McDonogh's No. 1 girls lacrosse team is known for its balanced attack, but the Eagles defense has also grown into a unit that can overwhelm opponents.
On Thursday against No. 12 Notre Dame Prep, which had scored 50 goals in its previous three games, the Eagles shut off the attack and rolled to a 15-4 victory in the Interscholastic Athletic Association of Maryland A Conference semifinal.
The host Eagles (21-0) extended their national-record girls lacrosse winning streak to 154 and can finish their seventh straight undefeated season in Saturday's 7 p.m. title game against No. 3 Roland Park at Archbishop Spalding.
McDonogh hasn't lost since April 2009 and the Eagles have won seven straight A Conference championships. This will be their third straight title tilt with the Reds, who defeated No. 14 Severn, 11-10, in overtime Thursday.
The Blazers (13-7), who won their last A Conference title in 2003, haven't beaten McDonogh in 10 years and they know what makes the Eagles so tough to counter — the combination of that defense; a balanced, efficient offense; and consistent possession off the draws and 50-50 balls.
"The key was our defense and our goalie [Gabbe Cadoux] really played a good game," Eagles coach Chris Robinson said. "Our offense did the normal stuff, but our defense was above and beyond."
Sarah Dohler and Marge Donovan played key roles in shutting out the Blazers' top two attackers, Grace Haus and Hannah Mardiney, who combined for 10 goals in Tuesday's win over St. Mary's. Nicole Alecce, Julia Dorsey and Sam Thacker helped contain the rest of the Blazers as only two of them scored.
"I think they're a really high-powered offense," said Eagles midfielder Savannah Buchanan, who also plays on the defensive end. "So we knew we were going to have shut off some of their key players and we were going to make the other players play against our five defenders. So I think that was really the key, just shutting off some of their top scorers … and also coming up with some key ground balls that could have been momentum changers in their favor."
Dohler won the first draw on a ground ball and Brindi Griffin found a low corner for the first Eagles goal less than two minutes into the game. NDP won the next draw and Katie Railey tied it, but McDonogh's Maddie Jenner won the two straight draws to spark a four-goal run. Buchanan fed Rachel Anderson to make it 5-2 with 18:55 left.
The Blazers got one back on Gillian Eby's goal. But Anna Robinson and Blair Pearre added goals before the half and the Eagles scored the first five of the second half to take a 12-2 lead on Julia Hoffman's goal with 19:37 left.
That kicked in the running clock and time ran out on the Blazers' upset bid.
Ten Eagles scored, led by three goals from Griffin and two each from Jenner, Robinson and Pearre. They converted 15 of 21 shots.
"When we got it on our side, they were trying to cut off me and Catie [May] and there are so many girls who can make an impact on the field, so it didn't really do anything to stop us," Griffin said.
The Blazers couldn't counter the Eagles on the draw either. McDonogh won 14 of 21 draws and Jenner won five.
NDP coach Mac Ford used three players on the draw, but Jenner and her teammates handled each of them.
"It's very simple," Ford said of the Eagles' victory. "They dominate draw controls. … They're very good at getting the ball. Obviously, Maddie Jenner's terrific getting the ball up high, but even when the ball's on the ground, they were coming up with it and they just have a tremendous knack of that and that's a puzzle that no one over the last eight years has been able to solve."
Ford noted that Century did a good job against the Eagles on the draw two weeks ago and pushed them to overtime before falling, 12-11. McDonogh rallied from a four-goal deficit with just over eight minutes to go.
The Eagles were also down by four goals in last year's championship game against Roland Park, but came back in the final 14 minutes to win, 15-14, in regulation. The Eagles won, 16-13, in 2014 against the Reds, who have never won an IAAM A Conference title though they dominated the IAAM's predecessor — the Association of Independent Schools A Conference — in the early 1990s with five straight titles from 1991 to 1995 and another in 1998.
With storms forecast for the area Saturday afternoon and evening, there is a chance the title game will be moved to Sunday. A final decision could be made Friday.
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1McDonogh 15, 12NDP 4
Goals: M—Griffin 3, Jenner 2, Robinson 2 Pearre 2, Buchanan, Anderson, Aldave, May, Hoffman, Kessler; NDP—Railey 3, Eby. Assists: M—Buchanan, Anderson, Dorsey, Jenner, Aldave; NDP—none. Saves: M—Cadoux 4; Cooper 2; NDP—Lowe 4. Half: M—7-2.