Cavaliers show no Mercy, win 3rd title in 4 years

Maggie Morrison didn't have a set plan. She was just tired of failing.

Morrison overcame first-half struggles in front of Mercy's airtight defense and blasted a game-winning goal early in the second to pace Archbishop Spalding to a 2-0 victory and a third Interscholastic Athletic Association of Maryland A Conference crown in four years.

"I just kind of take the ball and go," Morrison said. "If it goes in, great. If it doesn't, I'm going to work 10 times harder to put it in the net."

She proved it in the 42nd minute.

After the Magic's defense survived a consistent barrage of first-half penetration, Morrison took a pass from Annie Hogan on the left side and dribbled to the corner of the 18. Morrison cut through two defenders and drove a 20-yard shot past goalkeeper Rachel Bourne into the far side to break a scoreless tie and give the Cavaliers (20-0-1) their first 20-win season in program history.

"When she did that, we knew we were going to win," Archbishop Spalding coach Bob Dieterle said.

Mo Ostrowski added insurance with her first varsity goal with 8:10 left, and the Cavaliers' midfield and defense held Mercy (12-5-3) quiet.

Mercy took just a second-half shot, and Jocelyn McCoy didn't make a save in her 15th shutout.

"We try and make her look good, so she doesn't have to do much work," said Cavaliers defender Olivia Tomoff, whose 30-yard shot in the 31st minute hit the crossbar.

Morrison's goal ended Mercy's improbable run through the postseason. Ranked seventh, the Magic knocked off No. 2 McDonogh, 1-0, and No. 3 Notre Dame Prep in penalty kicks to clinch a finals berth.

Mercy fought off five corner kicks and eight shots during the opening half, but Morrison capitalized on the Cavaliers' first take in the second.

"We weren't coming here to play for a tie or anything like that," Magic coach Albert Oni said. "We came here to win, and we truly believed we could win. … Spalding, at one point ranked the No. 1 team in the nation, scored a No. 1-type goal."

Archbishop Spalding, which allowed six goals in 21 games, didn't let Mercy seriously threaten. The Magic put together a short run inside with 29 minutes left, but Dani Beard quelled it with two stops in a five-second span.

Jordan Stenger played a deep pass inside to Alexis Prior-Brown, and Beard deflected her potential feed to the goal box. The ball kicked back to Alex Pryor, and Beard blocked her 12-yard shot.

"The game's not over until the last whistle, and we just kept playing like it was 0-0," said Courtney Hoyes, who scored four goals in the Cavaliers' postseason, including both in a double-overtime, semifinal victory against John Carroll.

Hoyes nearly added a fifth with 19:15 to play.

Morrison cut through the left side of the 18 and directed a pass back to Hoyes in the middle. Hoyes' shot deflected off Mercy's Emily Borkowski and rolled to the net, and Samantha DeRoose came off the goal line for the clear.

"I saw Rachel Bourne go off to the side, and I covered for her," DeRoose said. "I saw the ball and cleared it out as soon as possible."

Ostrowski got it back 11 minutes later when she booted a left-footed cross into the net's upper-right corner to make it 2-0.

A freshman, Ostrowski was the junior-varsity team's leading scorer and earned a promotion when the playoffs began.

"It just happened," said Ostrowski, who entered when Teresa Doyle left with an injury in the 45th minute. "I was there at the right moment."

The Cavaliers, who won titles in 2006 and 2008, could have had more if not for Mercy's defense. They failed to convert on three corners in the first 8:40.

Bourne blocked Hoyes' close shot with 31:50 left in the half, and she made a diving save on Tomoff's 25-yarder on the left post three minutes later.

"Our girls tried the best they could," Oni said. "It just wasn't enough to pull the win out."

Hoyes took a low feed on the left from Morrison in the 14th minute and faked past two defenders near the end line. She turned back toward the goal, but sailed her shot wide.

Morrison laid a spin move on the Magic in the 26th, only to drive a shot over the crossbar.

Morrison made up for it, though.

"Usually, the games that are close, we come off (the field) and step it up a notch and take it to the next level," Morrison said. "We definitely did that coming out in the second half. We had the momentum, and we took it."

Mercy (12-5-3) 0 0 - 0

Arch. Spalding (20-0-1) 0 2 - 2

GOALS: AS - Morrison, Ostrowski. ASSISTS: AS - Hogan. SAVES: ME - Bourne 4; AS - McCoy 0. SHOTS: ME - 1; AS - 11. CORNERS: ME - 0; AS - 7.