Broadneck completes a perfect season with a 4A field hockey state title

Broadneck’s No. 1 field hockey team turned 20 into their lucky number this fall.

The Bruins finished off a 20-0 season Saturday with their first state championship in 20 years, a 2-0 victory over Winston Churchill in the Class 4A final at Stevenson University.

Mady Quigley and Maya Everett scored the goals while the defense held the Bulldogs, the Montgomery County champions, to just one shot. The Bulldogs (17-1) had allowed only two goals all season until they ran into the Bruins, who are ranked No. 25 nationally by MAX Field Hockey.

Broadneck coach Shannon Hanratty finally won the state title that eluded her as a Bruins player.

“It still feels so surreal. I was actually speechless after the game and I’m never speechless,” Hanratty said with a laugh. “These kids work so hard and they’re such a good group. They’re so special. They work so hard for each other. They trust each other. They play so well together. Everybody I’ve talked to is so impressed with this team the same way we are. This team is just incredible.”

All season, the Bruins have relied on a combination of skill and speed that no team managed to counter as they won every game by at least two goals and outscored the opposition, 110-11.

“We knew that one of their slogans this season was ‘All gas, no brakes,’” Churchill coach Cay Miller said, “and so our strategy was to be a speed bump and slow them down and try to play our game rather than react to their game. They’re really talented, really fit, really skilled players and Broadneck brought their A game,” Miller said.

The Anne Arundel County champion Bruins didn’t start off as quickly as they have most of the season, slowed early by a combination of Churchill’s defense and state championship nerves.

“It was really scary,” Bruins forward Arden Hunteman said, “because this year, we didn’t know what it felt like to lose. There’s a lot on the line when you do so well all season. You want to execute. You want to punch it in. We all played for each other. It was amazing.”

Just over four minutes into the game, the Bruins took two shots off a penalty corner, but Churchill goalie Leila Burki, who finished with six saves, stopped both.

On their third penalty corner, Maya Everett dodged two players at the top of the circle and sent a short pass to her sister Faith Everett on the left side. Faith Everett shot just past the diving Burki toward the right post where Quigley slipped it into the cage.

“It was all teamwork,” Quigley said, “because Faith passed it and I just pretty much finished it. You’ve just got to go for it and go all the way in.”

Neither team managed a shot in the third quarter, but the Bruins stepped on the gas in the fourth. Maya Everett added an insurance goal off a pass from Lexi Dupcak with 11:07.

“I think that Churchill’s defense did such a good job passing in the circle and kind of being there,” said Bruins coach Shannon Hanratty. “Every time we got a break and we beat one, we had to go through another one and another one and so it took a lot of resiliency today, a lot of wanting to get the next thing through or things that might have usually worked, we needed a second round of it and our kids didn’t back down.”

On defense the Bruins had another exceptionally strong performance from Zoe Bjelac, Emily Ernst and Safiya Stimely as well as defensive midfielders Quigley and Chloe Page.

The Bruins, who dethroned defending champion Severna Park in the state quarterfinals, finished the season with 11 wins over VNS/Baltimore Banner Top 11 teams.

In winning the program’s second state championship, the Bruins seniors put the finishing touch on something that started years ago, long before Hanratty took over the program their freshman year.

“We’ve been playing (club hockey) together for so long and we finally did it,” Hunteman said. “A lot of these girls, we’ve played for almost like a decade together and to finally win it, it’s amazing. And Broadneck normally doesn’t get this far, so it’s just like wow.”

For Maya Everett, who is headed to Maryland, winning the state title was sweet, but finishing her high school career was bittersweet.

“Of course, it’s sentimental because it’s my last year and … the senior class was [Hanratty’s] first class at Broadneck, so it just means a little bit more for all of us. It’s really exciting,” she said.

While the Bruins will graduate nine seniors, many starters return with hopes for another title run next fall.

“It’s going to be so sad,” Quigley said of losing her graduating teammates, “but we’re going to keep the legacy going. We’e going to states again and do all that hard work. ‘All gas, no brakes’ all the way through.”

CLASS 4A STATE FIELD HOCKEY CHAMPIONSHIP

(at Stevenson University)

NO. 1 BROADNECK 2, WINSTON CHURCHILL 0

B 1 0 1 0 — 2

C 0 0 0 0 — 0

GOALS: B—Mady Quigley, Maya Everett

ASSISTS: B—Faith Everett, Lexi Dupcak

SAVES: B—Mia Moody 0; C—Leila Burki 6

More From The Banner

The developer of Harborplace bought 128 rowhomes in East Baltimore

One Baltimore County developer is pouring big money into local politics

Larry Lucchino, visionary behind Camden Yards construction, dies at 78

Dundalk was a steel town. When the Key Bridge fell, so did its legacy.