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The final seconds of Monday’s girls lacrosse game county championship unfolded like a slow-motion movie clip.
Fresh off forcing a Severna Park turnover in the second overtime period, under-pressure Broadneck sophomore Ceci Facciponti found senior defender Faith Everett, who immediately relayed to goalie Molly Robison. Robison switched the field and set Katelyn Kearns off driving in transition before launching an intentionally high pass into the middle, the only place where Nora Lopes could realistically receive the ball.
Lopes reached high to snare the pass, muscled her way around two defenders and worked her stick to manipulate just enough space for herself to get a shot away. The ball kicked off the turf at the perfect spot with the perfect trajectory, sneaking just beneath the goalie’s stick before rippling the net just under the crossbar.
Ballgame. Bedlam.
Lopes’ goal, her third of the night, gave Broadneck a 6-5 win over Severna Park, a fitting end to a sequel equal in every way to the first act.
“We’ve been working so hard, and none of the people on this team have ever beaten Severna Park since we’ve been here, and this was the seniors’ last chance. I knew I had to just get the ball and rip a hard shot to finish it for them,” Lopes said. “We have been working toward this in everything during practices, and we knew this was our moment. They’re a great team and really talented; it feels so good to finally come out on top.”
The victory gave Broadneck their first county championship since 2014. It also ended a seven-game Severna Park win streak in this matchup. Before Monday, the Bruins most recently defeated the Falcons in June 2021.
The ebbs and flows of Monday’s game took on a similar look to the April 11 tussle, which Severna Park won 8-7 on a goal in the third overtime period. But the shoe was on the other foot – the Falcons found themselves in disciplinary trouble, picking up three yellow cards in the first half. Their fourth, which results in being one player short for the rest of the game, came in the first overtime period. Broadneck was carded just once – in the previous matchup, the Bruins were a player light in the fourth quarter and all three overtime periods.
Despite that, the Falcons had their opportunities. Like Broadneck, they scored twice from 8-meter free position restarts, and Severna Park had a chance to win it from 8 meters in the dying seconds of both the fourth quarter and the first overtime session. One shot sailed just over the crossbar and the other was saved by Robison, who smothered the rebound.
“My mind just kind of goes blank, and all I think about is, ‘We need to win this game,’” Robison said about the one-on-one duels late in the game. “After the last time, it didn’t go our way, but we knew there was nothing else we could do but win. We’ve won state championships, but this also means so much to this program, these girls, and especially the seniors.”
The duel between Robison and Severna Park goalie Lucy Davis, who had seven saves, was finally settled nearly 53 minutes after it got underway when Lopes cashed in from close range.
After a series of close calls in regular season play and successive county championship appearances in which Broadneck, in coach Katy Kelley’s own assessment, simply didn’t turn up, the high of highs became that much sweeter for the struggle.
“I saw Katelyn get it and go to her warp speed and, huh, maybe she’ll go score, who knows,” Kelley said. “And for her to see Nora and get her the ball, that’s the type of player you want in that situation. Nora’s stick skills are, bar none, some of the highest in this program’s history. I saw her get the ball and kind of thought, ‘OK, this could actually be it.’ Huge confidence builder for her.
“I’ve been here a long time as an assistant and head coach, and I’ve lost more than I’ve won to Severna Park, so to see my girls come together like that is a pinnacle moment for a coach,” Kelley said. “Still just one game, and we have other things that we want to achieve, but Severna Park’s been kind of a monkey on our back, so I think it’s a huge step forward for our program in terms of confidence for our team. I’m proud of them – we can prepare them all we want, but they have to do it, and they did.”
Erin Hussey and Maria Bragg each scored twice for Severna Park, while Molly Koistinen added the fifth goal. Sienna Miller netted twice for Broadneck, who also got a goal from Avery Katzen.
Both teams move on to their respective region semifinals: Broadneck at Bowie on Thursday and Severna Park hosting either Crofton or Arundel on Friday.
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