No. 1 McDonogh girls lacrosse wins 12-7 over No. 3 Spalding
After some painfully slow starts early in the season, the top-ranked McDonogh girls lacrosse team spent the past several days trying to figure out ways to get moving more quickly.
On Tuesday, the host Eagles found the elixir they’d been searching for against previously unbeaten No. 3 Archbishop Spalding. Led by senior Kate Levy, McDonogh won the majority of early draws and turned several into scores, building an early four-goal lead on their way to a 12-7 win in a key early season Interscholastic Athletic Association of Maryland A Conference matchup.
“We’ve been focusing on that all week … starting fast,” McDonogh first-year coach Megan Nicotra said. “The first couple games of our season that was a real challenge for us, and I think we’ve been focusing on that a lot in practice. They came out today ready to go.”
Said Levy: “We had stuff that we wanted to work on from previous games. I think we can capitalize even more. We have a lot of talent, and sometimes I do think we let up. But I think we got off to a better start than we had been.”
Levy, who next season will play for her mother, Jenny Levy, at the University of North Carolina, dominated in the draw circle and finished with four goals and an assist, helping McDonogh (6-1 overall, 5-0 conference) — ranked No. 3 in the nation by USA Lacrosse and No. 4 by Inside Lacrosse — take an early 5-1 lead.
Seniors Sophia Trahan (Virginia Tech) and Remi Schaller (Michigan) also added two goals each, as the Eagles extended their lead to 12-4 against the Cavaliers (6-1, 6-1), who also entered the day ranked in the top 11 in both national polls.
“There are some things
we’re going to figure out, but this was just two great teams today,” Spalding coach Tara Shea said. “McDonogh just put the full game together. We’ve got to figure out a way to just dominate the draw and create more possessions. In order to end up scoring, we need opportunities. You’re not going to score every goal in this game, so we’ve got to be more effective on the draw.”
And when Spalding did get the ball, McDonogh’s defense, led by sophomore speedster Kit Laake, did a nice job of limiting the damage, time and again forcing turnovers and winning ground balls.
The Cavaliers, who got two goals each from seniors Gabby Greene (Florida) and Maddie Wrenn (Clemson), as well as freshman Sam Collins, narrowed the margin with three in the final 3:55 but otherwise never seriously threatened.
Other girls lacrosse scores: Manchester Valley 16, South Carroll 3:
Since the start of the 2023 season, Manchester Valley girls lacrosse has been dominant in Carroll County and across the state, now winning 25 straight games.
Some games though
are about more than just winning and losing. Some consist of outside challenges that the Mavericks look to conquer to become the most complete team for their county, regional and Class 2A state title defenses.
Tuesday night’s side mission: Learn to handle pressure.
South Carroll’s pressure was something Manchester Valley coach Shelly Brezicki admitted her Mavericks had never seen before, but after a few quick adjustments, they reloaded, scoring four first-quarter goals en route to a 16-3 victory.
“It was something new, something we’ve never seen yet this season,” Brezicki said as her team improved to 6-0. “The girls did a great job adjusting and being aggressive.”
Catonsville 16, Loch Raven 2:
Catonsville senior Casey Fisher scored six goals and added an assist as the host Comets rolled to a 16-2 victory over Loch Raven in girls lacrosse action.
It was the first loss of the season for the Raiders (3-1), while the Comets improved to 2-4.
Goals by Fisher and Kaitlyn Welsh (two goals, one assist) gave the Comets an early 2-0 lead, but Loch Raven’s Charlotte Gongon cut the lead in half on a free position goal with 8:31 left in the first quarter.
After that tally, however, the Raiders went scoreless for nearly 29 minutes before Alli Henning scored their only other goal with 3:42 left in the third quarter. During that span, the Comets reeled off 12 consecutive goals.
