Before the Maryland Charm held a practice with the full iteration of their 2026 squad, head coach Emily Parros issued a bold declaration.
Following back-to-back early exits in the WLL Champion Series, Parros’ group carried a newfound fire into the league’s first regular season. Parros held candid conversations with her players in the days after their Championship Series elimination, including team captain Caylee Waters.
“This team is a group of go-getters — they’re hungry,” Parros said on May 28. “When you look at our record, it doesn’t reflect what the talent we have is. There’s a piece where you know the hungry dogs run faster. That’s going to be us this summer. We are hungry to prove ourselves. We’re hungry to show what we’re capable of.”
Less than two months later, Maryland became the first team to clinch a berth in the 2026 WLL Championship with a 21-17 victory over the Boston Guard on Friday night in Fairfield.
In doing so, an offense that struggled to find its footing midway through the season — shooting 10-of-48 in a loss to the New York Charging on June 17 — turned in the most prolific scoring performance in WLL regular-season history.
“I’ve told them all the time, ‘I handpicked each and every one of you, and each one of you has a superpower,’” Parros said postgame. “In the moments that matter, they show up. They show up for each other. They show up for the team. It’s been an unbelievable journey. I’m thrilled that we get another weekend together for a championship.”
The Charm entered the game with a simple mission: win and in. But a loss by two or more goals would’ve eliminated Maryland from postseason contention.
Waters said facing the Guard with a championship berth on the line inevitably evoked memories of Maryland’s final 2026 Championship Series game, a 26-19 loss on March 6.
“We’re not fearful of the past,” Waters said. “It excites us for what we can do in the future. … We took that, learned from it and made the most of the new faces and this new system of playing 10-v-10.”
The Charm forced Boston’s defense into rotations throughout the night in a balanced offensive clinic. Maryland racked up assists on 15 of its 21 scores. Five Charm players posted at least six points.
“We just had a lot of fun tonight,” Brigid Duffy said. “I feel like 75% of our goals were assisted. Just from Game 1, we’ve built more and more chemistry. It’s just so much fun to play off each other and just see what different combinations we can make. It just felt right out there tonight.”
Duffy, a rookie two-way midfielder out of Army, recorded a team-high 10 points on seven goals and three assists. Six days after she scored the game-winner against New York, Duffy delivered on both ends, amassing nine ground balls and two caused turnovers.
The highest-scoring game in league history saw individual contributions across the roster. Sydni Black and Ashley Humphrey each scored seven points, while Ally Kennedy and Sam Apuzzo both tallied six points.
“What’s so great about this team is that we all know our jobs,” Kennedy said. “We know the play that needs to be made in front of us, and we’ll make that play. Then, we’ll get the ball to the attackers, and they’ll capitalize on the play we just made. It’s a full, fluid movement from defense through the midfield to attack that we can build off of.”
While Kennedy scored to give the Charm a 14-6 lead with just over eight minutes remaining in the third quarter, a galvanized Guard battled back with six consecutive goals and cut the lead to 14-12 early in the fourth.
Boston rookie Rachel Clark, who told ESPN’s Dana Boyle that Boston was fighting for both survival and for injured teammate Charlotte North, spearheaded the Guard’s comeback effort.
Clark shattered WLL’s single-game goals (nine) and points (11) records, but Maryland overcame Clark’s individual brilliance and staved off Boston’s second-half surge. For Kennedy, the Charm’s resolve was emblematic of their culture.
“This team thrives in the ugly,” Kennedy said. “We had a nice comfortable lead, and they started chipping away and coming back. That was almost when I felt like our energy was [at its] best. When stuff started to go a little crazy, we brought it back in. We looked within ourselves, and the plays that needed to be made were made by the scrappiest people on the field. …
“We have the best players in the world who thrive in the unsexy stuff.”
Maryland awaits the result of Aug. 8’s regular-season finale between Boston and the California Palms to determine its championship opponent. California and New York remain in championship contention, but the Palms have the inside track. The Charging, who wrapped up their regular season at 2-2, can only advance if California loses to Boston by at least nine goals.
Although their opponent is yet to be determined, Charm players and coaches are ecstatic to have extended their season to the WLL Championship on Aug. 15 in Philadelphia.
“We’re freaking going to the Championship,” Waters said. “Like, holy heck. Charm is going to the Championship.”
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