By Tom Peace
ToplaxRecruits.com, Posted 5/22/13
BALTIMORE – Maddie Brooks scored five goals and Zoe Stukenberg collected three goals and six assists as Marriotts Ridge dominated from the start and defeated Century, 15-5, to claim the 3A/2A Maryland Public girls’ state championship Tuesday night at UMBC.
The Mustangs (18-1), the seventh-ranked team in the TopLaxRecruits.com Top 20, played like one of the top teams in the country against No. 11 Century. Marriotss Ridge led, 7-2, at the half and never looked back against a team that had McDonogh on the ropes three weeks ago,
“This group never gets over confident, they never get cocky,” said Marriotts Ridge head coach Natalie Gaieski (98-20 career record at Marriotts Ridge). “They knew that they had to work for everything and coming in they didn’t expect this either.”
Senior Brooks scored back-to-back goals right out of the gate in the second half to give Marriotss Ridge a 9-2 lead. The Mustangs would score three more goals before Century could get on the scoreboard at the 16:07 mark of the second half.
Century (16-3) was trying to take the ball out of Marriott’s Ridges star midfielder Zoe Stukenberg’s stick, but Stukenberg just kept feeding the ball and mounted six assists in the game.
It was pure domination on the part of the Mustangs, so much that when it got to be 14-3 the mercy rule came into effect, which meant a running play clock the rest of the way.
“I don’t think Century has ever had the clock run on them before, so what I said to the underclassmen – after the game- was to remember this feeling,” said Century head coach Becky Groves.
Stukenberg, named to the Under Armour All-American team Tuesday and a Maryland signee, cemented her high school career with scoring the final goal for the Mustangs.
“It’s unbelievable,” she said. “Only one team gets to win a state championship, but to win that state championship with every single person on our team performing at their best and ending on the best possible note was a win no matter what.”
Groves credited Marriotts Ridge, but also had a positive message for her players.
“They have some great athletes,” she said. “For the most part at every position they were faster than and it’s very difficult to play when they are that much faster than you.
“But I am very proud of what we accomplished this season. In the past four years this group won two state titles and went to two others. I told them, ‘Do not let this game haunt you. Don’t dwell on it; move on because you’ve had a great career here at Century.'”
Marriotts Ridge 15, Century 5
Marriotts Ridge 7-8-15
Century 2-5- 5
Marriotts Ridge
Maddie Brooks 5g
Zoe Stukenberg 3g, 6a
Taylor Hensh 3g
Jenna Kerr 1g, a
Marissa Davey 1g
Lexi Souder 1a
Alexis Zadjura 1a
11 Draws
Rachel Ortell 10 Saves
24 shots
Century
Morgan Marrale 2g
Hannah Warther 1g
Alexa McGovern 1g
Madi Hall 1g
Kalley Wolfe 1a
Allison Remanapp 7 saves
22 shots
9 draws
First player
We didn’t come out as strong and fired up as usualy so we had to pay the consequnces for that