The Lady Caps battled top-seeded and undefeated Green Hope for 80 minutes Wednesday night, but ultimately lost 4-1 in the first round of the state playoffs.
Broughton wasted no time in taking the fight to Green Hope, just missing on a couple of scoring chances in the games's first six minutes. The Caps failed to convert a corner kick in the first two minutes, and a strong shot by junior Meredith Brown from outside the box a few minutes later was a tad high.
Green Hope regrouped, and scored the first goal about eight minutes into the half. But Broughton's defense stiffened, and shut down repeated scoring chances by the Falcons throughout the rest of the half.
Keeper Sydney Spoor made a handful of saves, including back-to-back stops about midway through the first half. Senior Savannah Jones, playing like she was not ready for her Broughton career to be over, used her speed to make several stops. Freshman Adair Warner, sophomore Ava Neijna, senior Liza Cozart and others were were active in stifling the Falcons' attacks. Junior Lucy Krueger cleared a dangerous ball in the final minute of the first half to preserve the one-goal margin going into halftime.
Green Hope continued to attack as the second half began, and Spoor made another great save about seven minutes into the half. But the Falcons managed to tack on two more goals - one in which it appeared Spoor was interfered with - in a three-minute span to take a 3-0 lead.
Broughton kept battling, though, and Brown nailed a free kick from outside the box about midway through the half to get the Caps on the scoreboard. The goal was the first scored against Green Hope in its last eight games.
Green Hope rebounded, tacking on an additional goal with about five minutes remaining to make the final score 4-1.
In the game's final minutes, senior co-captains Jones and Zoe Neijna came off the field to the applause of their teammates and Broughton's fans.