The result ended Broadneck’s 30-game winning streak, which dated from 2021.

Coach Leslee Brady’s message to her team was simple: Play Spalding field hockey. The Cavaliers (11-0) did just that, earning the majority of the chances and dictating the flow of play — something they were especially motivated to do after a 4-1 loss to the Bruins last year.

“When we played [Garrison Forest] a couple of weeks ago, that was Spalding hockey. I feel like we haven’t played like that since then,” Gilman said after the game, referencing the Cavaliers’ Sept. 28 win over their Interscholastic Athletic Association of Maryland counterparts. “We stepped up today and turned the switch right back on.”

Spalding and Broadneck were scheduled to meet Sept. 9, but inclement weather forced a postponement. Immediately, both coaches made it a priority to reschedule and get their teams a test against another top squad in the state.

“We need someone to challenge and test us, and we appreciate that we get that in this game every year whether we’re on top or they’re on top,” Bruins Coach Shannon Hanratty said.

Addition by subtraction wasn’t exactly the way to describe Northern’s overhaul. The Patriots, a perennially dominant program from Calvert County, had seen powerful (and tall) outside hitters graduate over the past three seasons. They entered the fall ready to experiment but not looking to alter the expectation of a state championship.

This year, with a young and diminutive roster, the results haven’t changed. Their outside hitters are 5-foot-9 and 5-7. And they’re 12-0 without having dropped a set.

“[Coach Bobby Gibbons] has done a good job coming up with solutions to our problems,” senior setter Reese Courtney said. “And we’ve done a great job communicating.”

Certainly, the Patriots had to work out some kinks. They tried setting from the middle, but that didn’t work. They tried different rotations around their two setters, each of whom has four years of varsity starting experience. And they found that the best way to make up for a lack of height was to change the pace.

Now they’re playing faster and talking more than just about any team around.

“We have really close relationships on the team, and it really helps with our communication [in the fast-paced offense] on the court,” sophomore Jocelynn Houston said.

“We know we’re not going to overpower teams and we know we’re not going to hit over other teams,” Gibbons said. “But our philosophy this year is that speed beats height.”

Independence clinched its third consecutive Class 5 state championship Oct. 9 at Heritage Oaks in Harrisonburg. The team has won four state titles in five seasons under Coach David Larson since the school opened in 2019.

After they posted a team total of 9-over-par 289 early in the day, the Tigers’ score held up and was 13 strokes ahead of second-place Potomac Falls.

“I think the kids are very proud of what they are doing,” Larson said. “I know the school is, and I know their parents are. They’re all so into the game of golf.”

Junior Neil Kulkarni and freshman Samuel Han led the way for Independence, finishing their rounds tied for the second-lowest individual score at 1-under 69. Junior Sujaan Singh joined them in the top 10 with a 4-over 74.

The culture of success from previous seasons has been passed down from upperclassmen to underclassmen, helping the team bond and preparing newer players for what it takes to win a title.

“They’re kind of like mentors to me,” Han said of his older teammates. “They guide me and give me some pointers — and they calm my nerves down whenever we have a big tournament like this.”

With only one senior departing at the end of this year, Independence will look to find itself on this stage again next season, when it will be shooting for a fourth consecutive championship.

“It would mean so much to me,” said Kulkarni, who has won a state title in all three years of high school. “Our team works hard every day, and lots of hours go into [winning a championship]. It would be awesome.”

In recent years, Interstate Athletic Conference soccer has come to be defined by a series of matches between St. Albans and Landon. The programs have tussled for conference supremacy, facing each other in several crucial regular season games and each of the past two tournament championships.

On Oct. 10, the programs faced off for the first time this season, and the Bulldogs came away with a 4-1 win. St. Albans is 9-1-1, squarely in first place in the IAC with two weeks remaining in the regular season.

