Cavs fall short of Blazers | Maryland Gazette (HometownGlenBurnie.com)

It's not too often that a team will lose a playoff game, then claim it met all its goals for the season.

For the Archbishop Spalding girls lacrosse team, that was the realization after yesterday's 10-8 loss at Notre Dame Prep in the Interscholastic Athletic Association of Maryland A Conference quarterfinals.

Junior attack Danielle Kirk scored three goals and added two assists for the Cavaliers, who rallied to within a pair of goals in the final minutes after trailing by as many as five in the second half.

"It's disappointing, because I feel like we could have won that game," said Spalding coach Moira Leavitt. "I told the girls I was very proud of them though. We had a list of some very reasonable goals, and we met every one of them."

The Cavaliers finished with a winning record, earned the program's first win over St. Mary's and won at least one playoff game just one year after going 5-13.

"We wanted respect, and I think the girls have earned that through hard work," Leavitt said.

Spalding, which advanced with a win over Mercy on Friday in the first round, had leads of 1-0, 2-1 and 3-2 in the first half, but watched NDP finish the half on a 5-2 run to take a 7-4 lead at halftime.

The Blazers then scored the first two goals of the second half to take a 9-4 lead with 16:41 to go.

"I really feel the game was won in the last six minutes of the first half," Leavitt said. "We switched to a different defensive set, and we gave up two quick goals and I think that's what really hurt us."

Spalding's Christy Konrad made it a 9-5 game with 13:12 to go, but the Blazers' Anna Boeri answered to push the lead back to five with just less than 10 minutes left.

Junior Rachel Hannon started the late rally with a goal at the 7:16 mark, then Kirk scored a pair of goals a minute apart to pull Spalding within 10-8 with 1:34 to go.

The Cavaliers won the ensuing draw, but Kirk was stopped on a low shot by NDP goalie Brigid Milchling, who was strong in goal with six saves.

In addition to Kirk's three goals, fellow junior Stefanie Paskal had a pair of goals for Spalding, which will return 10 seniors next year after getting a taste of playoff action this year.

"They'll be very hungry," Leavitt said. "In the beginning of the season, if they played a tough team and lost by a respectable margin, they were happy with that. Now, they want the win and can taste the win."

Eight seniors who were a big part of the resurgence of the program will graduate, including Konrad and Katie Kirk, who also scored a goal yesterday, and one of the leaders in defense in Abigail Lynch.

Spalding (14-6) 4 4 - 8

Notre Dame Prep (9-4) 7 3 - 10

GOALS: AS-D. Kirk 3, Paskal 2, K. Kirk, Konrad, Hannon. NDP-Laschinger 2, Stanwick 2, K. Ryan, A. Boeri, E. Boeri, Bozel, Harvey, Lopez. ASSISTS: AS-D. Kirk 2. NDP-Laschinger, A. Boeri, E. Boeri. SAVES: AS-Larash 11. NDP-Milchling 6. SHOTS: AS-19. NDP-24. GROUND BALLS: AS-19. NDP-30. DRAWS: AS-10. NDP-10.