Falcon Field Hockey Poised For Another Run

When she looked at the returning roster and saw no returning starters, Severna Park field hockey coach Shannon Garden expected there to be some bumps in the road.

County championship loss to South River aside, there really haven’t been any to speak of. An undefeated run in the county, and only one loss outside of the county within the allotted 12 games for playoff seeding, has put the Falcons in the catbird seat for yet another state playoff run.

“For being so young, not having a returning starter, the progress has been incredible. To go undefeated in this county is incredible. I never had that on my bingo card (for this season),” Garden said. “I was mapping out who we might lose to, and I thought we would learn all our lessons (through losing) and then go into playoffs experienced, but we beat everyone. So maybe (the county championship) is our lesson game.”

Since a loss to Kent Island at the end of September, the Falcons have reeled off five wins — 4-2 over Broadneck, 1-0 over Southern, 9-0 over Glen Burnie, and 6-0 over Arundel before heading into the playoffs.

In learning how to work and play together, the Falcons have shared the workload across multiple players. Addy Hill and Sophia Weber have made the largest mark in the goal column, but nearly a dozen players have hit the back of the cage on the season.

The only setback in that stretch was the county championship, which South River took 2-0 on the strength of two first-half goals.

“I think if we would have played the first half the way we did the second, it might have been a different outcome. Their goalie was tremendous, and we had a lot of opportunities and just couldn’t finish,” Garden said. “We just came out flat, but they showed in the second half that they could rally, and that’s what we have to take forward.”

Severna Park got back on track with a 17-1 win over Meade in the region semifinals, leading 10-0 after one period and cruising from there. They were scheduled to host Crofton in the region finals on October 28, after the Severna Park Voice went to print.