The book the unranked Spalding girls soccer team set out to write at the start of the playoffs only had one possible ending.
In Saturday’s Interscholastic Athletic Association of Maryland A Conference championship game against young and emerging Mercy, the Cavaliers got second-half goals from senior leaders Olivia Nardone and Riley Wills and a cohesive effort throughout for a 2-0 win over the No. 14 Magic at Calvert Hall.
After starting the postseason with a 4-7-2 mark — 2-4 in conference play for fifth place — the Cavaliers ended it gleefully gathered around one of the goals taking a group shot with the championship plaque. Their 7-7-2 closing record comes with the program’s sixth conference title.
Coach Ashly Kennedy challenged her group to write their own story, lean on their experience after falling to McDonogh in last year’s title game and play hard and together.
Mission accomplished.
“It just goes to show you what sports does as far as building life skills, and building ways to find resilience and character,” she said. “Mercy, McDonogh, Notre Dame Prep could have had this type of season. But it comes down to these moments — peaking when you need to peak, taking advantage of the moments you need to take advantage of. And, finally, having a little luck on your side to bring a team together that is bought in and follows through.”
It was no surprise that Nardone and Wills, two of the team’s captains and four-year varsity players, shined in the title game’s biggest moments.
A back-and forth game didn’t have a goal until junior defender Malia Hydes lined up for a free kick around midfield eight minutes into the second half. After the service aimed for the middle skimmed off a Mercy defender and ahead to Nardone, she precisely found the far right corner from 6 yards.
“Malia had that free kick, she had a beautiful ball and I saw the Mercy defender flick it on and I was like, ‘This is now or never.’ I was about to head it actually and I was like, ‘It’s an open goal why not take the shot?’ It was surreal,” she said.
Mercy, which wrote its own impressive story in reaching the title game, pushed for the equalizer. Senior midfielder Mackenzie Hobik skimmed the top crossbar on a corner kick, hit the right post on a free kick and sent another shot just wide.
But, in protecting their lead, the Cavaliers also kept a good share of the play with Willis, who sent the Cavaliers to the championship game with an epic double-overtime goal that beat defending champion McDonogh in the semifinals, providing the spark. Finally, with 5:20 to play, she collected an ideal through ball from Kelly Dougherty and buried a chance from the left side to make it 2-0.
“It just goes to show you that if your season is rocky and it’s not looking the best, if you have the heart and if you have the drive and you all want it and work as a team, you can come out here and do it,” she said. “I think every single player on this team played their hearts out tonight. Even the people who were on the bench — our team as whole is just insane.”
Like Spalding last year following its loss to McDonogh, the Magic (10-5-1) were disappointed in their fine season’s ending. With a smaller senior class paving the way for a young group — nine freshmen and sophomores played prominent roles — they overcome their own adversity to gain the experience of playing for the championship.
After senior center back and captain Carly Hax suffered a season-ending knee injury down the home stretch of the regular season, the Magic had a three-game losing spell before regaining their form.
An epic 3-2 win over No. 2 Notre Dame Prep on penalty kicks in the semifinals — featuring a tying goal with 1:08 to play in regulation — was the highlight.
“The girls rebounded and it speaks a lot to their character. We lost a couple games there because we were trying to figure out a way to replace [Hax] and then we ran off three straight wins to put ourselves in the championship game,” Mercy coach Tom Durkin said. “A 0-0 game that could have gone either way in the second half and it just didn’t happen. [Spalding] is super athletic, they got size, they got speed and some really good players we know from club world and experience, too. That kind of won the day. But it doesn’t take away the pride I have for my team and how far they’ve come this season.”
Goals: S — Nardone, Wills
Assists: S — Hydes, Dougherty
Saves: AS — Matthews 5; M — Graham 5
Half: 0-0