“I don’t know that I have any grand answer about what makes this team so strong,” Coach Brian Schultz said. “We just have a lot of guys that put in the work and come in and push each other. Our success is really by committee, with a lot of guys contributing in different ways.”

Led by two four-year varsity captains in defender Jack Sabel and midfielder Charlie Irwin, the roster features a good blend of youth and experience. With one look at the team’s results, it’s clear the Bulldogs have talent on the defensive end. After Friday’s 5-1 win over Bullis, they have allowed just five goals in all competitions.

“We spend a lot of time talking about our defensive unit and how we want to play defensively — maybe to a fault sometimes,” Schultz said. “But that’s just part of the philosophy here: We want to tighten up defensively first, and then we worry about moving forward.”

When Emerson Scott joined Severna Park’s starting back line last season, she dubbed the group the “core four.”

The nickname quickly caught on with the rest of the Falcons. Seniors Francesca Dunoyer, Ryn Feemster and Caitlyn Boucher, currently in their third season of starting together, have teamed up with Scott to form one of the stingiest defenses in the area.

“It’s funny that people picked up on that,” Dunoyer said. “It just shows that we just have an unbreakable bond back in the defense.”

Severna Park’s back line has played a large part in its success this season. The Falcons have conceded just two goals in nine games and recorded seven clean sheets en route to a 9-0 record.

Coach Rick Stimpson praised his defenders’ consistency and noted their familiarity with one another has benefited Severna Park, something that started long before they took the field together for the Falcons. Dunoyer, Feemster and Boucher played youth soccer together around the age of 8 and believe the time they’ve spent together on and off the pitch since has bolstered their chemistry.

“We know we’re going to be in every game based on those players in the back,” Stimpson said.

Severna Park ended last season with a region final loss to Broadneck and missed a chance at the Anne Arundel County championship because of a regular season loss to Chesapeake. Although the Falcons have lofty aspirations, their first shot at redemption comes this week with a chance to claim the county title.

“We tend not to think about the future. Obviously winning states, especially as seniors, is just our ultimate dream,” Dunoyer said. “But just taking it one game at a time and one week at a time is what we’re prioritizing right now.”

Joe and Michael Tafe have been inseparable since they were little boys. As soon as older brother Joe got on the track, Michael did, too. Joe joined cross-country; Michael followed suit shortly after.

On Saturday, at the Third Battle Invitational in Winchester, the two were connected in a different way.

Joe, a junior at Loudoun County, and Michael, a freshman, finished within a half-second of each other at the meet, with an almost identical 16:25 time. Joe finished in 26th place and Michael in 27th among more than 160 runners.

Each also came down with a lower leg problem; Joe had pain in his shin, and Michael’s pace was thrown into disarray midway through the race.

“I had my shoe stepped on and it had fallen off, so I ran two miles with basically no shoe on,” Michael said.

With all the success Michael has seen in his first season (he’s one of the top freshman runners in Virginia), his big brother is happy to see him shine, even though he needed to point out one thing.

“Usually when I’m healthy and 100 percent, I don’t think Michael’s really that close,” Joe said, laughing.

Paul VI Coach Kate Thompson remembers speaking candidly with her team in a postgame huddle following an early-season loss. She and her players knew they weren’t fully showcasing their talent on the court, so the team talked it out before heading home.

“It was really about bringing the right energy to our practices and to our matches,” Thompson said. “The whole team participated. … Coaches gave their thoughts; the team gave their thoughts.”

Thompson quickly felt the energy shift. She saw players worry more about their effort in practice than what had happened during school that day, knowing that better practice habits would translate to more favorable results in match play.

“The next practice after that really was when the whole team sort of came together and showed the energy that I knew they had,” Thompson said.

Weeks later, with the Washington Catholic Athletic Conference championships around the corner, Thompson feels the Panthers have hit their stride. The team rebounded from tough losses to Good Counsel and Elizabeth Seton with an 8-1 win over Saint John Paul the Great, and it has continued to bring an improved effort to practices and matches.