It took just 49 seconds for third-seeded John Carroll field hockey to take a lead in its IAAM B Conference championship clash with top-seeded Severn on Sunday at Stevenson University. But it took several highly stressful minutes to close out the team’s first league crown since the 2022 campaign, with a 1-0 victory.
Patriots junior defender Lily Welling notched the game-winning goal at the 14:11 mark of the first quarter with a blistering strike on the first penalty corner of the match. Her punishing shot deflected off Severn goalkeeper Caroline Davis and into the goal to equal John Carroll’s offensive output in two regular-season losses to the Admirals (11-2-3).
“We used a lot of grit, a lot of resilience,” said Patriots coach Amy Plotts, whose squad bested the IAAM B’s top two seeds to capture the program’s seventh overall league championship. “We watched a lot of film from last year and knew that we could win with stamina and consistency, and we pulled it out. (They are) a good group of girls.”
Welling nearly struck again in the final seconds of the first quarter on another penalty corner, but her shot was deflected and eventually clanged off the crossbar. That would be John Carroll’s last quality scoring attack as the Admirals dominated possession the rest of the contest but could not find the back of the cage despite producing 14 penalty corners to their opponent’s three the rest of the way.
“I think we came out really intense,” Welling said. “We knew we had to get it done at the beginning of the game … and we pulled off the corner. It was amazing. I think at the end of the first quarter, I felt like it should already be halftime. It felt like the longest game of my life. We were really controlled and did a really nice job.”
After what was more of a back-and-forth first quarter, Severn began to assert its will in terms of possession in the second quarter, producing three penalty corners, but no clear chances at the cage. John Carroll (8-6-2) manufactured a handful of counterattacks, but they also proved fruitless.
Severn dominated the second half, producing 11 penalty corners to two for the Patriots, but the John Carroll defense of Welling, Jade Thames and Sarah Muneses, among others, afforded few quality scoring opportunities to the Admirals. The few chances Severn did create were shut down by Patriots goalkeeper Josie Bianco, who stopped two point-blank attempts to start the fourth quarter and one more minutes later to preserve the team’s third shutout of the postseason.
“It’s super frustrating,” said Severn coach Giovani Gordon on his team’s inability to score despite possessing the ball deep inside John Carroll’s half of the field for almost all of the second half. “I thought we played well. I think the first 40 seconds of the game, we weren’t focused. I don’t think this game defines us. I still think we proved that we’re the best team in the league. I don’t think this 1-0 (result) defines who we are.”
Roland Park 6, Glenelg Country 2
Roland Park started championship Sunday with a 6-2 victory against top-seeded Glenelg Country (11-3), behind a fast start that saw the second-seeded Reds take a commanding 3-0 lead that they never relinquished for the rest of the IAAM C final. Alexis Russell, Caroline Jackson and Maddy Frieman each produced two goals for Roland Park (12-6).
“I thought going into the postseason, the championship energy was really palpable for the whole group,” Reds coach Elizabeth Blaum said. “A lot of good leadership and a lot of good buying in all the way through kind of made it fun to keep building on it all the way through. “The first quarter isn’t always our vibe, but we came out and scored three in the first quarter, so I think this crew knows they belong here.”
Have a news tip? Contact Anthony Maluso at amaluso@baltsun.com, 567-230-6024, x.com/TonySunSports and instagram.com/TonySunSports.