Moran’s overtime goal propels Maryvale past McDonogh to reach Friday’s A Conference lacrosse final against Spalding

By Nelson Coffin
nelson@iaamsports.com

Flipping the script was the order of the day for the Maryvale lacrosse team against McDonogh in an A Conference semifinal Tuesday afternoon in Owings Mills.

The fourth-seeded Lions, who fell to the Eagles, 11-10, in mid-April despite building a commanding 6-1 advantage, roared back from a 6-2 halftime deficit to knock of the top seeds, 9-8, on freshman Maddie Moran’s free-position goal with 2:03 remaining in the first overtime period.

The victory gives Maryvale (12-5, 8-4 league) another opportunity to avenge a one-goal loss when confronting No. 2 Archbishop Spalding for the championships at USA Lacrosse’s Tierney Field in Sparks Friday at 7 p.m. The Cavaliers (11-3, 9-3) edged defending champion St. Paul’s School for Girls, 10-9, in the other semifinal to advance.

McDonogh (11-3, 10-2) bolted out of the gate with a fury behind red-hot sophomore midfielder Parker Kitchel, who assisted freshman attacker Ginny Haley’s back-hander to open the game before scoring once in a settled situation prior to picking off a pass at midfield for a strong finish.

Junior Laney Minderlein had the only answer for the Lions in the opening frame.

The second quarter also went McDonogh’s way with strikes by junior midfielder Aryianna Hammonds-Rippen, senior midfielder Payton Magday and sophomore midfielder Byers Martin helping to offset Maryvale junior Emma Mohn’s tally while building a strong four-goal cushion at the intermission.

Poise, not panic, ruled the Lions’ sideline.

Having been on the other side in the previous encounter, Maryvale stayed calm and resolved.

“That showed that it’s not over yet,” Reese said. “It was our turn. We kept fighting. We never gave up. Four goals can happen in one quarter. It happens so fast and every play matters. We had to take care of our shots and (not) take anything for granted.”

The Lions actually scored five times in the third period to inch ahead, 7-6. Minderlein’s weave through the arc ignited the uprising with Resse’s shovel-shot the next salvo. Senior Aver Cutair finished Reese’s feed before freshman Carly Aldridge knotted the score at 6-all with 4:34 left in the quarter.

Moran’s free position gave the Lions their first lead heading into the final frame.

That’s when McDonogh junior defender Kit Laake’s defensive prowess came into play. The University of Maryland
commit’s steal resulted in another Magday goal before freshman Gia Trionfo’s goal pushed the Eagles back on top, 8-7, with just over eight minutes remaining in regulation.

Laake’s second clutch swipe killed a penalty to help her team stay in front until Mohn converted a Reese feed to knot the score at 8-8 with 3:46 remaining in the fourth.

In overtime, after squandering another man advantage, Moran gathered a Reese feed before a foul was called and the rookie was rewarded with an 8-meter opportunity. A quick sprint toward the crease preceded a shot that slipped past McDonogh standout junior goalie Reagan O’Donovan (8 saves) and set off a wild celebration by the jubilant Lions.

“The last couple of games, I’ve been shooting high and it hasn’t been falling,” Moran said. “So I knew I’d have to take advantage and shoot low.”

Maryvale coach Brian Reese said that losing the lead in the first game “stuck in the back of our heads. If they could do that to us, we could do that to them.The girls believed that they deserved to win. They kept going. They kept fighting and chipped away and chipped away. We got a little bit flustered, but we kept our focus. All the credit goes to them.”

McDonogh coach Megan Nicotra — the goalie on Maryvale’s last championship team in 2002 — said that “I think it’s hard to play with the lead sometimes. You have to stay loose. But hats off to Maryvale, they played a really gutsy game. Sometimes things don’t go your way. What this team did this season is pretty phenomenal. Given what we lost (from) last year, and the record we had, taking first place in the regular season. There are a lot of things this group has to be proud of. The hard part now is this is how it ended. It was just one of those days.”