Looking to cut off a pass late in the third quarter of a close game against archrival St. Paul’s, McDonogh goalie Reagan O’Donovan quickly scrambled out of the box.

When the Gators faked and instead shot into an otherwise unprotected net, however, the Syracuse-bound junior got back the only way she knew how — by simply taking flight.

O’Donovan’s head-first diving save off a point-blank shot not only helped preserve host McDonogh’s slim lead, but served as a spark for the rest of the team, as the top-ranked Eagles held No. 4 St. Paul’s — the defending Interscholastic Athletic Association of Maryland A conference champion — to one goal over the final 19:26 to earn a 9-5 win in a rematch of last year’s final.

“I’m a very active goalie, so I popped out of the goal thinking that she was going to pass it low to try and pick off that pass,” O’Donovan said. “Then I saw her immediately turn her whole body and I said, ‘Oh shoot,’ and I literally just ran then just dove right in. It was just a really big momentum-changer for the whole team.”

Sophomore Parker Kitchel and senior Payton Magday each scored three goals for McDonogh (8-1 overall, 5-0 IAAM A), as the nation’s consensus No. 3 team broke open a one-goal game with three unanswered goals in the final 5:40.

“It just completely motivates us and gives us that push that we have to fight back for her,” Kitchel said of O’Donovan’s acrobatics. “The whole defense just played amazing, and that gave us the momentum to win.”

The Eagles’ defensive unit — led by senior McKenzie Brown, juniors Kit Laake, Ava Sesay and Mia Knysh and freshman Lexi Rosen — forced poor shots and turnovers all day, holding St. Paul’s (6-3, 3-3), ranked No. 9 nationally by Inside Lacrosse and No. 6 by USA Lacrosse, to 5-for-20 shooting.

“That [defensive] unit is the veteran part of our team, and they give the offense so many opportunities for possession,” McDonogh coach Megan Nicotra said. “They really earn the ball back for us.”

Despite a pair of goals from senior Riley Vasile, St. Paul’s never got its offense in gear. It’s been a recurring problem for the Gators, who earlier this season dropped one-goal games to Archbishop Spalding and St. Mary’s, and needed overtime to get past Notre Dame Prep.

“We can’t score. We’re struggling this season to score, and that’s the difference in Spalding, St. Mary’s and McDonogh,” said St. Paul’s coach Mary Gagnon. “We’re playing great defense and we battled back on the draw, but we had so many opportunities. Sure I give Reagan credit for a great save there, but we have experience on the offense and we have to bury the ball. You can’t win in this league scoring five goals.”

Though the Gators twice in the second half forced turnovers on shot-clock violations, they failed to capitalize on several golden scoring chances, including on a pair of fourth-quarter free positions stuffed by O’Donovan.

“I don’t know if it’s a little bit psychological now,” Gagnon said. “We haven’t been shooting well and now it’s a little mental thing. We’re struggling to finish. The offense is creating good opportunities, but we’re not finishing. … When you’re shooting like that, it’s hard to win. But the good news is that defensively we’re there, [and] we’re right there with creating opportunities. [When] people count us out, we like that.”

For McDonogh, the goal is clear — recapture the A Conference championship next month at USA Lacrosse headquarters in Sparks.

“We’ve talked a lot about this being a journey, with the goal being [the finals on] May 9,” Nicotra said. “We need to improve everyday upon what we’ve done the day before. If we do that, we’ll be peaking at the right time.”

McDonogh 9, St. Paul’s 5

Goals: SP — Vasile 2, O’Day, Hoskins, Lim; M — Kitchel 3, Magday 3, Cooke, Fossati, Hammonds-Rippin. Assists: SP — Tedesco; M — Kitchel, Laake. Saves: SP — Keenan 4; M — O’Donovan 7. Half: McDonogh, 4-3

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