Bruin Girls Back In County Lacrosse Title Game

Sitting at 5-4 midway through the season is not something that many state championship-caliber teams would accept.

But when you’re a five-time reigning state champion, everyone wants to give you their best shot and quality programs from around the region are calling to get on your schedule, it comes with the territory.

Broadneck’s girls lacrosse team found themselves in that familiar near-.500 record territory after nine games, but they didn’t panic. After all, that slate included four reigning state champions, two runners-up, and one of the top private school teams in the country.

Instead, they took the lessons from big wins over Marriotts Ridge, South Carroll and Cape Henlopen, and from losses against Manchester Valley, Glenelg, Severna Park and St. Mary’s, and used those to tailor the back end of their schedule in a way they could build momentum.

“That’s part of having that reputation, is that great teams want to play you,” said Broadneck coach Caitlin Gogoll. “We had to have a lot of those games earlier in the schedule than we would have liked because of the way the schedule fell, so we have spent the last couple of weeks working really intensely in training, putting them under pressure, so that the games hopefully feel easier for them (in comparison).”

In addition to the attacking trio of Ceci Facciponti, Avery Katzen and Nora Lopes, the Bruins have gotten contributions from all over the field as they navigated a challenging early schedule and ramped up the intensity as the season progressed.

Gogoll singled out multi-year starting goalie Molly Robison for elevating her game that much more, being involved with defensive interceptions, and using her athleticism to impact more than simply stopping shots, and sophomore midfielder Harper Frye for developing into a two-way threat that helps bridge defense and attack.

After losing to Manchester Valley 9-6, beating Crofton 16-4, and falling to St. Mary’s 10-6 and Severna Park 7-6 to fall to 5-4, Broadneck closed the regular season on a five-game win streak. They beat Southern 18-4, Arundel 14-1, Annapolis 19-3, North County 20-3 and Chesapeake 16-7, but lost to Severna Park 12-5 in the county championship on May 1.

Next, it’s off to the region playoffs, where the Bruins are the top seed in the 4A East 1 bracket. North County, Glen Burnie, Annapolis and Meade are the teams standing in their way of returning to the state playoffs.