Battle-Tested Falcons Ready To Roll Into Girls Lacrosse Postseason

A trio of hard-fought victories over private schools, interspersed with two lengthy overtime victories over their nearest public-school rivals, has the Severna Park girls lacrosse team sitting pretty heading into the stretch run.

The Falcons beat rival Archbishop Spalding 10-6 on April 7, following that up with an 8-7 victory over Broadneck when senior Payton Jeffers netted in the third overtime period.

“It was cold, it was miserable, but I just remember telling the team that this is possibly our last game against Broadneck, and I really didn’t want to lose it,” Jeffers said. “I just saw some space and attacked the goal.”

After that, Severna Park won 12-7 at Mount de Sales and then nipped St. Mary’s 7-6 in a game that Falcons head coach Annie Houghton said the girls “really wanted.”

At the end of that tough five-game stretch, Severna Park beat South River 5-4 in double overtime, on Bella Van Gieson’s second goal of the game.

It was Severna Park’s only goal after halftime, and South River only netted once after the break as well. Despite the game settling into a defensive struggle, highlighted by sophomore Lucy Davis saving a shot off the shaft of her stick and then onto the pipe, the players leaned on their experience in tight games and waited for the right opportunity.

“It’s definitely stressful, but after each moment we’re letting ourselves just breathe and go to the next play. We’ve been in so many close games and overtimes that we know what to expect and it helps us stay calm,” said Van Gieson, who also netted an overtime winner last year against Broadneck. “Offensively, it wasn’t quite clicking for us, but we were working hard on our plays, and we managed to get one at the end.”

The play in question unfolded when Van Gieson and Maria Bragg ran the lacrosse equivalent of basketball’s pick-and-roll. Van Gieson laid the ball off to Bragg as they crossed paths, Bragg stood poised and Van Gieson took the space Bragg had just vacated. No South River defender went with her, and she took two steps and fired past the goalie to end the game.

Bragg also scored and had two disallowed, while Erin Hussey netted the other two in the win.

The Falcons’ only blemish came in a 15-5 setback against perennial 2A power Manchester Valley during spring break, a game which counts on the Falcons’ season record but is exempted from playoff implications — Maryland Public Secondary Schools Athletic Association rules allow a team to schedule 12 “normal” games that count toward playoff seeding and one two-game “play-day” that doesn’t.

But even in the loss, the team learned something that can be used going forward.

“We had lots of chances, and our defense is playing about as great as you can,” Houghton said. “If you can hold opponents to around five or six like we’ve been doing, you’ve got a good chance to win. Offensively, we’re disciplined, but we’re still looking for a little more consistency – sometimes it’s just a little off, but it’s close.”

The Falcons beat Severn Run 23-1 on April 25. At 11-1 (10-0 for seeding), Severna Park returned to action against Southern on April 29 and Annapolis on May 2. Then the focus moves to a likely berth in the county championship May 5, and the top seed for regionals starting May 7.