Broadneck girls and boys rout Crofton
This early in the season, Broadneck girls lacrosse will use any opportunity to improve — even in a certain blowout.
But as the Bruins kicked off their 17-2 rout of Crofton in the teams’ first-ever meeting Friday night, they found little things to work on: defending, causing turnovers, making the extra pass.
“We try to set some goals within the game to keep them in line in terms of staying disciplined,” coach Katy Kelley said.
With the win, the Bruins remain undefeated; they haven’t lost a game in 1,072 days. A lot of that hearkens to the Bruins’ depth, which it boasted last year and retained this year, too. That depth played a role Friday as well, collecting three goals and getting much-needed experience early in the spring.
“One of the starters’ goals is to get everyone on that field, so it keeps them motivated,” Kelley said. “It was great to see our [second-half ] goalie, Caitlin Alperstein, go out and make some great saves. Some freshman attackers scoring and assisting. Cause you got to build for what’s next, right? So it was good.”
Bad fortune hit Crofton before Friday’s first draw even tipped as one its best players, Kylie Corcoran, suffered an ankle injury in practice. It made a huge difference in the game, Kelley said.
The Bruins unleashed five straight goals in 10 minutes, the first two flying off Julia Sokolowski’s and Lilly Kelley’s sticks before the first minute had passed.
It would be six goals before Crofton finally took its first true stab at the Bruins’ net — a penalty shot by Katie Bell. That one she missed, but she recollected the ball and launched, netting the Cardinals’ first score.
That goal that would be neutralized within seconds by a swift strike by Lily Trout.
This was a positive sign for the
Bruins; against Arundel one week ago, Broadneck struggled to shake the Wildcats off early.
“It was definitely helpful in terms of starting off strong,” Lilly Kelley said, “because that’s something we struggled with.”
Many of the Bruins’ goals came from Crofton errors — shooting space, offsides, stepping over the wrong line.
And they just continued to pile up before even the first half let out. Sienna Miller surged off the bench to net the 11th Broadneck goal, securing a running clock with three minutes of the first half remaining.
Bell’s second goal — two-thirds of the way through the second half — would find itself alone surrounded by Broadneck scores.
“It really was a pleasure to play them for the first time. The coaching staff seems awesome,” Katy Kelley said. “I think they’re gonna do great things in the future.”
The Broadneck boys didn’t run away quite as quickly as the girls, but once they hit their momentum, they slammed their foot on the gas en route to their 19-2 victory.
Most of Broadneck’s faceoff victories became goals. Led by midfielders Tyler Hicks (four goals) and Kyle Pierce, the Bruins seemed to challenge themselves on how quickly they could run from faceoff X to the goal and score. Sometimes, it was a few minutes, sometimes 30 seconds or less. Sophomore Graham Hartman (16-for-18) pulled a majority of the possessions for Broadneck, sparking the crescendo.
“It just pushes our teammates to go harder and harder and harder,” Hicks said, “and just make the next play.”
That’s how Broadneck piled up 11 goals in the first quarter.
The backups streamed onto the field quickly, posting as many goals as their starting counterparts. The question soon became which Bruin wouldn’t score. Every goal of the second quarter came from new sticks, as Broadneck all but cemented its victory with a 14-0 lead.
Like the girls, getting the chance to deploy the backups will benefit the Bruins down the line. Friday was really the first opportunity.
“Our second half focus today was to keep our foot on the gas,” Broadneck coach Jeff McGuire said. “I was really impressed with how we pushed transition, as that was something we were working on as well. Giving everybody some love really keeps these guys tight, disciplined and not just going for dunks.”
But Crofton would not go quietly into that good night.
Cardinals midfielder Matt Grant escaped Broadneck sticks through the clear and whipped a shot to the back of the net for Crofton’s first goal. After Bruins attack Jackson Shaw (three goals) padded the score twice, Grant struck again just before the end of the third.
But Broadneck continued to show how much it had grown in just a week. Leaning into speed on the transition, more and more goals streamed from long-pole and defensive midfielders and, as McGuire said, “everybody in between.”
“The level we’re going right now is really good,” Hicks said, “and we’re only going to go up from here.” GIRLS GOALS
BN: Lilly Kelley 4; Mary Moore 2; Lily Trout 2; Julia Sokolowski 2; Olivia Orso 2; Sienna Miller 2; Reagan Baldwin 1; Sam Lavorini 1; Savannah xxx 1
CR: Katie Bell: 2
BOYS GOALS
BN: Tyler Hicks 4; Jackson Shaw 3; Kyle Pierce 2; Tyler Gilbert 1; Ryan Salazar 1; Nick White 1; Eli Harris 1; Jake Schroll, 1; Davis Fisher, 1; Carter Orders 1; Brooks Chatlos 1; Jake Chambers 1; Tanner Boone 1
CR: Matt Grant 2