No. 6 Severna Park girls lacrosse passes early season test, defeats No. 8 Glenelg, 14-9
Severna Park girls lacrosse is very familiar with Glenelg. The Falcons and Gladiators have had some tight battles in the past few seasons with each one going Glenelg’s way.
Wednesday night amid rainy conditions, No. 6 Severna Park exacted its revenge with a 14-9 road victory over the No. 8 Gladiators. Senior attacker Alyssa Chung spearheaded the offense with five goals and an assist, while sophomore midfielder Maria Bragg added a hat trick and an assist.
“We’ve played Glenelg the last four of five years and this is the first time we’ve won as a varsity team,” Severna Park coach Annie Houghton said. “We came out today with a game plan, the girls executed it, offensively, moving the ball and just waiting for that perfect shot. We weren’t forcing things and really worked together. We had multiple goal scorers and then defensively, there was one set where we held them for a minute-and-a-half, two minutes and came up with a turnover. Everybody just played solid defense, with their feet, not checking and not fouling.”
Severna Park (5-0) led 5-3 going into the second quarter, but Glenelg (3-1) had momentum after midfielder Kamryn Henson beat the first-quarter buzzer with a diving left-handed shot. However, the Falcons quickly raced away thanks to stifling defense. They outscored the Gladiators 4-0 to take a commanding 9-3 halftime lead.
Severna Park’s defense effectively shut off cutters and the Falcons capitalized off of mistakes. Bragg led the effort from the midfield breaking up passes and igniting the offense in transition.
“I really think defense is just as important as offense,” Bragg said. “I really enjoy playing defense. I’ve always worked hard at it. Our ride is really good. The attackers help cause pressure, so I can see who they’re going to pass to, so I can almost telegraph it and get ready to get an extra step on it.”
The Falcons’ relentless defensive effort continued early in the third. Glenelg’s scoreless drought reached over 15 minutes while goals from Bragg and Chung pushed the lead to 11-3. Glenelg kept a flicker of comeback hopes alive, responding with three straight goals. Regan Kelleher guided the offense during that stretch winning a pair of one-on-one matchups.
“Mentality is 80% of what we do out there,” Glenelg assistant coach Anna Callahan said. “Twenty percent is physical, 80% of it is mental. Knowing that we can have a mentality to fight back is what’s really good to see as a coach. As somebody who’s helping develop these people into young athletes and individuals, showing them what mental fortitude is all about.”
After a timeout, Severna Park regained control. Chung scored two of the Falcons’ next three goals and assisted another to Sara Kreis. The veteran utilized a lethal shot fake throughout the game, creating space for herself and for teammates.
“I’ve had a lot of time where I’ve been working on my shot,” Chung said. “I like to think I have a pretty hard shot. Sometimes, people crash really early to meet my hands when I’m shooting. So, if I fake the shot, they’ll usually stop and then I can just run it. It opens up space there and if I fake the shot there’s usually people crashing, so that also opens things up.”
She used that process to near perfection, recalling one specific goal.
“There was one point where I had a step down from the first hash on the far side and I was going to hitch and pass it to across to Sara,” Chung said. “But the defender stepped back off of it and I saw that in the middle, so I said, ‘I’m just going to shoot it.’ Being able to read what the defense does, it’s almost being able to read the space I have. Should I shoot it, take it and run it in or doing something else?”
Her performance headlined a well-balanced Falcons offensive attack with six different goal scorers and six assisted goals.
Severna Park — 5 4 4 1 — 14
Glenelg — 3 0 4 2 — 9
Goals: SP- Chung 5, Bragg 3, Dunoyer 2, Kreis 2, Evans 1, Hussey 1; G- Henson 3, Kelleher 3, Hernandez 2, Ross 1. Assists: SP- Evans 2, Bragg 1, Hussey 1, Chung 1, Kreis 1; G- Kelleher 1, White 1. Saves: SP- Schiavone 3; G- Altshuler 3.