[Baltimore Sun] No. 1 Spalding field hockey edges No. 6 Garrison Forest, 1-0, locks up IAAM top seed
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Leslee Brady has coached the Spalding field hockey team to 359 wins since taking over the program in 1998. On Tuesday, the retiring Brady led the top-ranked Cavaliers through her final regular-season game on a warm, sunny afternoon at Garrison Forest.
And after facing the team they’ve met in the Interscholastic Athletic Association of Maryland A Conference finals each of the past four seasons, it’s clear there’s still one more goal to accomplish.
Senior Skyler Gilman scored off a feed from junior Ella Jane Ostrowski early in the second quarter and Spalding’s pressure defense kept the powerful Grizzlies at bay the rest of the way in a 1-0 win that locked down the No. 1 seed in next week’s conference tournament, where the Cavaliers will be aiming for their first title since 2021.
“Coming out of here with a win has to boost our confidence, but we know this game means nothing,” Brady said. “It’s the game two weeks from now…”
That game, the Nov. 3 IAAM A Conference championship at Stevenson University, is where the Cavaliers hope to give their coach a sweet going-away gift, following back-to-back losses to Garrison in the tournament finals the past two years. On Tuesday, they made that road a tad easier.
As the top seed, Spalding (16-0-1 overall, 6-0 conference) — currently ranked No. 24 in the nation by MAX Field Hockey — will begin the tournament in the semifinals against the winner of the first-round game between the Nos. 4 and 5 seeds. Garrison (6-2-3, 4-1) and Bryn Mawr (also 4-1 in the conference) will meet in their regular-season finale Thursday to determine the No. 2 seed, and potentially could face each other again in the semifinals.
“We’ve won championships from the first seed to the fourth seed, so does it really matter?” Brady said. “It’s nice, because you end up playing the winner of 4-5 vs. the winner of 3-6, but there’s a lot more parity in our conference than there has been in a long time.”
The parity between these two teams was evident from the outset. After Spalding failed to convert three first-quarter penalty corners, the Grizzlies turned the final one into a fast-break the other way, quickly getting the ball out to senior Izzy Vickery in transition, but coming up empty.
Only minutes later, Gilman’s effort put Spalding in front.
“We just kept putting pressure on them, kept playing our game and not letting anything get to us,” Gilman said. “Right when we had the opportunity, I was just wide open and just took the shot.”
Spalding midfielder Ella Jane Ostrowski brings the ball upfield while pursued by Garrison Forest defender Augusta Santarelli as midfielder Calia Eckenrode watches. (Karl Merton Ferron/Staff)
Despite five more penalty corners after halftime, the Cavaliers could never extend their lead. Time and again, however, they made big plays to cut off Garrison’s drives, with seniors Jilly Lawn and Stella Bumgarner leading a defense that has allowed just one goal in its past five games.
“It was about stepping to the ball early and stepping to the ball outside of the circle,” Lawn said. “That way, they didn’t get those opportunities. A lot of the time, it’s on our midfielders coming back for recovery and then communicating with us, and I feel like we did a great job with that today.”
Garrison Forest kept within striking distance thanks to a standout defensive effort and the play of senior goalie Ryleigh Cabral (4 saves). But for the first time in 11 games this season, the Grizzlies failed to score, despite a handful of prime opportunities.
“I feel like in the third and fourth quarter we had some great opportunities, and I was hoping just one would fall our way,” Grizzlies coach Alli Bitting said. “I felt like it was a pretty even game, and I was really proud of the way our girls played. We’ll tweek a few things moving forward and hopefully be ready for playoffs.”
For Brady, the end of a storied high school coaching career is in sight. Still, she knows there’s plenty of work remaining.
“I’m just going game by game,” Brady said. “I’m not sure when it will hit me, but I’m sure it will, and I know I’m going to miss it a lot more than I think I will. It’s my last regular-season game, but the nice thing is we have more games, and we have a goal for what the last game will be.”
Archbishop Spalding 1, Garrison Forest 0
Goals: AS-Gilman. Assists: AS-Ostrowski. Saves: AS-Pearce 3; GF-Cabral 4. Half: Spalding, 1-0.
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