Despite County Loss, Bruins Field Hockey Primed For Another Run

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In the first half of Broadneck’s 4A East II region field hockey semifinal against Annapolis on October 24, Katelyn Kearns found herself in possession of the ball against three defenders.

No problem: she flicked the ball up to herself, popped it in the air a second time, then brought it down after running through the defenders. Out of nowhere, Broadneck had a four-on-two, from which the Bruins scored.

Suffice it to say, there was no hangover from the previous weekend’s county championship loss to Crofton.

Kearns scored one goal and added three assists, to go with a goal and an assist from Raleigh Kerst, as the Bruins cruised past Annapolis 7-0 to return to the region championship match for the sixth straight time.

“We definitely did a good job keeping our heads up, playing hard, and just keeping the intensity up,” Kearns said.

Asked about her bag of field hockey tricks, she added, “Just a lot of practice. My game’s a lot of speed, so I just get the ball on my stick and go as fast as I can. At practices, I kind of air dribble sometimes, and I guess that helps with things like that.”

Cate Imber, Grace Figueroa, Abbie Morris, Cayman Holmes and Charlotte Robertson also scored for the Bruins, while Faith Everett and Laurie O’Leary assisted.

Broadneck has balanced tough competitive matches with confidence-building ones, and it’s paid off thus far.

The Bruins completed their gauntlet of IAAM opposition, taking on the final two of the three A Conference championship contenders. They lost to Bryn Mawr 2-1 on October 4 and drew Garrison Forest 1-1 on October 9, to go with their draw against Archbishop Spalding earlier in the season.

In the county, it was largely cruise control. A pair of narrow wins over South River, 2-1 in the regular season and 2-0 in the county playoffs, bookended wins over Old Mill and Arundel by a combined 19-0.

But then came the county championship loss to Crofton, 2-1. Imber scored, and the Bruins had a penalty corner that extended play past the final horn, but they couldn’t convert.

Still, while the Bruins would naturally have preferred to win and bring another plaque back to Broadneck, they took a healthy dose of perspective: last season they beat Crofton twice and won the county championship, only to lose to the same Cardinals in the state semifinals.

If that counties-for-states trade happens again this season, the Bruins would take that every time. But they have to get there first.

“For anybody who’s fortunate enough to make it to that game, it’s a free game, because win or lose, it doesn’t affect your ability to make the playoffs. It’s a great tune-up game to see where you’re at,” said Broadneck coach Shannon Hanratty. “We also know that, up to today, the calendar was in marker because we were able to do it, but everything after this is penciled in until you earn it.”

The Bruins’ next act is to take the now-familiar bus ride to Leonardtown for the region championship. This is the fourth straight year they’ll travel south, meaning that it’s all the players know.

“It’s almost tradition at this point — we actually look forward to the bus ride,” Kearns said. “We can go and get really hyped on the bus and stuff like that, and we can get our energy up together. We just want to keep the season going as long as possible.”

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