For sensational Severna Park boys lacrosse, the streak continues.
On Tuesday, the No. 6 seed Falcons gained a lead against formidable Towson and, with the ball for most of the second half, were able to ride out an 8-6 win in the Class 3A state final at Stevenson University’s Mustang Stadium.
It was another total team win that added to the program’s state-record totals of eight straight state titles and 13 overall. Junior attackman Jack Fish, who finished with two goals and one assist, said the success never gets old.
“It’s a feeling like no other. I hope every person gets a feeling like this once in their lifetime,” he said. “It’s awesome.”
Fellow junior Tim Sullivan scored the Falcons’ first three goals; faceoff specialist Davis Bates kept getting the Falcons possession; and goalie Calvin Winship made five saves. Severna Park, under first-year coach Bob Zichelli, closes with a 19-1 mark.
Towson, which got 11 saves from senior goalie Alex Hochrein and two goals from Hudson Arrup, ends its season with a 15-3 record.
After falling behind when Towson’s Luke Richardson made it 4-3 with 10:56 to play in the second quarter, the Falcons methodically took hold of the game. Fish answered with a goal 55 seconds later, and when Tucker Moray found John Burkhardt in front with 3:08 left in the half, the Falcons were up for good.
Bates cleanly won the opening faceoff of the third quarter and Fish turned the possession into a goal for a 6-4 lead 34 seconds into the second half. Less than a minute later, the Falcons took advantage of a Towson penalty with Nolan Grizzle’s man-advantage goal making it 7-4.
The Generals made a push in the final minute of the third quarter, getting consecutive goals from Arrup and Ansen Park to cut the lead to 7-6. But the Falcons used a familiar formula to stay ahead.
Another faceoff win from Bates was followed by a possession that ate up nearly three minutes before Tyler Lawhorne scored with 9:11 to play to make it 8-6. Winship helped the lead stand with a fine save on Richardson’s shot with 4:46 left to play.
The Generals had one final possession with 59 seconds left before Moran forced a turnover to give Severna Park the ball and another championship.
“It’s a culture for Severna Park lacrosse,” Winship said. “We know the streak and everything, but it’s not even just that. It’s the amount of care we have for the guys. We don’t want to let each other down and play our hardest.”
He added that the team’s big-game experience helped close out the win.
“You got to stay at a level pace the whole time,” he said. “If you get too high or too low, you can start making mistakes you don’t normally make, so it was just playing our game. We knew we could do what we just did.”
With strong support in the stands, the Generals gave it their all. After a disappointing 9-3 loss against rival Hereford in the Baltimore County championship game May 6, they reset to enjoy a terrific postseason run out of the North region. A grinding 5-2 win against Frederick County power Linganore put Towson in position for the program’s fifth state title and first since 1997, but the Falcons had their typical plan Tuesday.
“I’m just so proud of these guys. We had some ups and downs, and they were able to respond,” Towson second-year coach Phil Rossetti said. “These guys came to work every day so committed to the team and they made it to the end, and I’m just so proud of them. [Severna Park] is a really good team over there and it’s just really hard to contain them for that long.”
Towson — 3-1-2-0 — 6
Severna Park — 3-2-2-1 — 8
Goals: T — M. Kosmides, Park, Arrup 2, Richardson, Z. Hochrein; SP — Sullivan 3, Burkhardt, Fish 2, Grizzle, Lawhorne.
Assists: T — Tyler 2; SP — Moran 2, Fish, Ruppert.
Saves: T — A. Hochrein 11; SP — Winship 5.
