Maryland is home to a number of great lacrosse rivalries, including Maryland-Johns Hopkins at the college level and Gilman-McDonogh among area high schools.
However, one such rivalry has flown under the radar screen: Anne Arundel Community College and CCBC-Catonsville. The two area schools have faced off in the last three Junior College Athletic Association women?s lacrosse championships. Catonsville claimed the last two national crowns before Anne Arundel ended that streak with a 9-5 win Sunday.
The Anne Arundel Pioneers (16-2) trailed 3-2 at halftime as the Cardinals (14-3) controlled the early parts of the contest with a deliberately slow-ball control offense. Anne Arundel then stepped up its pressure on both sides of the field in the second half and outscored Catonsville 6-3 in that span.
Melissa Line (Southern-AA) scored four goals and goalie Kristine Schafer (Glen Burnie) had five saves and were selected the most valuable offensive and defensive players, respectively, for the weekend tournament for Anne Arundel. Emily Melka (Mount de Sales) scored twice for Catonsville.
“We were a little out of sync in the first half, and that only got worse as they stalled in the first half,” Pioneers coach Jim Griffiths said. “We felt like we were the team to beat this year and knew we had to regain our composure in the second half.”
Sunday?s win meant even more for a player like Schafer, an overlooked player in high school that often faced more than 40 shots a game and rarely won a game.
“It?s great playing on a team where the whole defense works together and it doesn?t always come down to just me,” Schafer said.
Cardinals coach Tom Taylor said his team needed to keep the tempo slow as they only have 16 players on the roster, three of which are injured. He added that it was a great accomplishment just for his team to get back to the title game.
“They forced us into mistakes in the second half and then their faster foot speed took over after that,” Taylor said.
COMMUNITY COLLEGE NOTES
» Sarah Maggio (Annapolis), Kristin Distad (South River), Jennifer Bohanan (Annapolis) and Kaitlin Davis made the all-tournament team for Anne Arundel. Danielle Nickles (Eastern Tech), Jennifer Witowski (Parkville), Kandice Schroeder (Catholic) and Hayley Carmack made the team for Catonsville.
» Anne Arundel won three of its four meetings against Catonsville this year.
» Anne Arundel could add another national title to it trophy case this spring as its softball program prepares for the National Junior College Athletic Association Division III tournament Thursday-Saturday.
