Last season McDonogh's No. 1 girls lacrosse team dominated the draw much of the time with Olivia Jenner at center. This year, the Eagles have two Jenners to give them an even bigger edge on the draw with the addition of freshman Maddie.
The sisters helped the Eagles win 11 of the first 13 draws Thursday against No. 2 Roland Park and run up a nine-goal lead en route to an 18-14 victory. The win extended their national-record streak to 117 straight.
In the rematch of last year's Interscholastic Athletic Association of Maryland A Conference championship won by the six-time defending champion Eagles, the Reds managed only a couple of minutes of possession as the Eagles made their initial run.
"Draw control is the name of this game," said Reds coach Kristin Nicolini, "especially the way defense is played nowadays and they got a lot of draws. When you don't have the ball in your stick it's hard to score …and that hurt us today."
Brindi Griffin's free-position goal gave the Eagles (5-0, 2-0 conference) a lead they would never surrender just over a minute into the game. Olivia Jenner scored the next two goals and the Eagles led 3-0 before Roland Park touched the ball.
Roland Park's Chelsea Kovinsky won the fourth draw leading to a Francesca Whitehurst goal that cut the lead to 3-1 with 20:53 left in the half, but the Reds couldn't swing the momentum as the Eagles reeled off the next seven goals. Another Griffin goal on a feed from Catie May made it 10-1 with 12:20 left in the first half.
While the Jenner sisters won one draw each during the opening run, they did a great job placing it where their teammates could get it. Elizabeth George picked off five, crashing in from the circle.
For Olivia Jenner, who is headed to Duke next year, having her sister on the team is a bonus when it comes to the draw.
"It definitely helps a lot having that connection, because she knows what I do and I know what she does, so we're able to help each other out when we're subbing and say like, 'Push a little more,' or 'Take some pressure off,' that type of thing," said Olivia Jenner, who led the Eagles with five goals.
The Eagles took their biggest lead of the game on a pair of extra-man goals to start the second half. Kelsey Cummings scored the last of her four goals on a feed from George to boost the lead to 15-4 with 20:57 left.
The Reds (4-2, 3-1) cut the lead to nine several times, but the Eagles were able to answer, taking an 18-8 lead into the final six minutes. Then the Reds rallied.
Anna Hauser, who led Roland Park with four goals, won three of the last five draws. She and Kovinsky scored twice and Marsie Salvatori had a goal and an assist in a six-goal finishing run.
The Eagles, who are back in action Saturday at home against No. 4 Archbishop Spalding, also got two goals and two assists from Griffin, two goals and an assist from Savannah Buchanan and a goal and two assists from George. Goalie Gabbe Cadoux had 11 saves.
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