Freshman Avery Katzen didn’t have time for nerves.
The end of the Broadneck girls lacrosse dynasty loomed, a fourth straight Class 4A state championship vanishing before their eyes. A three-goal run to break the Bruins free from a tie early in the fourth quarter did nothing to hinder Urbana. The Hawks’ attackers slashed back, and only a goal separated the teams from another deadlock and potential catastrophe beyond it.
The heat of the Bruins’ offense seemed to be too late; Urbana held Broadneck scoreless for nearly two full quarters, and now, neither side could stop shooting. Broadneck scoring staples — Sienna Miller, Lily Trout and Olivia Orso — all contributed to the rally, and in this moment, the Hawks corralled each one of them.
But not Katzen.
“I need to do this right now,” she thought as adrenaline rushed through. “So, I just did it.”
As Urbana defender Makenzie Kilcoyne turned heel to press down on her, the freshman rolled into open space and let loose. The Hawks scored again, but that two-goal insurance Katzen provided sustained Broadneck through the final minutes.
All throughout the Bruins’ recent reign, coach Katy Kelley stressed the “we before me” mentality. Nothing could exemplify that brand more than the girl who can’t even remember how many goals she had before Thursday’s final netting the game-winner to lead to the 10-9 victory at Stevenson University on Thursday.
With a fourth straight title, the Bruins have won seven overall.
Needing a goal late, all of the seniors and otherwise scoring regulars knew one of the hardest workers in maroon could do it.
“Avery’s the feistiest person on this team, and when she got that ball?” Orso said, and put her hands up. “Go.”
For the last three years, a trio of midfielders and a well-stocked defense lifted Broadneck (14-5) consistently. Once those players graduated, few seasoned starters remained and welcomed a cache of talented, but green, freshmen to their ranks. And yet, the ninth graders rose to the challenge more than anyone, because their upperclassmen spent the entire season stressing to them just how important this last game is.
Beyond Katzen, Ceci Facciponti netted two goals, including the unlikely spark at the end of the third quarter, while freshman goalkeeper Molly Robison made eight saves.
“If the older kids believe in the younger kids, then the younger kids know what they can do — and they’re very capable young kids,” Kelley said.
While the postseason runs leading up to the championship game rarely challenged the Bruins, three of Broadneck’s past four titles were decided by one goal in the state final, a hostile environment that forged a battle-ready team ready to scrap to the final second.
Of the four crowns, the seniors screamed, hugged and cried the most for this one. Kelley knew the burden she placed on her scattered seniors to carry this young team this year, and the pride that shines through now.
“This isn’t something that’s given to you,” said Trout, one of those seniors. “It’s earned.”
Trout netted an early hat trick, which simply earned her a capable Urbana defender to try and shut her down. The Hawks answered with two goals, and when Broadneck burst for two more at the end of the quarter — one each from Miller and Facciponti to make it 5-2 — it did more to shield the Bruins from losing control and less to quell Urbana.
The Hawks capitalized on both 8-meter shots they were gifted before halftime to pull within 5-4 and then swiftly did so again a minute-plus into the third quarter to tie the score at 5.
The Bruins turned “stagnant,” in their coach’s estimation, losing the swift mobility that branded them as gifted scorers for years. Ground balls and draw controls were plucked by Hawks more often that not. Robison staved them off with two more saves, but Urbana’s go-ahead goal seemed imminent.
Facciponti changed that.
In the final seconds of the third quarter, Bruins defenders Faith Everett and Nya Williams slammed the ball loose from Urbana’s Paige White to a writhing gray-white melee of desperate ground ball pickups. Broadneck defender Savannah Libby scooped it up, threaded it to Miller, then Charlotte Robertson, then Facciponti. The full-field transition flowed too quickly for Urbana to reinforce itself; Facciponti scored the go-ahead goal so far out — and with her nondominant left hand — that it looked like a Hail Mary.
It was.
“If it goes in, it goes in!” Facciponti recalled. “It went in, so that was a very good feeling. You can’t take the shot if you don’t take the chance.”
How short-lived that lead was. Shortly into the fourth, the Hawks leveled the score at 6, and the teams engaged in a ferocious back-and-forth for all 12 minutes. With 7:25 left, a card placed Urbana’s draw specialist, Colby Johnson, in the box.
Orso netted one of her two goals after suffering a hard hit that bowled her over. She’d struggled on the 8-meter shot all season. Something about that hit emboldened her not to do it again.
Orso rallied Broadneck to a 9-6 advantage while a man-up, with a goal from Miller, too.
“No one wanted to leave with a silver medal,” Orso said. “We gave everything we had in that moment.”
But Urbana chomped back, led by Johnson the moment she sprung free. The Hawks peppered shots and Robison stood tall, right until the moment her teammates sprinted towards her and collapsed into a pile.
“The defense gave me the confidence. They were was always cheering me on. We were always up a goal or two, and we needed [good saves],” Robison said.
Urbana — 2-2-1-3 — 9
Broadneck — 5-0-1-4 — 10
Goals: UA — Hines 3, Johnson 3, McKenney 1, Pontius 1, Betten 1; BN — Trout 3, Facciponti 2, Orso 2, Miller 2, Katzen 1
Assists: UA — White 1; BN — Holmes 3, Libby 2
