B-CC 5, Damascus 0

By Calvin Cobb

On a cool, clear, lovely October 20th evening at B-CC, on Senior Night and the last regular-season home game for the team’s 13 seniors, the Lady Barons opened up strong and finished strong, dominating the Damascus Hornets 5-0 to improve to 9-2.

It was seven minutes into the game before the Hornets managed to cross midfield. In the early going, Charlotte Kettler took over the game on the right wing, moving around a Hornet, working quick, crisp, accurate passes with Paige Donnelly, Ruth Andrews, and Jenn Dewey, and stealing the ball back immediately when a Hornet was able to gain possession. A sense of inevitability built up in the first half, with the Barons constantly working the ball into the circle and the Hornets narrowly avoiding giving up a score, aided by an unusually relaxed referee whose “let ‘em play” attitude caused him to overlook a number of violations that would normally have led to penalty corners for the Barons.

As happens sometimes, the Barons were pressuring the Hornets goal and got drawn into the circle in an attempt to finish the play, and the Hornets were allowed one serious foray into the Barons’ end – a quick counterpunch fast break downfield with a number of Hornets hurtling toward the Barons’ net. That foray very nearly led to a goal and 1-0 Hornet’s lead – the ball was out front, on a Hornet stick, with nothing but goaltender Lauren Serpan between the ball and the net. Serpan was equal to the task, however; the shot was blocked, the Barons defensive cavalry came pouring back in support, and the ball was quickly removed from harm’s way.

Other than that, the Hornets were consistently and thoroughly suppressed; it seemed like every ball that was pushed downfield was sucked up by the vacuum-cleaner – Meredith Storm – who quickly picked up loose balls, stole back balls that happened to be in the possession of a Hornet, and calmly redirected the ball to the proper place within the Barons’ offensive machinery so that the onslaught inside the Hornet’s circle could continue unabated..

At about the 20-minute mark in the first half, the Barons were awarded a penalty corner; Rachel Natoli made an excellent inserting pass to Sunny Cobb, who came up with her now familiar rocket shot from 15 yards that resounded off of the backboard and gave the Barons a lead they would not relinquish, 1-0.

Three minutes later on another penalty corner, Cobb’s shot was blocked in front but Donnelly got there first and converted to make it 2-0. Rachel Ruda made it 3-0 with a fine push shot from 10 yards out, beating the Hornet’s goaltender (who was superb) and several defenders in the process.

The second half was more of the same – the Barons offense dominating the play, the midfield stealing the ball back, and the defense picking up any and all loose change and sending it back upfield. Senior Lindsay Chan was particularly effective at forward, putting herself in good position for several scoring chances and converting on a fine cross-cage pass from Donnelly to make it 4-0. After several close scoring opportunities on corners, in which Cobb used the threat of a big shot to draw defenders and create scoring opportunities that were narrowly thwarted for Andrews and Kettler, Storm made a perfect inserting pass, Cobb returned the ball to Storm on the corner of the goal and the poor Hornet’s goalie who had come out to close off the shooting angle had no chance. Storm scored easily and made the final score 5-0.

The Barons played well as a team and there is a lot of credit to go around, but particular kudos goes to Andrews, Storm, and Kettler, each of whom simply dominated her part of the field. Ruda showed speed and deft stickwork, especially on her scoring play, and Kelsey Kiser was very effective both handling the ball and when she sped ahead of the play and rotated up to the right wing – keeping the ball alive when it was otherwise going out of bounds and giving Donnelly and Dewey some passing options in the corner. Josie Lopes consistently moved herself and the ball into the right position at the right time, and ably fed the ball into the circle to create several scoring chances. Amy’s apple went to Lydia Marks, who showed speed, effective play, and hustle throughout, and Katie Bazyluk, who in addition to turning the ball back at midfield was a powerful force in the Barons’ defensive circle, working hard to win and clear two particularly dangerous balls to preserve the shut out.

Assuming the Poolesville game cannot be rescheduled, the Barons have a final regular season game away Thursday at Magruder, which to date has won eight games and would sorely like to knock off the Barons. Now is the time for the Barons to raise their game and start their playoff run, and this game with Damascus was a positive strong step forward.