Senior midfielder Brigitte Strother moves the ball upfield.
Eight goals were scored between these two girls, the senior captains on their respective squads. Alyssa Fowler (left) had three, while Karri Ellen Johnson scored five.
Charging left into the
Arundel defense, Karri Ellen Johnson freed herself from one defender with a spin back to the right only to absorb a check head-on from another a step later. Somehow, the
Broadneck midfielder still managed to square up in time to find the net from eight yards out—her third of five scores in the game.
But it was just another goal for the University-of-Maryland signee and USA U-19 champion, albeit one that left her own team in awe.
“It was amazing,” Broadneck coach Karen Tengwall said with a laugh minutes after the Bruins wrapped up a 17-7 victory at Arundel. “(Improvising) is what Karri Ellen’s really good at, but at the same time she’s a really good team player… she’s done some really great things for us.”
Johnson was one of five Broadneck players to score multiple goals. Teammate Megan Eshleman tallied four for the second game in a row and Shannon Hanratty scored two while dishing out three assists. Junior Courtney Tomchik and senior Lindsay Mitchell each had a hat trick and the Bruin offense took over early, racking up a 13-3 lead by halftime.
“I think the big key was the draws that we were able to get,” Tengwall said after watching her team control the draws, 15-7. “We really set a goal to set the offense really well when there wasn’t a fast break. And we shot really well, so I think the combination of those three things made it easier for us to be effective on the offensive end.”
The second half was much more balanced, as the Wildcats picked up their defensive intensity to take advantage of the increased time the Bruin starters rested. They held the Broadneck attack to four goals in the period, while their own offense was stronger at the draw and on ground balls than in the first period.
“Our [defensive] game plan was to help each other out and slide and look for the doubles,” said Arundel assistant coach Corinne Shuck. “To work as a team. We picked it up in the second half—there was a little struggle the first half—but we definitely came out doing it at the end.”
The Bruins squeezed in two goals coming out of intermission—one by Eshleman and another acrobatic score by Johnson, this one cutting across her body off a pass from Hanratty.
Hayley Ross responded with the first of three consecutive Arundel goals. Senior captain Alyssa Fowler followed that with her team-high third goal of the game, and the sophomore Ross put in another one off a sharp pass from Randall Winter. But it just wasn’t enough to overcome a deficit that had stretched to 12 at one point.
“We have a strong attack, we have seven solid players. We don’t rely on one,” said Shuck., who also received a goal from both Kiersten Jauschnegg and Amiee Rodriguez. “Alyssa’s there to help playmake with everyone. With Jamie [Brentlinger] she’s got some solid attack play in her and Randall [Winter] looks to help. They look to feed each other.”
Broadneck (3-1, 2-0) 13 4----------
17
Arundel (3-2, 1-1) 3 4-----------
7Goals: BN—Hanratty (2), Eshleman (4), Tomchik (3), Mitchell (3), Johnson (5). AR—Fowler (3), Rodriguez, Jauschnegg, Ross (2). Assists: BN—Hanratty (3), Thompson, Eshleman, George, Mitchell. AR—Winter.