Blake's amazing run ends in runner-up
Bengals field hockey falls to Hereford in 3A championship game
The Bulls (16-2) scored the match's lone goal in the ninth minute and survived a couple of near misses by Blake (9-8) in the first half before hanging on. It was their sixth state crown overall and first since 2006.
Hereford senior Taylor Cummins notched the game-winner off a free hit that sailed into the circle, bounced around and then to Cummins, who punched in the goal from the left post. Blake sophomore defender Lucy Harrelson, a Springbrook transfer who was called up to the varsity squad for the playoffs, said the ball hit her foot during the melee in the circle.
"I don't know how it goes with feet but it hit mine right before it went in," Harrelson said. "That just disappointed me."
While the Bulls controlled possession for the better part of the first half, the Bengals manufactured a pair of dangerous shots that just missed. Freshman Caroline Wannen set up the first attempt on a fastbreak, slipping a cross from the right of the circle to an open teammate just in front of the cage, but the ball got under the teammate's stick and rolled out of play. Then with just under four minutes left in the first half, Blake had a shot bang off the post during the first of its two penalty corners for the game.
"The…shot that Nicole [Pontious] had off the post on the corner, I swear my heart must have dropped," said Blake senior Justine Allen, who notched 21 goals this fall. "I thought it was going in. It was rough knowing…that a few more inches, it could have gone in and it would have made a completely different game. It's tough to walk away knowing that."
Neither team produced a whole lot of chances in the second half, with the squads combining for two penalty corners. Harrelson's stingy play in the back was one of the main reasons why Hereford didn't score again, as she routinely made stops inside or just outside the circle to blunt fastbreaks.
"They were a good team but if just get your stick in there, you can get it away from them," Harrelson said. "I guess I found their weakness."
The loss ended an amazing run by the Bengals, who had a first-year coach in Patrick Howley and an entirely new team because of heavy graduation losses. Blake outscored its five playoff opponents by a combined score of 20-3, including a 3-1 win against top-seeded Quince Orchard in the 3A West Region final and a 6-0 victory against Northern-Calvert County in the state semifinals.
"This team just got better and better as the season went on," Howley said. "It was a whole new team. We only had a few returners that got a lot of playing time last year. … We played a very skilled field hockey team today. No one really expected us to be here."
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