Facing the biggest shot of her life in Sunday’s Interscholastic Athletic Association of Maryland A Conference championship game, Bryn Mawr sophomore Cate Tortolani stepped forward to address the yellow field hockey ball placed 7 yards in front of Spalding’s goal.

And then she smiled.

“I have a lot of confidence in [penalty] strokes,” Tortolani said, “so I smiled at the goalie.”

Moments later, that smile turned into utter jubilation, as Tortolani’s penalty stroke snuck into the lower left corner of the cage with 55.2 seconds left in sudden-death overtime, giving No. 2 Bryn Mawr a 4-3 win over top-ranked and previously unbeaten Spalding at Stevenson University.

The shot capped a wild back-and-forth affair in which both teams had numerous chances to take control, but it was Bryn Mawr that took best advantage by scoring on four set plays – a pair of penalty strokes by Tortolani and two penalty corners by senior Addie Polakoff.

“We wanted to play two-touch hockey, and we wanted to play hard, smart and together, and we did that,” Mawrtians first-year coach Carey Fetting-Smith said. “We’ve been training those specialty opportunities all season, but we’ve gone especially hard in the past couple weeks leading up to the tournament. Addie Polakoff, Cate Tortolani … you can’t expect any more from players. They are big-time players that rose to this opportunity.”

The win put the exclamation mark on a dream season for Bryn Mawr (15-2-1), which captured its first conference title since 2009 in its first trip to the finals since 2013. Spalding (17-1-1), which entered the day ranked No. 22 in the nation by MAX Field Hockey, had beaten Bryn Mawr 15 straight times dating to 2013, and seemingly had emotion on its side, with 26-year head coach Leslee Brady (360-91-24) set to retire after the game.

“We’re very proud of the effort they gave. We’re proud of the journey we had this season. We went undefeated until today,” Brady said. “That journey and everything that we’ve accomplished this season, the closeness of this team … that will be our victory.”

On the field, however, the day belonged to Bryn Mawr.

Polakoff scored twice on nearly identical plays, taking the corner insert from junior Anna Powell and firing rocket shots into the cage from the top of the circle.

“Our corner execution has gotten so good,” Polakoff said. “We practice corners every single day. Our corner execution is so high, so I always look to draw those corners on offense.”

But the Cavaliers, making their fifth straight trip to the conference finals, also showed plenty of firepower, taking a 2-1 lead when senior Jilly Lawn poked in a feed that rolled to her through a crowd on a penalty corner to end the first quarter and another goal off a corner by senior Carys Donahoe from sophomore Paige Sanborn with a handful of minutes left before halftime.

Spalding, seeking its first A Conference title since 2021 after falling in the finals to Garrison Forest each of the past two years, trailed 3-2 midway through the fourth before senior Calia Eckenrode deflected in Lawn’s feed with just under six minutes left in regulation, sending the game to a 10-minute 7 v. 7 overtime.

There, Spalding had the best chances early, but couldn’t get past athletic junior goalie Zoe Herkalo (16 saves) before Tortolani earned her second penalty stroke by drawing a foul on a breakaway chance within the shooting circle.

“We had tons of [opportunities] in that 7 v. 7. We just couldn’t punch one in,” Brady said. “It’s a shame that it comes down to a last call and a stroke. Once they called the stroke, it pretty much was over.”

Bryn Mawr had been a good team in recent years, but could never quite match the talent of conference heavyweights Spalding and Garrison Forest, who prior to this year had met in the championship game every season since 2019.

To make it to the finals, the Mawrtians beat Garrison twice in a week, including a shootout victory in the semifinals.

And Sunday’s win was their first against Spalding since Oct. 16, 2012.

St. Mary’s rallies for B crown: Before St. Mary’s field hockey players hoisted their second Interscholastic Athletic Association of Maryland B Conference trophy in two years via a 2-1 victory, they had to wander into the woods.

As the C Conference championship teams finished up their warmups — 2 1/2 hours before the Saints’ competition time — St. Mary’s shuffled into Stevenson University’s Mustang Stadium and disappeared.

“Hair,” was all Saints coach Karen Zarchin would say. “Takes forever.”

About an hour later, the Saints filed out of the school’s athletic facilities and marched in a line toward a wooden bridge at the edge of the athletic property and vanished again within the trees. They reflected on everything they’d felt grateful for this season, and in each other.

“The second time [title] is harder. It’s stressful,” sophomore Ava Boland (one goal) said. “But in the end, it was pure happiness.”

St. Mary’s swept aside every B Conference team it faced in 2024, just as it did in 2023. Whereas some of its contests were a bit closer last fall, the Saints (13-4-1, 11-0 conference) shut out every league opponent but one — McDonogh, on Oct. 9. Still, creeping in the back of their minds as they rode the bus from Annapolis to Owings Mills was the suspicion that John Carroll (12-6-1) would not allow another clean sheet, as they had on Sept. 18 (3-0) and Oct. 16 (2-0).

The Patriots proved them right.

Seven minutes into the third quarter, John Carroll senior Annie Minoglio slipped past the St. Mary’s defense from the right side of the cage and scored.

St. Mary’s could’ve lost their composure. But it was a pretty good thing the Saints spent all that time in the woods.

The Saints peppered close calls upon John Carroll’s doorstep, including a shot from senior Blair Bernard that she plucked off Patriots goalkeeper Josie Bianco’s kneepads.

The forward sniped into open space and would’ve hit the back of the cage had John Carroll midfielder Savannah Kishis not flung herself in to pick it.

On the fifth St. Mary’s corner of the fourth quarter, Saints junior Addy Drain loaded a good ball on her stick just for a Patriot to tackle her. Drain’s ball went skittering left, a potential free-for-all, had Saints junior Abigail Thompson not leapt forward.

John Carroll had no time to react before Thompson fired and celebrated her go-ahead goal with her teammates.

— Katherine Fominykh

Park cruises to C title: Every time Park field hockey met Indian Creek this fall, the Bruins aimed to improve themselves.

The first time, on Oct. 7, Park scored only two goals past Eagles goalkeeper Izzy Sussman and one via penalty stroke. On Oct. 22, the Bruins allowed Indian Creek to pin a goal on them but managed three of their own.

This time, the Bruins completely shut down the Eagles, 4-0, to lift their second straight — and second ever — Interscholastic Athletic Association of Maryland C Conference plaque at Stevenson University’s Mustang Stadium on Sunday.

That’s a fact Park players never imagined possible.

— Katherine Fominykh