Crofton boys and girls lacrosse prevail for wins over Annapolis on senior night

Crofton girls lacrosse has a running joke this season. “Put together a dollar, it’s made up of four quarters.” On Friday, Annapolis worked hard to keep the Cardinals from their money.

After Crofton took a 12-2 lead into halftime, the Panthers battled and eventually cut the deficit enough to force the Cardinals to put their starters back in the game. Crofton, however, prevailed for a 17-10 victory and will travel Tuesday and face Severna Park, which earned a bye, in the second round of the Anne Arundel County Public Schools Showcase.

“Tonight, I think we did finally put together a dollar,” Crofton coach Caroline Kerr said. “I’m proud of how we fought to put together a team win, especially for our seniors, and I think it’s a great way to go into the rest of the county tournament.”

Midfielder Kylie Corcoran scored four goals to lead the Cardinals. But when she gripped her bouquet and donned a “SENIOR” sash, the finality of her career struck her.

“I’m very excited. This group of girls is like family to me,” she said, looking off to many of the same players who battled alongside her when the field hockey team won a state title in the fall. “And I’m upset to leave.”

Annapolis had little trouble winning draw controls. But Corcoran, the Cardinals’ main draw control specialist, battled and won 15 of 27. That was a ratio Crofton couldn’t take lightly.

“We’ve been really working on getting our fight and not giving up until the ball’s in someone’s stick,” Corcoran said, “and when it is, we’re redefending to help set up back.”

When a Panthers player plucked a ball from midfield, a Cardinal soon rattled it loose and mailed it down the field for another goal. It’s how Crofton, supercharged by Corcoran, Sophie Osbourne and Caroline McDonough, churned up a running clock by halftime.

But the Panthers were eager for change.

Annapolis’ best work in the first half came from the eight-meter, but luring Cardinals into whistles was too fickle a method to depend on. So, they tried something else.

The Panthers defenders swarmed Crofton attackers, a mix of starters and subs by the second half, and recycled the turnovers until senior attacker Sarah Ericson could find the right shot to fool second-half goalkeeper Ryleigh Osborne.

With her goal, the running clock stopped — as did Crofton’s stranglehold. Junior attacker Brooklynn Ricker ended her own record of how quickly she could score a goal after a draw from a few minutes to 10 seconds, inspiring sophomore attack Payton Toton to do the same, and soon after, junior midfielder Charlotte McNomee.

Letting a 10-goal advantage crumble to 13-7 was enough for Kerr to put her starters back in.

Corcoran and Anton made sure there would be no upset. Goals from them in the fourth padded their lead to 16-7.

But Annapolis was not done, scoring another three goals. The Cardinals’ defenders wouldn’t allow much more after that, though.

“We just learn from this,” Corcoran said. “We watch film and see what our mistakes were, and then if we did, we move on and get ready for the next game.”

Annapolis —1 1 5 3 — 10

Crofton — 9 3 1 4 — 17

Goals: C — Corcoran 4, McDonough 3, Mathieu 3, Benbow 2, Anton 2, S. Osborne 2, Duru 1; A — McNomee 2, Toton 2, Ericson 2, Ricker 2, King 1, Colman 1.

Assists: C — Korcan 5, Anton 1; A — Ericson 1 King 1.

Saves: CR — R. Osborne 9, Riggs 6; A — Steffens 2.

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Crofton boys prevail, 7-3

Crofton might’ve enjoyed a little less time with the ball in their sticks if it wasn’t for John Gallizzo and his nifty footwork.

The junior only needed to whip out a pirouette once, twirling 360 degrees to stop one Annapolis shot before stopping his spin and snatching up a second. Annapolis caught him sleeping twice, notching two goals in the first few minutes.

He made sure they wouldn’t be so lucky again. With the 7-3 win, the Cardinals advance to face Severna Park on Wednesday in the second round of the AACPS Showcase.

Each of the nine saves Gallizzo made was fired like pellets from Annapolis sticks and was the reason the Panthers couldn’t score more than a handful of goals.

Cardinals coach Collin Snyder thinks there’s no debate about what that means.

“I think he’s arguably the best keeper in the county — I actually don’t think it’s an argument, he is the best keeper in the county,” Snyder said. “We’ve seen Broadneck, Severna Park and South River, and he’s better than all three. He stops shots he shouldn’t. He makes saves he’s supposed to. We’re not 9-2 if not for him in the cage.”

But Crofton wouldn’t be 9-2 if it didn’t figure out a way to score against Annapolis, either.

Panthers goalkeeper Sean Robinson knew how to stop a few of Crofton’s shots, too, and their defense also gave the Cardinals fits. After the Panthers caused a turnover, Crofton defender Nate Locknard decided to defy all of that and take his shot at goal, going from end to end to do so.

But the 3-2 lead going into the second quarter was flimsy at best with Annapolis’ attackmen still clearly ravenous. It wasn’t until Dom Zanolli flung a pass to Cody Fanzo to score 20 seconds into the quarter when the tide finally shifted.

When Crofton had possession, it peppered Annapolis as much as it could. In the second quarter, the strategy worked. Zanolli again met Charlie Cloyd for a drive-by goal to give the Cardinals a 5-2 halftime lead. From there, Gallizzo absorbed shot after shot.

“I mean try not to think about the pressure of that,” Gallizzo said. “Once I do, it starts going really downhill.”

While the Cardinals controlled the ball for most of the third, it filled the period with errant shots whizzing safely past the Panthers’ cage — until, finally, senior Tom Gress found an opening for a goal.

“We have a problem shooting the ball, for sure,” Snyder said. “It’s something we work on day in and day out, but for some reason, it’s just not correlating. Hopefully, it will.”

Gallizzo stamped out another two Annapolis shots before one from Grady Roberts, who also scored In the first quarter, got by him.

The Cardinals goalkeeper settled back and moved on. His defense clamped down, and the offense continued to do enough to keep Annapolis at a distance on the scoreboard.

“I’ve just been trying to focus more,” Gallizzo said. “Relax in the goal, and really try to see the field more. Honestly just calming down and seeing the ball and watching where they’re shooting really helped.

“Our defense has been playing really well. If we keep playing like this, it’s gonna be pretty hard for [Severna Park] to beat us.”

Annapolis — 2 0 0 1 — 3

Crofton — 3 2 1 1 — 7

Goals: C — Fanzo 2, Cloyd 2, Gress 1, Locknard 1; A — Roberts 2, Sheffer 1.