More News

The Bethesda-Chevy Chase High field hockey team earned the moniker of "Queens of Bethesda" earlier this season, but the team's dominance in the county has exceeded simply beating up on its neighborhood rivals.

With Tuesday's 2-1 win over Walter Johnson (11-3) during 4A West Region semifinal action in hand, the Barons (12-2) improved to 11-0 against county opponents, including two wins over the rival Wildcats, taking another step toward a different title: "Queens of Montgomery County."

B-CC's run through the county may not be over; it could face either Paint Branch (14-2) or Magruder (10-6), who square off in the 4A South Region final Thursday, during 4A state semifinal play next Monday. But to do that, the second-seeded Barons will have to dispatch undefeated and top-seeded Westminster during Thursday's West Region final.

B-CC is 1-2 against teams outside the county, but those losses were to Anne Arundel County powerhouses Broadneck and Severna Park in early September.

"We're definitely really excited because we've never played them before, so it's a new challenge," said Barons senior Rachel Ruda, who scored her team's first goal of the match. "It will be a challenge, for sure. We are a very, very good team this year. We have a really good balance of seniors, juniors and sophomores. We're all experienced."

The Barons looked exceptional in the first five minutes of the match, punching in a pair of goals to take command of the match in quick order. Ruda converted the first score with 27 minutes, 13 seconds left in the first half. She banged in a goal off an assist from Sunny Cobb during a quick transition down the field. The shot came from just inside the circle.

"I think that we were really pumped up," Ruda said. "We've been preparing for this game for a really long time. We knew we had to go out and give it our all, because last time we played them [a 2-1 overtime win], we didn't do as well as we had hoped. So I think we just worked really well in the first five minutes. It was quick and easy."

Exactly two minutes later, Jenn Dewey, a junior forward, flicked in a shot during a penalty corner. The team's first shot during the corner was saved by Walter Johnson goalkeeper Marjorie McCurry, but Dewey was able to control the rebound and flick the ball into the goal for a 2-0 lead.

The play evened out the rest of the first half with both teams having chances to score. B-CC squandered some of its opportunities on corners because of over-passing, while the Wildcats had a shot by Taylor Swift roll just wide of the goal from the left post.

"I wish we would put 60 minutes of that together," said Barons coach Amy Wood of her team's fast start. "I think [we] let them back in the game. We probably shouldn't have. You know they're a good team. They're going to come back. We weren't shooting [after the first two goals]."

Walter Johnson continued to raise its level of play in the second half, eventually leading to a goal by senior midfielder Georgina Beven, who crushed a long shot from the top of the circle during a penalty corner. Beven had her first attempt blocked, but she regrouped and fired an open look into the cage to trim the lead to 2-1 with 2:45 left in the match.

"They just weren't settled," said Wildcats coach Erika Murray of her squad. "The first five minutes, my team didn't look they knew what they were doing. That cost us. It was a great season."

The Wildcats continued to hold possession and pressure the goal, but the Barons defense, led by goalkeeper Lauren Serpan and defender Meredith Storm, proved to be too stout at the end. Serpan stopped a breakaway by Alexis Wang with just over five minutes left in the match.