gets better every single year — I’ve seen her play from rec league up to here,” Corcoran said. “She’s always giving 100% in practice, and you can see her improvement showing.”
Other field hockey scores:
Francis Scott Key 3, Walkersville 0
Long Reach 5, Howard 0
River Hill 2, Centennial 1
Marriotts Ridge 14, Oakland Mills 0 Northeast 7, Meade 0
Broadneck 7, McDonogh 0
South River 2, Chesapeake 1
Archbishop Spalding 4, Maryvale Prep 0 Southern 6, Old Mill 2
Patterson Mill 3, Elkton 0
Rising Sun 3, Harford Tech 2
Girls soccer
Liberty 3, Gerstell 0: Hannah DeVincent is uncomfortable talking about herself. After Monday evening’s performance against Gerstell Academy, she didn’t have to. Plenty of other people did it for her.
The junior scored a first-half hat trick, the only scoring in the contest, to lead visiting Liberty to a 3-0 victory over the Falcons in a nonconference game.
“Hannah came to us last year after playing at Mercy as a freshman. She’s very creative, very technical,” Liberty coach Danielle Prietz said. “She’s just special.”
Most of the fans in attendance would probably agree. DeVincent opened the scoring just over 17 minutes in, taking a cross from fellow junior Chloe Kang and firing it into the upper corner of the net from roughly 10 yards out to give the Lions a 1-0 lead in their season opener.
The Lions added to the lead a little over three minutes later, when DeVincent took another pass from Kang and ran down the middle of the field. She evaded a defender before placing a dart of a shot in the upper corner from about 20 yards away to raise the lead to 2-0.
The last goal came off of a free kick to the left of the goal. DeVincent hit a good strike, but Gerstell goalie Cambrie Franks looked to have the ball before misplaying it and watching it roll into the goal. The goal, from 25 yards out with just over 15 minutes left in the half, upped the margin to 3-0.
— Mike Frainie, for Baltimore Sun Media Patterson Mill 3, Elkton 2
Perryville 2, Bohemia Manor 0
C. Milton Wright 1, Perry Hall 0 Eastern Tech 2, Harford Tech 0 Carver A&T 4, Pikesville 1 Catonsville 1, Franklin 0
Winters Mill 9, Catoctin 0 South Carroll 3, Boonsboro 1 Poly 3, North County 1
Glen Burnie 1, Concordia Prep 0
Boys soccer
Towson 8, Lansdowne 0 Carver A&T 1, Kenwood 1.
Key 4, Saints Peter and Paul 2 South River 2, Urbana 1 Edgewood 3, Joppatowne 2 South Carroll 2, Boonsboro 0
Football Frederick 34, Westminster 26:
In the hours between the Friday night cancellation and the end of Monday night’s rescheduled game, Westminster football saw the good, the bad and the ugly during “Frederick week,” as two of the top teams in Carroll and Frederick counties finally faced off in a highly anticipated matchup.
The ugly was behind both teams in the form of Friday’s thunder, lightning and rain that moved the game to Monday. Each team’s good came courtesy of their defenses, as Westminster’s Rakim Warfield and Frederick’s Davian Pryor each returned interceptions for touchdowns in the first half.
But for the Owls, the bad came in a second half in which they were held to just six points, committing two more turnovers along the way. The Owls ultimately fell to the Cadets, 34-26.
“That’s a great football team,” Frederick
coach Pat Caden said. “We knew they were going to challenge us and we had lots of guys step up tonight.”
It took a monster first-half effort from Pryor to quiet the Westminster crowd. Frederick’s standout senior wasn’t done after his defensive score. Pryor went on a tear, adding a score on offense after making a nice touchdown grab on a pass from quarterback Greyson Rollman. As fellow receiver Newton Esseim responded to a Westminster score with a 92-yard kickoff return touchdown seconds later, his lead blocker was none other than — Pryor.
“I just try to come out there and do my best for my team,” he said. “I wanted to make plays and walk away with the ‘W.’ ”
Glenelg 48, Hammond 0 Girls volleyball
Key 3, Mount Carmel 1
Arundel 3, Mount de Sales 0
Glen Burnie 3, Southern 1 Broadneck 3, SJCP 1
Williamsport 3, Century 0
John Carroll 3, St. Vincent Pallotti 1
Boys volleyball
Havre de Grace 3, Edgewood 0 Patterson Mill 3, Joppatowne 0 C. Milton Wright 3, Harford Tech 1
Golf
Century 179, Francis Scott Key 224 Wilde Lake girls 35, Hammond 5
Baltimore Sun Media staff contributed.*