Severna Park Girls Are Dominant On Defense In Win Over Bruins

If the old defense-wins-championships adage is true, then the Severna Park girls lacrosse team is looking like a serious contender.

One could hardly draw any other conclusion from the Falcons’ April 20 dismantling of rival Broadneck, in which host Severna Park blanketed the Bruins at every point on the field and marched forcefully to a 13-5 victory.

Hunter Chadwick racked up five goals and three assists, Cam Chew and Kailyn McCulloch had three goals each, Alex Miller had two scores, and Haley Betch had a goal and an assist in the victory — but it was the Falcon defense that dictated the outcome against the Bruins. Severna Park’s core defensive unit of Mallory Martel, Kate Bray, Sophie Grazioli and Kaila Stasuli — a senior, junior, sophomore and freshman, respectively — greeted their guests with 50 minutes of merciless harassment. Anchored by goalie Kelli Kazmarek, who made 10 saves, the Falcon defense was menacing, disruptive and all but impenetrable.

“This was the best I’ve seen my defense play all year, so it’s amazing to see that kind of turnaround for them,” said Falcon head coach Kaitlyn Hines. “I think it just came from communication. They really did everything as a unit and talked through everything, so they were able to pick up those cutters and those slides, really crash and play that good, team D.”

PHOTO GALLERY: Severna Park vs. Broadneck girls lacrosse, 4.26.18

Gameplay was even to start, with Broadneck getting two goals by Sammy Dupcak and one from Alexis Sullivan to match a pair of goals by Miller and one by McCulloch — the teams were tied 3-3 after nine minutes of play.

Then the Falcon defense came roaring to life, holding the Bruins scoreless over the next 21 minutes spanning the remainder of the first half and three minutes into the second half. McCulloch’s goal with four seconds remaining in the first half capped a run of six unanswered scores for the Falcons, who led 9-3 at the break.

Martel, a senior captain and a major offensive contributor for the Falcons over the past two seasons, has filled a need for Severna Park this spring by taking her abilities and experience to the defensive end of the field.

“Since we’re such a fast unit on defense this year — in the past we’ve had quick defenders, but every single one of our defenders is individually really fast — we’re working on not holding back and sagging on defense,” said Martel. “We’re really pressuring up and trying to challenge other teams and their strengths.”

With help on defense from Chew, Miller, Hailey Blachly and Rachel Spilker, the Falcons continued to be faster at every turn in the second half, blowing up almost every Broadneck action in settled seven-on-seven play by pressuring the ball and clogging passing lanes.

“We had been practicing all week matching those cutters and staying on their sticks,” said Kazmarek, also a senior. “We wanted to cut away those passes because we knew they like to cut, so that’s what we focused on the most, taking away those passes, and that’s exactly what we did.”

The result was effective, and Severna Park allowed Broadneck no rays of hope for a comeback throughout the second half en route to a 13-5 final score.

Dupcak finished with three goals for Broadneck, and Sullivan had two. The Bruins were naturally disappointed to turn in what they believe was a substandard effort against their rival, and head coach Katy Kelley kept her focus on the big picture.

“All season long, through all our ups and downs, our focus has been May,” said Kelley, whose squad fared better in a 13-10 loss to South River on April 27. Kelley would know: it was her Broadneck squad that avenged a 2016 regular-season defeat to Severna Park by upsetting the favored Falcons in that year’s region playoffs. “The journey, and what you learn from it, must never be taken for granted. Our focus is growth — of our game, of our character, of our confidence in self and each other. We must not doubt our capabilities, realize the opportunities, and rely on each other and the lessons learned as we head into the playoff season.”

Severna Park, by contrast, has come on strong after a slow start. The Falcons were 1-3 after losses to St. Mary’s, Good Counsel and Roland Park, and they were just 2-4 after an April 10 loss to Marriott’s Ridge. They’ve since won six straight through April 27, defeating Annapolis, Severn, Centennial, Broadneck, Arundel and Southern.

The team was disjointed and error-prone at South River’s home tournament to start the season, but they leveled out, according to Hines, by getting back to fundamentals.

“I told them at the start of the game, you’ve just got to do the basics and do the basics well. Just throwing, catching, ground balls, communication, that’s our game plan, and they executed perfectly. Doing the basics well allowed for other things to happen for us,” said Hines, who emphasized that the team’s offense continues to deepen. “In the beginning, we were really relying on one or two people to carry the weight for us, and now it’s really seemed to spread.”

With a spot in the county championship game against region favorite South River (11-1 through April 27) possible for May 8, and the usual intention to contend for the region and state, the Falcons think they’ve come a long way and are hitting their stride at a good time.

“We’ve really come together and gotten a lot closer,” said Kazmarek. “We were in a rough patch, and we were like, you know what, we’ve got to dig ourselves out of it and step up, and that’s what we did.”

Martel said the team has even changed its rallying cry to better fit its mentality.

“We changed our motto from ‘Together’ to ‘Be the Best,’” said Martel. “As the season goes on, we’re really believing that we are the best, and it’s paying off.”

PHOTO GALLERY: Severna Park vs. Broadneck girls lacrosse, 4.26.18