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.
The standout play of Spalding’s sophomore goalie, Ella Davis (12 saves), also kept McDonogh from running away.
“She’s extremely athletic and can play outside the cage,” Shea said. “Sometimes we make her job tough, but she’s done a real nice job.”
On a day when McDonogh figured out a way to improve its start, the Eagles next plan to spend time focusing on improving their finish.
“I think we need to focus on finishing, because every goalie in this conference is outstanding,” Nicotra said. “We need to pay a little more attention to our shooting, for sure.”
McDonogh 12, Archbishop Spalding 7
Goals: AS — Greene 2, Collins 2, Wrenn 2, Cavanaugh; M — Levy 4, Trahan 2, Schaller 2, Lawson, Pinkin, Rippin, Green. Assists: AS — Cavanaugh 2, Greene; M — Levy, Rippin. Saves: AS — Davis 12; M — Odonovan 4. Half: McDonogh, 6-2.