Led by their stalwart defense and midfield positioning, the Bethesda-Chevy Chase Barons defeated the Walter Johnson Wildcats 2-0 in the first round of the 4A state championship playoffs on Thursday. The familiarity of their opponent helped, as the Bethesda schools faced off at the beginning of October.
“We kind of knew what they were about,” Head Coach Colby Wright said. “[They’re an] athletic team, always a good game. Just holding our positioning really separates us and makes the difference in games that we play. We trust each other.”
The Barons offense flowed through a combination of teamwork, quick, accurate passing and a defensive performance by junior Hannah Brooker, who from beginning to end flew up field to attack outlet passes.
“Hannah understood her assignment tonight,” Wright said. “She was a brick wall back there. She broke down her feet, adapted to how ‘WJ’ was playing and was just able to make crucial saves throughout the game.”
The Barons offense opened the scoring early into the game as junior Roxana Stayeas slotted a goal with some efficient passing leading the Barons into the circle with 3:53 remaining in the first period.
“I think it was a really good team-building goal because it was a lot of passes [turning] into the goal,” Stayeas said. “It was kind of a good foreshadow [for] how we were going to play for the rest of the game. I think it was good that we were already starting to connect early on.”
It would take a while before the second and final goal of the match from Barons senior Mila Mojto late in the third quarter.
Facing heavy pressure, Wildcats goaltender Shae McCloskey withstood much of the offensive onslaught including a breakaway stop on Stayeas to keep the score at 2-0 as the clock wound down in the third quarter. McCloskey, a junior, and the Wildcats defense also battled through more than a dozen penalty corners, which they gave up only one goal on the 13 tries.
On the other end, Barons goaltender Abby Schrader notched her second shutout against the Wildcats this season.
“I just had to keep calm, stay focused, trust my defense and make sure I’m talking to them,” said Schrader, a junior. “If I know where they are and they know where I am, then we can trust each other and make the saves we made.”
With the Barons moving on, they’ll face the Walt Whitman Vikings, who defeated the Richard Montgomery Rockets 6-0. Wright said the message is clear on how they will need to play to defeat the Vikings.
“Just finishing. We have to finish every opportunity we have,” Wright said. “It was a close game [against Walt Whitman] in the regular season. It was a 1-0 win for us. Hoping to repeat that. It’s going to be a physical, intense game. We just got to keep our composure, get to the ball and finish.”
