Girls lacrosse
Eagles keep streak soaring with easy win
One game after being tested by Garrison Forest, McDonogh bounces back
Every year, McDonogh’s No. 1 girls lacrosse team needs a little time to shape its new identity.
That’s usually honed on a spring break trip to Florida and last week, the Eagles rolled over top teams from Florida, Georgia and Canada by at least 14 goals before heading home to start their Interscholastic Athletic Association of Maryland A Conference schedule.
The Eagles have won eight straight A?Conference championships, but they faced all they could handle Tuesday against Garrison Forest in a game that was within one goal with 11 minutes left before the Eagles pulled out a 13-11 victory. That win went a long way toward getting them ready to face No. 10 Roland Park on Thursday in a rematch of last year’s A Conference final.
Against the Reds, McDonogh won 18 of 21 draws, took a 5-0 lead in less than nine minutes and cruised to a 17-2 victory for its 160th consecutive win.
“Obviously today was a quick bounce-back from Tuesday,” senior midfielder Andie Aldave said after the game. “Coming from Vero [Beach, Fla.], we had the sun, winning games by 16 or 17, and winning all draws, and I think we realized, ‘Hey, we’re not going to win every draw and we’re not going to get every possession.’ That was kind of a wake-up call for us. Welcome back to Maryland. Everyone knows how to play lacrosse. I also think it was a good learning experience, especially for the younger kids, how every team does want to beat us and how we’ve got to get up for every single game.”
The Eagles faced a hot goalie in Garrison Forest freshman Lexi Coldiron, who made 14 saves Tuesday, and they saw another one in Roland Park sophomore Amber Bustard, who finished with 13 saves. However, McDonogh (5-0, 1-0 A Conference) had the ball far too much for the Reds (0-1) to counter.
When the Reds did take possession, they struggled with a smothering Eagles defense, led by seniors Margaret Donovan and Nicole Alecce with strong play also from junior Hannah Rothe, sophomore Julia Dorsey, freshman Ava Class and junior goalie Julia Cooper, who made seven saves.
The Eagles, who are No. 1 in every national poll, have not lost since April 2009 against Canandaigua (N.Y.). The last local team to beat them was John Carroll in the 2008 A Conference championship.
The Reds haven’t beaten McDonogh since 2004, but they have come close a few times. They’ve met McDonogh in the A Conference final the past three years, falling 15-7 last May.
“We know Roland Park as a really good opponent,” Aldave said, “and we knew we had to bounce back from that game against Garrison Forest. We had a tough practice. Coach Chris [Robinson] rode us hard but for good reason.”
The Reds had opportunities to come back on McDonogh. Marsie Salvatori scored their first goal when it clipped off the top of Cooper’s stick and dropped behind her into the goal. But shortly after that, the Reds picked up three yellow cards in three minutes.
With Roland Park two players down, Rachel Anderson scored on a free position with 9:35 left to boost the lead to 6-1. Two minutes later, Kiki Shaw fed Sierra Cockerille to cut the lead back to four, but McDonogh’s Megan Mix added a goal to give the Eagles a 7-2 halftime lead.
In the second half, the Eagles limited Roland Park’s chances to continue rolling.
Roland Park coach Kim McNemar said her team will continue to get better.
“We just weren’t executing. They do the same defense and we had a game plan and it just wasn’t executed,” McNemar said. “I do feel like Amber can only do so much and you can only play so much defense and when it’s on your offensive end, you’ve got to be able to execute.”
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