TRIUMPHANT TRIO:Glenelg defenders (from left) Mike McCabe, Jake Isaacs and Kyle Hofstetter allowed only one goal in front of Gladiators goalie Jon Selfridge.
Glenelg's Ryan Dougherty (above) scored once, assisted on four goals and keyed the Gladiators' winning 11 of 18 faceoffs in Saturday's 13-1 Class 2A-1A state semifinal win over Joppatowne.
by Lem Satterfield
(See video highlights and interviews below)
Josh Braun is considered by his Glenelg coach, Josh Hatmaker, as a player who not so much for talks a good game, but who plays one.
That was the case, yet again, following Saturday's 13-1 Class 2A-1A state semifinal victory over Joppatowne of Harford County at Reservoir High.
Braun totaled a game-high six points on five goals and an assist, Tyler Burford also scored five times, Ryan Dougherty scored once and assisted on four more goals, and Chris Gotschall assisted on three goals as the Gladiators of Howard County rose to 17-0 and moved to within one more game of earning their second straight state title.
Curtis Adams scored twice, Stephen Castro had an assist, and goalies Jon Selfrich and Alex Taylor made five saves each in a win that earned the Gladiators a berth in Tuesday's 4 p.m. title game opposite Southern of Anne Arundel County (10-6) to be played at UMBC Stadium in Catonsville of Baltimore County.
"This would be my best game in scoring goals. I know I've had a couple of times where I had six or seven goals, but that's with some assists, so this feels pretty good," said Braun, one of at least six starting seniors who returned from last year's squad.
"This definitely feels good. I've not put in that many goals in these last couple of playoff games," said Braun, whose team led, 11-1, at halftime had assists on nine goals overall. "So it feels real good to get a bunch in this one. It's a big game."
Mike McCabe, Kyle Hofstetter and Jake Isaacs played a key role in the Gladiators' defense, which has allowed, on average, only 4.5 goals per game this season.
"It's really exciting to get back, and it's really great to have a defense that plays so well as a team, with a goalie that we know we can trust, and that knows that he can trust us," said Isaacs, a senior.
"On the fastbreaks, and stuff, we know that we can trust our midfield," Isaacs said. "And it goes right to our attack. Sot it's a good setup that we have going."
The Gladiators ended an 11-game winning streak by the Mariners (13-4), who were the third team to this year to be held to one goal by Glenelg.
The Gladiators defeated Wilde Lake, 9-1, Long Reach, 17-1, and Oakland Mills, 15-1, respectively, on April 1, April 15 and April 22.
"Only letting up one goal is a heckuva game. I think we let up six goals in the last game, and the game before, we didn't do too good against South Carroll," said McCabe, referring to consecutive wins over South Carroll, by 15-9, and Century, by 14-6.
"We really stepped it up today," said McCabe. "And we're going to step it up on Tuesday."
Aaron Williams scored the Mariners' lone goal off of an assist from Adam Ivusich to bring their team within, 2-1, at 3:35 of the first quarter.
But the Gladiators clamped down from there.
"The defense has been playing really well this year. We've really bonded together, so that's really been helping us out," said Hofstetter, whose team, in Southern, next meets a squad that has won seven consecutive times.
"Every game that we go into, we just have to wait and see the [other] team," Hofstetter said. "Every team is different, but they're a good team, so we just have to play as best as we can."
Dougherty keyed the Gladiators' overall 11-7 advantage in faceoffs, including victories in five of the first six draws that he took as Glenelg jumped out to a lead of 4-1 in the first quarter.
After winning the first faceoff of the second half, Doughterty raced virtually unhindered toward the goal, where he scored to give the Gladiators a lead of 12-1.
"On the feeds, I'm just going to the goal, and every time, either Burford or Braun were wide open and sitting on the crease. I just got the ball in there, and they did the rest," said Dougherty.
"Second half, starting off, I just wanted to come out and get a goal. I had a chance on the faceoff, so I just went down there and tried to stick it in," Dougherty said.
"I think we're definitely doing the best that we've done. The offense has been putting up at least 12 goals a game in the last five games, and the defense is holding them to mostly under five," Dougherty said. "We're dinitely doing our best. I cant' be happier with it."
In victory, the Gladiators accomplished a vow made, collectively, following last year's 3A-2A state title-game win over Fallston of Harford County, said Burford.
"We have to do it. It would be a perfect season. We're not going out as seniors losing that game. We can't let that happen," said Burford.
"We knew we were a good team, and we knew we were going to be expected by a lot of teams to be in this position again," Burford said. "It's just a matter of getting it done. We've done it so far, and it's been awesome. So, we're going to keep working hard, and we're going to end it like we want to."
Class 2A-1A state semifinal at Reservoir High.
Glenelg 13, Joppatowne 1
Goals: J- Williams. G- Braun 5, Burford 5, Adams 2, Dougherty. Assists: J- Ivusich. G- Dougherty 4, Gotschall 3, Braun, Castro. Saves: J- Kuemmer 14. G- Selfrich 5, Taylor 5.
Half: 11-1, G