Two years ago, it was pure exhilaration for Broadneck girls’ lacrosse.
The Bruins capped an unbeaten, pandemic-shortened season in the spring of 2021 with their first state championship in more than a decade.
Last season felt more like a coronation, as the Broadneck girls cruised past just about everyone on their way to a second straight Class 4A championship. In the state final, the Bruins beat Bethesda-Chevy Chase 17-4, and pretty much everyone on the team got in the game and got to share in the experience.
This season was all about guts and determination, right down to its final minute when the potential game-tying shot by Dulaney High School glanced off the top of the crossbar, preserving a 9-8 victory that clinched a third straight state title for Broadneck and its sixth overall.
“When you hear three-peat all the time in your season, it kind of gets, for the lack of a better term, old,” said Katy Kelley, the longtime coach of the Bruins. “Maybe that’s why it took us a little while to find our rhythm [this season] because other people already have this expectation of you. You are trying to find your identity, and people are trying to, like, claim your identity.”
These Bruins (15-5), a fairly even mix of new and returning players from last season’s championship team, established their identity with a series of one-goal games.
There was the 9-8 victory against defending 2A champion Century and the 8-7 loss to defending 1A champion Liberty, both in a tournament on April 8. Then there was the 12-11 win against Towson, the eventual 3A runner-up, three days later, the 7-6 victory against South River on April 19 and the 8-7 loss to eventual 3A winner and 15-time state champion Severna Park on April 28.
“I think experience always helps when you are in those scenarios,” Kelley said. “I think your leaders staying somewhat calm helps the rest of the team stay calm. We, as coaches, try not to freak out, either.”
That mindset certainly helped Broadneck in the state final on May 24 at Stevenson University in Owings Mills, as Dulaney whittled a six-goal deficit down to one. The comeback was assisted by a yellow card on Lilly Kelley that took the senior midfielder, a three-year starter and team captain, off the field for two minutes and helped shift the momentum of the game. Dulaney scored two man-up goals while she was out.
Katy Kelley did not believe her daughter’s actions warranted a yellow card.
“I don’t want to take anything away from what Dulaney did,” Kelley said. “They are a great team and had a great comeback. But that really changed the momentum.”
Lilly Kelley, a James Madison recruit, was back on the field for the game’s tense final minute.
“We worked to get here. So, whatever happens happens,” the midfielder thought at the time.
Kelley was so locked into playing defense that she didn’t realize how little time remained in the game’s defining sequence.
After Dulaney’s shot hit the crossbar, Kelley chased down the ground ball “and was running it out like there was a minute left.”
In reality, there were less than 30 seconds to go.
“It was nice that she missed [the shot],” Kelley said of Dulaney’s Anna Jones. “But, at the same time, I didn’t realize how big of a shot it really was.”
Kelley played in the midfield that was the rock of the team, alongside fellow seniors Lexi Dupcak (Maryland) and Mary Moore (Villanova). The three had played together for most of their lives, including the three championship seasons at Broadneck.
“It’s less stressful when you are comfortable with the people around you,” Kelley said.
Moore was shifted into a more offensive role toward the end of the season and led the team with three goals in the championship game. Sophomore Sienna Miller added two.
Broadneck led 8-2 with 10:47 remaining in the game.
“It was fun. It was hard. Practices were a grind,” Kelley said of the Bruins’ season. “It was very fun to be a part of this team and the dynamic we had.”
Photo Credits: Dennis McGinley
Originally published June 15, 2023