Looking to put an exclamation point on a demanding three-game stretch that covered the past week, the No. 1 McDonogh girls soccer team didn't need any added motivation going against No. 3 Mercy on Monday.
It was the Magic who upset the Eagles in the opening round of the Interscholastic Athletic Association of Maryland A Conference playoffs last year.
Not this time.
With juniors Ashley Spivey and Taylor Cummings each scoring two goals and adding an assist, the Eagles dominated the visiting Magic to come away with a comfortable 5-1 win in Owings Mills.
McDonogh improves to 11-0-1 overall and 8-0-1 in the IAAM, while Mercy (11-2-2 overall) falls to 4-1-1 in the conference.
"Last year, they beat us in the playoffs, and we haven't played them since, so it's been a revenge thing. It's something we've wanted the entire season, and it's our Senior Day, so when we came out, we wanted to play hard," Cummings said.
It was the visitors who started fast, getting a goal from freshman Anna Borkowski just seven minutes into play, but the early deficit served as a wake-up call for the Eagles, who were quicker to the ball and won the important one-on-one battles to make the difference.
Spivey headed home a corner kick from Mallory Schonk midway through the first half to tie the score, and the Eagles took the lead for good when Cummings scored on a header off a cross by Anna Bialczak with 5:42 left in the half.
Bialczak scored off an assist from Spivey to push the lead to 3-1 in the opening minutes of the second half.
After knocking off No. 4 John Carroll, 4-1, on Oct. 11, the Eagles tied Archbishop Spalding, the defending league champion and ranked No. 3 at the time, 1-1, on Wednesday before finishing the tough stretch of schedule Monday.
"We're coming back with a strong statement that we want to go all the way this year and we think we can do it," Spivey said. "I think with the way our team is playing -- our defense is solid, our offense is kicking right now -- it's going to take a lot for somebody to beat us."
Mercy coach Doug Pryor said he hopes his Magic take the loss as a valuable lesson. Last year, the Magic lost decisively to McDonogh in the regular season, only to avenge the setback in the postseason.
"We've had a good year so far, but McDonogh is the standard," Pryor said. "Today was a different speed and a different level. Some of our kids have never played at that speed yet, and they got introduced to it today. So hopefully we learn from it and the next game, we get better."
Goals: Me—Borkowski; Mc—Spivey 2, Cummings 2, Bialczak. Assists: Mc—Schonk, Bialczak, Spivey, Cummings, Martinez. Saves: Me—Bourne 7; Mc—Ruhl 2. Half: Mc, 2-1