— Craig Clary
Aberdeen 12, Bo Manor 7 Patterson Mill 12, North Harford 10
Fallston 12, Bel Air 11 Century 19, Winters Mill 2 Liberty 18, Francis Scott Key 4
Boys lacrosse
In the third quarter Tuesday, Gilman lacrosse had to lean on everybody to gain an edge over visiting Archbishop Spalding.
The No. 10 Greyhounds killed off three penalties with goalie Zach Parks at his best with two of his 11 saves. Sophomore faceoff specialist Joe Kim started winning more consistently at the circle. And with more possession of the ball, the Gilman attack found a breakthrough with a patient approach.
Gilman produced three unanswered goals in the pivotal quarter to break a halftime tie and took charge in the fourth quarter for a comfortable 11-4 win over the No. 12 Cavaliers in Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association A Conference play.
After a 25-7 victory over John Carroll in Friday’s opener, the Greyhounds showed another way to win Tuesday with a grind-it-out performance that puts them at 7-2 overall in 2-0 in league play. Spalding, coming off an emotional 8-7 overtime win against No. 6 Loyola Blakefield on Friday, fell to 6-4 and 1-2.
— Glenn Graham
Gilman 11, Spalding 4:
Towson 18, Perry Hall 5 Centennial 22, Hammond 0
Manchester Valley 15, South Carroll 7
McDonogh 16, St. Mary’s 5 Boys’ Latin 14, John Carroll 6
Mount Saint Joseph 13, St. Paul’s 9
Calvert Hall 12, Severn 7 Archbishop Curley 15, Indian Creek 4
Baseball Centennial 6, River Hill 5:
Centennial baseball places a consistent focus in practice on “the little things”: bunting, base running and situational awareness.
Tuesday afternoon, those small things paid major dividends in a 6-5 walk-off win over No. 15 River Hill.
In the bottom of the seventh, down a run, the Eagles’ Aariz Khan stepped to the plate with runners on first and second and no outs. Coach Denis Ahearn gave Khan the bunt sign and he proceeded to lay one down the first base line. The throw went off the first baseman’s glove and rolled wide, bringing in the tying run. An ensuing throw to third sailed high and out of play, letting the winning run dash home.
Khan tossed his helmet at second base and celebrated with teammates who sprinted out to meet him.
— Jacob Steinberg
St. Mary’s 6, Crofton 5:
Junior pitcher Devin Neurell can really start to picture it: the trophy, the St. Mary’s name added to the list of Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association B Conference champions.
The dream materialized ever more clearly after his teammate, Colin Talbot, strode across home plate in the top of the 10th inning.
The Saints led Crofton by a run and it was up to Neurell to close it out. The Cardinals already have two walk-off wins on their* resume this season. They chattered hungrily from the dugout even after St. Mary’s scored the go-ahead run.
Neurell faced three Cardinals, some of whom he calls friends off the field. He sat down all three to finish out the 6-5 victory.
Patterson Mill 2, South River 0
Aberdeen 6, North Harford 4
John Carroll 7, Poly 6 Lansdowne 23, Carver A&T 0
Pikesville 4, Hereford 2 Liberty 5, Westminster 0 South Carroll 7,
Linganore 1
Reservoir 7, Hammond 2 Glenelg Country 6,
Gerstell 3
Boys’ Latin 6, Severn 2 Broadneck 14, Arundel 0
Softball
Havre de Grace 6, Harford Tech 2
Patterson Mill 10, C. Milton Wright 2
Sparrows Point 15, Lansdowne 5
Liberty 6, Westminster 0 Reservoir 20, Hammond 2 Marriotts Ridge 21, Oakland Mills 1
Centennial 22, River Hill 17 North County 10, Glen Burnie 0
Annapolis Area Christian 19, Friends 4
Coed tennis
Fallston 6, Bel Air 5 North Harford 8, Elkton 1 Hereford 9, Pikesville 0
Boys tennis
Marriotts Ridge 5, Oakland Mills 0
Liberty 5, Westminster 0
Girls tennis
Marriotts Ridge 5, Oakland Mills 0
Liberty 3, Westminster 2