Southern girls lacrosse had seemingly done enough to preserve a closely-contested win. Five straight second-half goals let the Bulldogs overtake visiting Annapolis on Wednesday.
But in the waning five minutes, Annapolis proved it did not feel beaten.
Senior Catherine King snagged a trio of draw controls and handed junior Anna Colman the wheel. Relentless, the attack coiled around the net and struck over and over again, even absorbing two blocks that bowled her to the ground just to pop back up and earn some free positions.
Southern goalkeeper Claire Ogilvie tapped the bars of her cage and eyed the Panther. She collected so many of Annapolis’ shots already this game that, if not for her, the visitors would be potentially leading.
She couldn’t let that change this late in the game.
Only two of Colman’s ceaseless attempts snuck by Ogilvie. The junior tallied half of her 10 saves in the final quarter, and predominantly in the latter six minutes. Even in the last 13 seconds, when an Annapolis 8-meter goal would be more statement than game-changing, Ogilvie swiped that chance away and cemented the 9-7 victory.
“Most people go low on a free position,” she said. “Knowing that, I was prepared to go low.”
After graduating 10 seniors from the 2024 Class 1A state finalist squad, the Bulldogs (3-3) sprinting up and down the field are mostly freshmen, sophomores and juniors. Even so, there were few communication or passing mistakes from the hosts – even just six games into the spring.
“I think that’s just from practicing together every day,” Ogilvie said, “making sure we’re working together, communicating what we see and when there’s mistakes, acknowledging them so we can fix it.”
For a solid half, no Southern player could take a step without a Panther buzzing in their ear.
Two first-quarter goals by the Bulldogs were instantly answered. An effort by sophomore Mollie Schiavone to push Southern up by a goal in the second quarter was quashed by Annapolis senior Brooklyn Ricker 28 seconds later.
Ogilvie swallowed two more Panther shots and her defense forced a few wide. But Annapolis, led by King, would not stop. She flipped the lead and Colman backed it up. By halftime, the Panthers led 5-4. When Southern huddled together to game-plan a solution, coach Cortney Yeatman reminded them of Tuesday’s walkthroughs.
“Our main message was ‘keep composure,’” Yeatman said. “It was a lot of back and forth, running up and down. Jus, ‘be there for each other.’”
Sophomore midfielder Brooke Parks scored to tie the game in the first two minutes of the second half, but the Bulldogs couldn’t seem to catch the Panthers off guard again for a while – even two players up, twice.
Annapolis’ offense and defense tag-teamed outlasting the overlapping penalties, batting Southern back until officials freed their teammates.
Ironically, it was at full strength that Southern recalled its own.
The Bulldogs, led by Cecelia Rock (three goals) snapped up nearly every draw control of the third frame. While Annapolis keeper Sadie Steffens smothered shots and the Panthers defense scooped a handful of turnovers, Southern kept regenerating its chances.
It was Parks again who found her way in. She whirled from behind the net and snapped a downward goal. By the time Rock, Ellie Mudd and Haylie Fleming were through, Southern had carved out a 9-5 advantage with just under seven minutes to play. Between
“They played good defense on us, but we weren’t discouraged,” Yeatman said. “We do our best to take advantage of every opportunity, and while we might’ve finished some not so great shots, the fact we were able to score all of our goals while even was really good for us.”
ANNAPOLIS – 2 3 0 2 – 7
SOUTHERN – 2 2 2 3 – 9
GOALS – AN: Anna Colman 3, Catherine King 2, Audrey Skinner 1, Brooklyn Ricker 1; SO: Cecelia Rock 3, Mollie Schiavone 2, Brooke Parks 2, Ellie Mudd 1, Haylie Fleming 1
ASSISTS – AN: Anna Colman 1, Erin Bower 1; SO: Mollie Schiavone 2, Ashtyn Huggins 1
SAVES – AN: Sadie Steffens 4; SO: Claire Ogilvie 10
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