Glenelg’s girls lacrosse certainly isn’t playing like a rebuilding team.
The No. 8 Gladiators graduated 14 seniors, but that didn’t stop them from beating the top two teams in Anne Arundel County, Broadneck and Severna Park, in the first eight days of the season.
Tuesday, the Gladiators topped No. 5 Broadneck, the defending Class 4A state champion, 11-8, by dominating the draw, playing a stingy zone defense and overcoming a stellar performance by Bruins goalie Megan Shields, who made 13 saves.
Last week, they beat No. 9 Severna Park, the defending Anne Arundel County champion, 13-10.
For the defending Howard County champs (3-0), the season could not have started better.
“This is a really huge win considering it’s the beginning of the season and we’ve had some bumpy starts,” said Glenelg midfielder Kamryn Henson, noting the turnover, “so I think this is something that’s really going to get our momentum up and keep us going. Having that tough of a schedule, especially this early, really teaches us a lot.”
Much of the host Gladiators’ advantage came from controlling 16 of 21 draws. Henson won six and Torres, who took the draw, won five.
“I’m going to give almost all credit to Kam,” Torres said. “She killed on the circle, got almost every ground ball fought her heart out. Sarah Johson too on my circle. I was placing some of them, but a lot of them, they both covered my butt and got the ball for us.”
Broadneck coach Katy Kelley said she went through many rotations trying to figure out how to win the draw.
“They’re very talented and their circle people were fast, so we were trying to roll in some speedy people,” Kelley said, “and I’ll say it wasn’t bouncing our way, not to take away from what they were doing, it just wasn’t, so I give them a lot of credit on the draw. They’re very good in that area.”
Early on, first-year starter Shields took much of that advantage away. The sophomore made three terrific saves in the first five minutes and helped the Bruins (2-1) get on the board first. Cayman Holmes polished off a transition goal finding a low hole in the near corner off a pass from Sienna Miller.
Henson then forced a turnover — one of 12 by the Bruins — that Ava Hernandez converted to tie.
The teams also tied at 2, 3, 5 and 6 before the Gladiators used a 4-1 second-half run to secure the victory.
Thanks in large part to winning the final three draws of the first half, Glenelg got goals from Lauren LaPointe and Henson in the final 2 minutes, 9 seconds to take a 6-5 lead into the break.
The Bruins tied it less than a minute into the second half on Miller’s transition goal sparked by another Shields save.
Then the Gladiators, who took 29 shots in the game, became more efficient, scoring four goals on their next nine shots — two fromTorres, who led Glenelg with five goals, and one each from LaPointe and Johnson.
“We just asked for more patience on offense, just a little more control,” Glenelg coach Alex Pagnotta said.
“We were kind of our own worst enemy in the first half. We took a lot of shots. Their goalie played lights out. We weren’t backing up the cage, so we were giving them the ball back. We weren’t in the right position there and then we were kind of forcing some passes too.”
The Bruins, who beat defending Class 3A state champion Marriotts Ridge last week, tried to rally in the final few minutes.
Lily Trout cut the lead to 11-8 with 2:49 to go and, with about a minute and a half left, Lilley Kelly fired just past a high corner. The Bruins backed it up, but the official said it was a pass and gave the ball to the Gladiators.
Glenelg goalie Emily Altshuler finished with six saves, but a strong defensive effort from the all-new unit of Madelyn Renehan, Ava Rivera, Catherine Taylor and Lara Hoeflich helped keep the Bruins attack off balance.
Pagnotta isn’t surprised that his team rebounded quickly from such a big turnover.
“I think it’s just culture and resilience, what the expectation is with this group,” Pagnotta said. “They’ve done a really good job of just consistently having good seniors who have gone through the program from a young age and continue to pass the torch regardless of the number that are coming back. The mentality is there, the work ethic is there, a plan is there and it’s just a matter of putting the puzzle pieces together and implementing on the field and them stepping up and making a name for themselves now.”
NO. 8 GLENELG 11, NO. 5 BROADNECK 8
Broadneck 5 3 — 8
Glenelg 6 5 — 11
GOALS: B—Lilly Kelley 2, Cayman Holmes 2, Lexi Dupcak, Lily Trout, Sienna Miller, Olivia Orso; G—Isa Torres 5, Lauren LaPointe 2, Sarah Johnson 2, Kamryn Henson, Ava Hernandez.
ASSISTS: B—Sienna Miller 2, Cayman Holmes, Lily Trout, Mary Moore; G—Maggie Metz 2, Isa Torres, Kamryn Henson, Sarah Johnson, Catherine Taylor.
SAVES: B—Megan Shields 13; G—Emily Altshuler 6.
