For the Catonsville girls lacrosse team, this was familiar territory.
On the wrong end of a lopsided score against Hereford in the Baltimore County championship game, the Comets thought back to just four days prior, when they trailed by nine to Mount de Sales before nearly storming back to win.
On this day, they were determined to finish the job.
Down by eight at halftime, No. 15 Catonsville came out of the break a different team, winning draws, securing loose balls and making defensive stop after stop, scoring the first 10 goals of the half in a stunning 13-12 win over the defending county champion at Franklin High School.
"We were all just really frustrated because we know how amazingly we can play as a team," sophomore midfielder Trinity McPherson said. "We just weren't working together, and to really come back from that we had to focus ourselves and come together as a team. We knew we had been down by a lot before and come back to almost win. In this game we were down even less, so we knew if we came together we could win."
Attackers Anderson Gill scored four goals and Lauren McDonald three while the speedy McPherson added two goals and three assists
It marked the fourth win this season by two goals or less for Catonsville (11-5), which is hoping to use the emotional win as a springboard into the upcoming regional playoffs.
"I think it will definitely be a big boost for our program," coach Cantey Evans said. "It showed a lot that the girls were able to go that far."
For much of the game however, it seemed as if they were going nowhere.
Led by midfielders Rachel Karwacki and Caroline May and attacker Maria Collacchi (three goals each), Hereford (11-6) scored on each of its first four shots, dominating nearly every aspect of the game in building an 11-3 lead by halftime.
That all changed after the break.
It started with draw controls, where junior Brianna Spinnato helped her team win seven straight draws to start the half.
"I thought the difference was draw controls," McDonald said. "We won a couple draw controls, got a couple early goals and then the momentum just switched sides.
The Comets also effectively switched up their defense, clamping down on a tactic that had caused them fits in the first half.
"It was just about seeing that second slide. That's what we were missing," Evans said. "We were staying with our defender who had the ball, but we weren't really watching off [the] ball. In the second half, we were able to stay with the cutters."
Catonsville pulled even on Kelsey Scott's drive from behind the goal with 11:49 left, then took the lead when, following a long Hereford possession that ended with a failed free position attempt, McPherson found McDonald streaking in front with 6:40 left.
"It was just an adrenaline shot," said McDonald, who beat goalie Cassidy Nozemack to the upper right-hand corner. "When you get a feed and you're cutting across, you have so much energy that you just say, 'This is it.'"
McPherson said the rally last Wednesday against Mount de Sales, despite coming up short, gave the Comets the confidence to know what they could accomplish. In that game, they trailed 10-1 before ultimately falling, 11-9.
"I think it gave us a great reference to go to," McPherson said. "We knew we had been down by a lot before and come back to almost win. In this game we were down even less, and we knew that if we came together we could win."
Girls lacrosse
Baltimore Co. championship
(at Franklin)
Catonsville 13, Hereford 12
Goals: C-Gill 4, McDonald 3, McPherson 2, McTaggart 2, Scott, Stevens; H-May 3, Collacchi 3, Karwacki 3, Reider 2, Howard. Assists: C-McPherson 3, Gill, McDonald; H-Karwacki, Katchmar, Nause, Reider. Saves: C-Herilla 4; H-Nozemack 8. Halt: Hereford, 11-3.