Miley Cyrus’ “Party in the USA” blasted while disaster unfolded before Severna Park’s eyes.
In the first few minutes of the fourth quarter, the Falcons girls lacrosse team rolled out a deeply lopsided flattening — a continuation of its play in the first half and a response to Broadneck’s brief comeback in the third quarter.
But in the span of just three minutes, the Bruins stomped Severna Park’s mountain to a mole hill, cutting an eight-goal lead to four. Every draw control suddenly went Broadneck’s what, every shot passing Falcons goalkeeper Allison Schiavone as if she hadn’t deftly stopped exactly half of Broadneck’s attempts all night long.
All Severna Park senior midfielder Francesca Dunoyer could think was to keep calm.
“They’re a very good team, and we know that,” she said. “But when we play our game, we’re just so confident in each other.”
The Falcons deployed their lessons from their last meeting with their rivals, both moving swiftly on offense and solidifying as a defense to beat Broadneck, 13-9, and claim the county championship for the third year in a row and 14th since 2000.
“Erin [Hussey] and Maria [Bragg] killed it on the draw,” Dunoyer said. “Attackers weren’t forcing it. We were working as a unit.”
The last time the two sides met, the Falcons lost reigning Capital Gazette Player of the Year Alyssa Gore-Chung and she hasn’t been back since.
Her absence wasn’t a black hole to the Falcons, but rather fertilizer for other scorers to sprout. Teammates swap turns leading scoring, quarter to quarter and game to game.
“Losing Alyssa was scary; she’s an amazing player with big shoes to fill. But with her being gone, we just learned to adapt,” Dunoyer said. “And we could do that together.”
Even offense flowed to even defense. On Monday, the Falcons transitioned smoothly and remained aggressive in the ride, manipulating Broadneck’s attacks and slowing the pace of the game down to the point that Broadneck did not score for 23 minutes.
“[Bruins] Lily Trout, Olivia Orso come in at opportune times and Broadneck’s a quick-stick kind of team,” Falcons coach Annie Houghton said. “So we were ready and practiced that, making sure we were marking tight on the ball.”
And all of them learned to target Broadneck defender Nya Williams.
“We knew she clears the ball a lot, so we were anticipating that. If we needed to jump on her and deny that free run up the field, we were gonna do that,” Houghton said.
Most games, the majority of the goals the Falcons score only happen after receiving a feed from a teammate. But of the 13 goals Severna Park hit on Monday, only Dunoyer assisted on one. Bruins goalkeeper Molly Robison and her watchful eye didn’t give them that kind of time.
“I feel like the girls saw the open lanes and took it. There was one phenomenal shot Maria [Bragg] took and that goalie got it,” Houghton said. “Credit to her, she came up with some big ones for them today.”
After an 3-3 first quarter, the Falcons broke open for four-straight goals and a 7-3 lead at halftime that it nursed through 10 minutes of the third quarter.
Frankly, Broadneck sophomore Nora Lopes’ goal shouldn’t have ended the drought from the angle it took. The ball zipped straight down. It should’ve ricocheted well out, maybe even been a turnover. Instead, it flicked up and into the strings before Schiavone (three saves) could flinch.
The cacophony of sideline Bruins’ lacrosse sticks smacking metal benches soundtracked Broadneck’s rally. After Lopes, Lily Trout padded the scoreboard with a top-shelf rocket just before the end of the third, 8-5.
But just as swiftly as Broadneck spoke up, the Falcons silenced it again.
Hussey and Dunoyer levied draw controls to goals within 40 seconds of one another to wipe Broadneck’s impact away, and Bragg followed up a minute later. The trio traded tallies; a victory transformed quickly into a flattening, 13-5.
And then, the Broadneck defense forced a turnover and the goals rolled in. Orso, Sienna Miller and Lopes mirrored the Falcons in their efficiency.
But there simply wasn’t enough time. Quick as Broadneck moved, the Falcons defense still bogged their steps.
“We still trusted each other and our defense. We weren’t worried,” Dunoyer said.
Severna Park — 3 4 1 5 — 13
Broadneck — 3 0 2 4 — 9
Goals: SP — Bragg 3, Dunoyer 3, Hussey 3, Evans 2, Van Gieson 1, Jeffers 1; BN — Trout 3, Miller 2, Holmes 1, Lopes 1, Orso 1. Assists: SP — Dunoyer 1; BN — Holmes 2, Facciponti 1.