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There was no place like home Thursday as the Glenelg High field hockey team took the Class 2A South Region title with a 3-0 win over visiting Patuxent of Calvert County.

Brandishing a No. 1 seed for home field advantage throughout the region playoffs, Glenelg head coach Ginger Kincaid used a potential playoff matchup against the Panthers (14-3) as motivation for the Gladiators (16-2) to keep winning late in the season and earn home field.

"We planned it right down to the end," Kincaid said. "We knew we didn't want to be standing on their field at 6 p.m. at night."

Instead, Glenelg finished off the Panthers in the almost-warm sunlight of a November afternoon, with freshman Emily Russo, junior Kayleigh Hinkle and freshman Danielle Baker each scoring a goal.

"Playing at home is just so much better," Hinkle said. "You don't have to break up your routine, then get on a bus and play on an unfamiliar field."

Glenelg's field, a year-old Bermuda grass field, is a middle ground from some of the other surfaces field hockey is played on. Patuxent's field is a multipurpose stretch of lawn, while the state finals will be played on the artificial turf at Broadneck High and Washington College.

Glenelg's next game will be against Century at Broadneck High in Annapolis on Wednesday.

Despite the advantage the Gladiators gained from being at home, they'll be able to bring with them an even bigger advantage in their deep lineup. On Thursday, Panthers' coaches had to yell out a complete laundry list of dangerous players that needed to be covered on major plays, including sophomore Alyssa Parker, Hinkle, and sophomore Juliet Ayer.

"It's great, there's so many people that can do big things on this team," Hinkle said. "You look at our scoring, and there's like five people that are all right there in the goals scored."

Hinkle said that if she were on the other sideline and had to pick one Gladiator to focus on, it'd be Parker.

"When she's in the midfield, she's unstoppable," Hinkle said.

Parker closed out her game with a second assist, finding Baker wide and open for the last goal of the game.

Glenelg outshot Patuxent, 16-2, and had a 13-8 penalty corner advantage. The Gladiators' junior goalie Christy Bishop kicked out both shots on goal for saves, while there were six saves for Patuxent senior Becca Portillo.