The John Carroll girls soccer team came up short in last fall's Interscholastic Athletic Association of Maryland A Conference playoffs after a strong regular season. But the Patriots did better in indoor soccer.
John Carroll scored three goals in the final 10 minutes to rally for a 5-3 victory over Maryvale in the IAAM A Conference championship game 10 days ago at Du Burns Arena.
This was the school's first indoor soccer conference title. Maryvale won last year's crown after the Institute of Notre Dame took the three previous championships.
Brittany Dashiell led the Patriots with three goals. Paige Hollenback added two, and Colleen O'Connell had one more. Goalie Tori Ripple made 14 saves to help John Carroll bounce back from a slow start.
John Carroll had to rally from a couple of one-goal deficits to pull out the victory. The Patriots trailed 3-2 with 10 minutes left, and Dashiell scored the tying and go-ahead goals. Hollenback added an insurance goal.
Coach Gary Lynch's team lost to top-seeded IND and tied Maryvale during the season, so he altered his team's style late in the season. He made the Patriots play a more pressing style.
The new defensive approach quickly created a lot of turnovers and led to scoring chances.
The Patriots finished with a 9-1-2 record overall. Maryvale entered as the No. 4 seed but upset top-seeded IND in the semifinals.
Indoor track and field -- The C. Milton Wright girls took seventh place in the recent Class 4A Central regional meet. The Mustang girls won the Class 4A state championship in cross country during the fall, and while indoor track isn't an official sport in the county, it helps keep them in shape for the spring. The Fallston girls did just as well in their regional meet, taking seventh in Class 3A Central. ... There's been a in dates of the state championship meets. Originally scheduled for tomorrow (Class 1A and 2A) and Tuesday (Class 3A and 4A), the ice storm that hit 11 days ago pushed back a regional race, which changed part of the state format.Tomorrow's races remain the same, starting at 11 a.m. at the Prince George's Sports & Learning Complex. But Class 4A now is set for the next day at 4 p.m., with Class 3A being moved back to Feb. 25 at 4 p.m.