A good game ended on a weird call, both Broadneck and Severna Park field hockey coaches agreed.
Both sidelines tensed as the on-field players swarmed around the Bruins net. The Falcons, down a goal, earned a corner shortly before game’s end.
As their bench stood in the furthest corner from the play action, Broadneck coach Shannon Hanratty and her players couldn’t see the full picture — just the far-side official’s signal there had been a foot penalty to kill the Severna Park corner and turn the ball over, thus ending the game, 1-0. Broadneck’s victory furthered their unbeaten mark to 6-0-1.
The game horn blared and the Bruins sideline leapt to run to their keeper, but stopping just as quickly. The triumphant screams died in their throats. For a moment everything on the field stilled until the other official whistled for stroke.
The official hadn’t noticed his counterpart’s game-ending foot call.
“It was a mess, and with the number of bodies in there, I couldn’t see what [the other official] perceived as a stroke,” Hanratty said. “And I can appreciate that’s what the officials should be doing, communicating. And I appreciate that she explained it to us because a lot of times it’s not.”
As Falcons senior Emma Weber lined up to face Broadneck keeper Mia Moody, all Hanratty could think about was how these two club teammates would match up, having no idea the game was already won.
“I knew something was off,” said Bruins senior Katelyn Kearns (one assist), who was in the fray. “When they called the stroke, I wanted to question the ref’s call, but we were just gonna keep playing through it.”
The officials met in the field and overturned the call. Severna Park’s excitement soured to bewilderment as Broadneck players stormed their keeper — for real this time.
Falcons coach Shannon Garden couldn’t believe this happened again. When Severna Park (4-3) faced Crofton on Sept. 12, then, too, were the Falcons awarded a potentially game-tying stroke just to be taken away.
“It’s extremely frustrating,” she said. “We also weren’t earning corners, don’t know why. But we still had some opportunities to put it away in the open field. Of course it’s disappointing for it to end the way it did, but I’m not gonna let it define this game. I’m extremely proud of the way my team played against a team with club and Division I talent.”
Broadneck wasted several corner attempts before finally breaking the stalemate in the fourth minute of the fourth quarter. The ball went to Kearns, who looked for the open space and spotted teammate Raleigh Kerst at the mouth of the net. She knew she had her chance.
“She’s a really good tipper and finisher. I knew I spun the ball, she could do something with it,” Kearns said.
Two simple touches and Kerst tipped in what stood as the game’s only goal.
Prior to that moment, the Falcons rendered Broadneck’s shots about as harmless as the raindrops hitting their heads. It was their speed, Kearns said, that hampered her and her teammates’ attempts.
Broadneck monopolized Severna Park’s end of the field for the entire first quarter, but by midway through the second, the Falcons reversed the trend. Pressure, Garden said, would be the only way to keep the Bruins in check.
Too many Falcon close calls would skitter inches past the cage or smack a Broadneck defender’s stick in the circle before and after Kerst’s goal. Broadneck, likewise, shot with increasing accuracy in the second half.
“You can’t let yourself get frustrated that those shots aren’t going in,” Hanratty said. “You might start playing defensive, thinking you’re not gonna score, but you have to keep your weight on your front foot. You gotta keep going.”
The Falcons corralled Broadneck to a closer game than even defending Class 4A state champion Crofton had two weeks earlier. They’re getting better every day, Garden said.
“If we can play like that against a team like that, we’re going to go far,” she said.
By now, Broadneck’s former freshmen phenoms are now seasoned seniors with a state championship and several dominant seasons behind them. And still, a tight contest with Severna Park is something they needed — another brick on the road to avenging their 2023 state semifinal loss and stepping further.
“I feel like we can really trust ourselves,” Kearns said. “We lost a lot of good players, but we’re playing good competition. If we keep believing in ourselves, we know we can keep facing these teams and win.”
Broadneck next faces Arundel on Thursday.
Broadneck — 0 0 0 1 — 1
Severna Park — 0 0 0 0 — 0
Goals: BN — Raleigh Kerst 1; Assists: BN — Katelyn Kearns 1; Saves: BN — Moody 5; SP — Cam Lowman 5.