Henson’s late goal lifts No. 4 Glenelg past Hereford for 2A state field hockey championship
CLASS 2A STATE FIELD HOCKEY CHAMPIONS
GLENELG GLADIATORS
by Trevor Colgan
Special to VSN
Kamryn Henson knew it was time. So did her Glenelg High field hockey teammates.
A string of penalty corners, all started by Henson, failed. With time waning on the Washington College scoreboard Saturday afternoon, Henson lined up once again.
Henson got the ball to AJ Eyre, who found Henson, now standing parallel to the goal. The ball got to the end of her stick.
And, finally, the ball found the back of the goal.
It was celebration time for Henson, Eyre and the rest of the fourth-ranked Gladiators. They held on for a 1-0 win over No. 11 Hereford for the Class 2A state field hockey championship.
Kamryn Henson was the hero for Glenelg field hockey Saturday. Her goal with 2 minutes, 58 seconds left in regulation, was the difference as the fourth-ranked Gladiators claimed the Class 2A state championship with a 1-0 decision over No. 11 Hereford at Washington College.
It’s the first state crown for the Howard County school (16-1 overall) since 2017 when they denied Hereford of a four-peat on the Kirby Field turf in Chesterstown.
The corner the Gladiators scored – with 2 minutes, 58 seconds left regulation – was something they said they had been working on all season.
“I’m so happy Kamryn ended up finishing,” Glenelg coach Nikki Trunzo-Bell said. “The job that Kamryn does on the field is outrageous. She’s a wonderful person to have on your team.”
“It feels really nice that the time it actually mattered it actually worked,” Henson said. “It also gives me hope for next year, like we can do this so many more times.”
The heavyweight showdown between the two area’s elite was a defensive slugfest. Trunzo-Bell said her team was able to connect more from the midfield to the attackers. Her team was able to win a few corners back to back, and then the Gladiators were finally able to convert into a goal.
Glenelg knew Baltimore County champ Hereford’s defense was stout, especially in the middle. If the Gladiators were going to score, it was going to be off a corner.
And they got it when it mattered.
“We could not score against their defenders in regular gameplay,” Trunzo-Bell said. “So being able to capitalize on a corner was the game for us.”
Despite the loss, Hereford coach Caitlin Duvall was proud of her team’s effort. The Bulls (14-3) were stout defensively, taking multiple corners in a row before the Howard County champ Gladiators broke through.
“We adapted well,” Duvall said. “It was a flip of the coin, I kind of feel the game could go either way today.”
Nearly a decade ago, Trunzo-Bell, then a Glenelg assistant under legendary coach Ginger Kincaid, helped introduced the sport to a group of first graders at a Glenelg rec league.
Saturday, many of those players, now sophomores like Henson and Eyre, helped the Gladiators to their fifth state title.
“At the beginning of the season, I wasn’t that confident,” Henson said. “But when we actually started to mesh together, I was like ‘I think we have it.’”
CLASS 2A STATE FIELD HOCKEY CHAMPIONSHIP
at Washington College
No. 4 Glenelg 1, No. 11 Hereford 0
Glenelg 0 0 0 1 — 1
Hereford 0 0 0 0 — 0
Goals: Glenelg – Kamryn Henson
Assists: Glenelg – AJ Eyre
Saves: Glenelg – Frankie DiValentin 0 ; Hereford – Bailey Berquist 1
