Broadneck field hockey coach Shannon Hanratty has a simple motto for her team this fall: “All gas, no brakes.”

In the No. 2 Bruins’ showdown with No. 1 Archbishop Spalding Saturday afternoon, they applied the gas pedal liberally in the second half and polished off a 4-1 victory in the Bruin Invitational at Broadneck.

Maya Everett scored twice and Mady Quigley and Katelyn Kearns each scored a goal as the Bruins snapped a seven-game losing streak to the Cavaliers, whom they had not beaten since 2011.

Spalding, the defending Interscholastic Athletic Association of Maryland A Conference champion, scored first when Ally Keith shot out of a scuffle in front of the goal with 5:40 left in the first quarter.

Broadneck’s defense clamped down after that and goalie Mia Moody had five saves to hold off the Cavaliers, who took 12 more shots and had a 7-6 edge in penalty corners.

Broadneck (4-0) attacked with a lot of long accurate passing and counterattacked from stellar play by defensive midfielders Quigley and Chloe Page, who frequently thwarted the Cavaliers (3-1) attempts to break away.

“We have a lot of speed and we like to play with speed,” Hanratty said, “so a lot of times I tell the girls, ‘Don’t you worry about emptying your tank, we have girls who are ready to come in and give you relief, so we want all gas, no brakes, pedal to the metal.’”

Both teams won their games earlier in the round-robin invitational. The Bruins beat No. 9 River Hill, 6-1, and the Cavaliers topped Kent Island, 5-0.The Cavaliers hadn’t given up a goal this season until Kearns scored on a crossing pass from Lexi Dupcak just 59 seconds before halftime to tie the game at 1-1.

Everett, a senior committed to Maryland, scored the second goal on a terrific individual effort, bringing the ball into the circle and firing it from high on the right side to the far corner.Later in the third quarter, Quigley scored on an assist from Kearns. Everett added the final goal off a rebound with 3:05 left in the game.

“In the River Hill game beforehand, our main goal was passing and that’s what got us so we were able to win,” said Everett. “I think bringing that into the Spalding game was what really made us succeed, focusing on that throughout and just finding what was open.”

The Cavaliers created a few good chances to score in the second half but could not connect on passes through the circle.

“One thing that we focus on is just staying on our players and making sure no one comes into the circle without someone pressuring them,”Bruins center back Zoe Bjelac said of their young defense.

For the Cavaliers, who had yet to face a team of Broadneck’s calibre, the loss showed a few things they need to work on before embarking on the league season in the IAAM A Conference.

”The better team won today,” Spalding coach Leslee Brady said. “Broadneck outplayed us today absolutely. Too many mistakes. We had more corners than they did, but we couldn’t convert off of them.

“We had the energy in the first half, nothing in the second half it seemed like.” T

he Bruins, who fell in the Class 4A state quarterfinals last season to eventual champ and archrival Severna Park on a penalty stroke, looked in mid-season form Saturday. They had stellar performances all over the field, but especially from their scorers as well as from seniors Dupcak, Hunteman and Jess Kopernick and sophomore Paige Everett who kept the pressure on Spalding from the front line and the midfield.”

They’re an amazing team and to win this was an amazing accomplishment,” said Maya Everett, one of MAX Field Hockey’s Top 50 seniors.

“It just means so much for our team because this is a new team and being able to bring up new players and work with them so well was really amazing.”

In the win over River Hill, Maya Everett and Kearns scored two goals each while Lindsay Curley and Cayman Holmes each scored once. Dupcak had two assists and Hunteman and Bjelac had one each. Moody had seven saves. Maddie Vasilios scored the goal and Jocelyn Baker had 10 saves for the Hawks, who rebounded to beat Mount de Sales, 5-2, in their second game.

THE BRUIN INVITATIONAL

NO. 2 BROADNECK 4, NO. 1 ARCHBISHOP SPALDING 1

AS 1 0 0 0 — 1

BR 0 1 2 1 — 4

GOALS: AS—Ally Keith; BR—Maya Everett 2, Mady Quigley, Katelyn Kearns.

ASSISTS: AS—none; BR—Lexi Dupcak, Katelyn Kearns, Arden Hunteman.

SAVES: AS—Ruby de Frees 7, BR—MiaMoody 5.

OTHER SCORES

No. 2 Broadneck 6, No. 9 River Hill 1

No. 1 Archbishop Spalding 5, Kent Island 0

No. 9 River Hill 5, Mount de Sales 2

Kent Island 1, Mount de Sales 0