Poolesville goalkeeper Madison Lamanna played well on Saturday, but it wasn’t enough against the talented two-time defending champions.
CHESTERTOWN, Md. — The Poolesville High School field hockey team took an early lead but couldn’t hold on against the relentless offense of Glenelg, suffering a 5-1 loss in the MPSSAA Class 2A Championship game at Washington College on Saturday.
Megan Taylor and Dannielle Baker each had a goal and two assists to lead the Gladiators to their third consecutive state title.
“I thought we gave it everything we had,” Poolesville coach Regina Grubb said. “I thought our defense played well. My goalkeeper [Madison Lamanna], it’s her first year at the varsity level and this is probably the best team that we’ve faced all year. I thought she had the stops, we just couldn’t clear the ball out at times.”
After Lamanna stoned Taylor on a breakaway early in the first half to keep the game scoreless, Sarah Onderko scored to give Poolesville a 1-0 lead. Glenelg had not trailed in any of its previous three playoff games this year.
“I tell the kids when we get this far there are no bad teams,” Glenelg coach Ginger Kincaid said. “So people are going to score on you. The object is to score more than them. So you didn’t see them panic, they didn’t get down, they just went to business.”
The Falcons’ lead lasted only five minutes, as Ivy Meissner beat Lamanna off a pass from Taylor with 18:17 left in the first half to tie the game at 1.
Nine minutes later the Gladiators took their first lead of the game on a goal by Baker, with Taylor picking up her second assist of the day.
Poolesville mounted their best sustained attack of the game as the first half wound down, getting two penalty corner opportunities 30 seconds apart with less than two minutes to play. But they could not put the ball behind Glenelg goalie Amanda Hoyt, and only a strong save by Lamanna on a shot by Stephanie Asher with 10 seconds left in the half kept the score 2-1 at the break.
The Gladiators dominated play in the second half, getting three goals and nine penalty corners to build to a 5-1 lead with 9:15 remaining.
“They knew that if they were going to take the trophy today one goal wasn’t going to do it,” Kincaid said. “They just needed to put some more in, and that’s what they did.”
Prior to Saturday’s game, Poolesville’s defense had allowed only 10 goals in their 15 games played and had recorded eight shutouts. Their only previous loss this year had been to 4A West champion Walter Johnson on October 10th. In the championship game, though, Glenelg demonstrated the speed and talent that has set them apart from the rest of Class 2A in recent years.
The Gladiators defeated the Falcons in last year’s championship game, 3-0, and Poolesville has now lost in the state finals five times since their lone championship in 2002. But for Grubb, their was nothing disappointing about the effort her team put in on Saturday.
“They did well,” she said. “I’m proud of them.”
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