Eagles stun Tigers on senior night to prevent county sweep, end decade-long streak

By Victor Hensley

CHESAPEAKE CITY - Four years ago, a group of Bo Manor freshmen joined the school’s field hockey team and set a goal for themselves: beat every team in Cecil County at least once by the end of their senior year. With the team fresh off of a 2-11 season in 201819, a goal that lofty – given the talented field hockey teams the county’s known for – seemed a little farfetched.

That is, until the Eagles got one step closer last Wednesday.

On an emotional, action-packed senior night, Bo Manor (7-4-1) stunned the Rising Sun Tigers (7-4) by earning a hard-fought victory, 2-0, that not only squashed the Tigers’ shot at the county sweep, but also ended the Eagles’ decadeplus-long losing streak to their cross-county rivals.

“This is a team we haven’t beaten in a long time,” said Lizzy Lynn, one of Bo Manor’s five seniors, when asked about the Tigers. “We know that, just watching who they played and who they beat, that we beat practically the same teams. And so we're like, ‘They're at our level.’ We knew it was going to be tough.”

Despite the daunting challenge in front of them – and the immense pressure it could’ve brought along with it – the Eagles had no trouble getting up for a game of this magnitude.

Defensively, Bo Manor stifled Rising Sun’s attack for most of the evening, allowing just one shot on goal as it strove to keep the Tigers out of its circle and keep its goalkeeper, freshman Sophie Azoulay, from having to make too many difficult saves.

“Hannah (Tuck- er), Katie (Scott) and Lizzy (Lynn) have done an amazing job of keeping people out of the circle,” said Caitlan Gartland, the Eagles’ head coach. “Lizzy, I don’t know how many times she just picks it off, she takes it up as far as she can, and they’re so, so solid and reliable that way.”

This Eagles’ defensive showcase was far from a flash in the pan, however, as they’ve been shutting down opposing offenses for weeks.

Bo Manor hasn’t allowed a goal in nearly a month, since Sept. 26, when it suffered a lopsided loss to Oxford Area, 12-0.

Since then, the Eagles have been nearly perfect, keeping teams out of the cage and the circle as a whole, limiting any sort of scoring chances and wearing down opposing attackers.

The big emphasis for Gartland and Bo Manor over the course of the team’s hot streak: possession.

Against Rising Sun, Bo Manor not only managed to keep them out of the circle, but controlled possession for all 60 minutes, racking up five penalty corners to the Tigers’ three in the process.

“We preach a possession game,” Gartland said. “You can't score if you don't have possession. I think our defense was critical. Rising Sun moves the ball really, really beautifully. I just think that our defenders were able to read that and pick it off and step confidently in towards it.”

Offensively, the Eagles wasted no time drawing first blood as freshman Lia Beaudet slotted a shot into the left corner of the cage less than seven minutes into the opening quarter, giving her team an early 1-0 advantage.

Then, the Eagles’ defense kicked in, holding onto the one-goal lead for most of the contest.

But, in what was undoubtedly crunch time for Rising Sun, Bo Manor junior Gabby Rhoades banged in a point-blank goal right past Tigers goalkeeper Anna Callaghan to give the Eagles some much-needed insurance, 2-0, and put the game on ice.

For Gartland, this year’s senior class has a special place in her heart, being the first group she’s coached for the entirety of their careers.

The tears were inevitable.

“These five [Lynn, Scott, Tucker, Maddy Usher, Aly Strusowski] are so special,” Gartland said. “I’ve been crying since preseason. I came in with a really clear coaching philosophy: I wanted to turn this 1-12 team into a winning program. And they bought into that immediately and put in the work. And they're not just hard-working kids who have high expectations for themselves and others, but they have fun. They love to be together, year-round. … I'd like to have four more years with them.”

The Class of 2023 may have checked one box off of its list by beating Rising Sun, but one team still remains: the North East Indians, who the Eagles lost to earlier this season, 3-0, and haven’t conquered since 2016. They could have one more shot at the Indians in regionals, however, which begin this week.

On the other side, Rising Sun lost four of its last five games to end the regular season as the team appears to be limping into regionals after playing a brutal schedule down the stretch. With as talented a group as they have, though, the Tigers don’t seem to be worried.

“Every game is a stepping stone,” said Katie Keyes, the Tigers’ head coach. “We have a long time until our next game, so our goal is to look at this game – and the other games we won and lost – and try to improve on those things (we didn’t do well). … The whole season is building toward playoffs, so, mentally, that’s where we need to focus.”