Glenelg field hockey stays consistent among change to win third straight state title

Nov. 17—Glenelg field hockey has built a sustained winning culture over the last three seasons. During that run, the Gladiators dealt with a tremendous amount of change.

Glenelg captured its third consecutive Class 2A state title on Saturday with a 4-0 win over Hereford with a different coach leading each championship — Nicole Trunzo led the Gladiators in 2021, Christina Giampalmo and Hope Burke in 2022 and Martie Dyer this year.

Through that turnover, the Gladiators have relied on their strong leadership and a tight-knit bond on and off the field that has helped integrate new players.

"Since we've had a different coach each year, there's been adjustments," senior AJ Eyre said. "Each year we build off what we did in the past years. We have been lucky to have such great, understanding coaches that come in and listen to our feedback and how we play. They build off us. Our team has kind of been our own coaches at some points.

"Coach Martie wasn't our coach until a week before tryouts, so the captains and the upperclassmen have done a really good job of stepping up and taking charge of things when we didn't have a coach. It's been nice to have such a close team that we kind of get to coach ourselves."

While Dyer, a longtime coach at Atholton, took over late in the process, she was very familiar with the Gladiators. She coached several players in club play, while others attended her camps.

University of Maryland commits AJ and Brinkley Eyre, Columbia University commits Ashley and Kate Kim, as well as Theresa Stiller shined offensively. Meanwhile, Sarah and Meghan Walker suffocated opponents defensively in front of goalie Trinity Shackelford.

Meghan Walker, a freshman, exemplified the Gladiators' ability to effectively incorporate young players into the starting lineup right away. Two years ago, Meghan watched from the stands as Sarah won a state title. Now, she was denying offensive opportunities alongside her older sister.

"For me from my experience coming onto the team as a freshman, I was nervous," junior Brinkley Eyre said. "I wanted to play well and show people that I could play here. As that person I always wanted positivity, encouragement and people to help instill confidence in me. So, for me as a junior, I just try to pass that on to the younger girls. Always trying to give them positivity and confidence so they can be the best players for themselves to help our team next year."

The Gladiators got battle-tested through tough nonconference games against teams such as Garrison Forest and Crofton. After cruising through the county schedule and early playoff rounds, Glenelg matched up with Manchester Valley. The Mavericks, who dominated Carroll County, were out for revenge after the Gladiators defeated them, 2-0, in last year's state championship.

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Scoreless at the half, Glenelg once again leaned on its strong leadership. Making pivotal halftime adjustments, the Gladiators dominated the second half in a 2-0 win, setting up a 2021 state championship rematch with Hereford.

"I did have good leadership on the field," Dyer said. "It's interesting because I split the team into two even teams for scrimmaging in practice and it's great. Sometimes we'll be scrimmaging and the girls will go, 'Can we have a minute just to talk to our team?' That kind of leadership is great. Instead of waiting for me to say, 'OK girls this is what you did or didn't do', they would take that on themselves, which was taking ownership for everybody on their team."

On Saturday evening at Paint Branch High School, the Gladiators and Bulls were scoreless at the half. Similar to the semifinal, the floodgates quickly opened in half two.

After a pandemic-shortened freshman season, the program's nine seniors left the program as they entered it: state champions.

"Our first attempt at states, our team was so young," AJ Eyre said. "Over the three years of playing at states, we've grown and learned a lot. We've grown so much as players on the field and our team on and off the field has grown so much closer. What we take from each of our games into practice, I think we've done a really good job of staying composed and building each other up."

Those returning will look to continue adding to the Gladiators' winning legacy, once again maintaining consistency through change.

"There's been a lot of ups and downs, especially with all the coaching changes," Brinkley Eyre said. "The obstacles we've had to get over has made our team so strong and team culture has gotten stronger because of it."