
Towson High’s field hockey team is all smiles after winning Baltimore County championship over Catonsville last night.

STROKE OF VICTORY

“Perfect” shot by Powers lifts Towson over Catonsville for Baltimore County field hockey title

by Derek Toney

What a difference a field made for Towson High School’s field hockey team last night.

Playing under the lights on Catonsville’s immaculate field turf, the Generals upended the host Comets, 1-0, to win the Baltimore County championship. In avenging a 1-0 defeat nearly three weeks ago, Towson improved its record to 11-2.

Caitlin Powers’ goal off a corner shot with five minutes, 43 seconds remaining in regulation was all the Generals needed. Towson coach Holly West said it was just another day at the office for her squad.

“We’ve had a lot of close battles this year and we won a lot of games 1-0,” said West, whose team garnered its 10th shutout. “We had some tough games against some very tough teams. We’re fortunate to get the job done, but we’re not giving ourselves any cushion.”

“We came out with a lot more confidence and drive to win,” said Generals’ sophomore midfielder Alex McGovern. “We got it done.”

Towson flipped the script on the Comets (11-2), who got an early second-half goal from Shelby Polk for the game-winner earlier this month on their regular field which Powers said “was like a desert with mountains.”

“It was a dustbowl,” said West. “We were pounding, you couldn’t see the ball because all the dust, rocks and stuff. It’s totally different; you can see a team’s stick skills and their talents on a field like this.”

Powers took a pass from McGovern and cleanly stroke the ball from about seven yards out, right through the legs of Catonsville’s goalie Katie Winters. After watching the Generals miss numerous corner shots opportunities, Powers was surprised they finally executed.

“We had a lot of backswings which is when you bring your stick up and that’s more time,” said Powers, Towson’s leading scorer. “I just did a push pass and it worked smoothly.”

“Powers is a good last name for her because she’s a powerful player,” said West. “One thing though she sometimes get that big high stick which on a corner you need get rid of that ball quickly before the defense has a chance to set up. She didn’t take the big swing, just a nice push and it was perfectly place.”

The Comets thought they had the perfect situation last night, hosting the finals in their home crowd. Instead, Catonsville absorbed its first setback since the opening week of the regular season when they lost to Centennial.

“We didn’t put any pressure on their goalkeeper what so ever, and usually our forward line is a strength,” said Comets coach P.J. Harrison. “We’re going to have to rework a couple of things so that the next time we see Towson, hopefully, it will be a different end to the story.”

Both teams will look to add another chapter in a couple of weeks in the state Class 3A North Region playoffs, where Catonsville and Towson are the top two seeds. The Comets will host either Patapsco or Franklin in the quarterfinals Thursday while Towson gets either North Harford or Bel Air.

        With the Baltimore County championship in tow, the Generals won’t be short on confidence.

        “You have a team that kind of folds or you have a team that really steps up, and this team has stepped up,” said West, who has five sophomores in the starting lineup. “They’ve managed to get it done when it really counted. They earned this tonight and I hope they keep on rolling.”

BALTIMORE COUNTY FIELD HOCKEY CHAMPIONSHIP
Towson 1, Catonsville 0
Goals: Towson-Powers. Assists: Towson-McGovern. Saves: Towson-Muhvich 2; Catonsville-Winters 5.