Click HERE for video highlights and interviews from the gameBy Andy States
Content Manager, SMAC
As the La Plata Warriors gathered at the half of Tuesday's 3A South boys soccer final with a 2-0 lead over the host Northern Patriots, one did not have to struggle to hear the sentence echoing around the Warriors' sideline -- 'the game is not over.'
La Plata knew that well, as the year before the Warriors held a two-goal lead over the Patriots on the same field in the regional playoffs with 15 minutes to play and were stunnded by a three-goal Northern barrage. With that experience in their collective memory, the fifth-seeded Warriors opened strong in the second half, adding to their lead on Ricky Jackson's second goal of the game and went on to shut out the second-seeded Patriots 3-0. The win earned La Plata its first regional championship since 2000. The Warriors are scheduled to play Fallston in the 3A semifinals at noon on Saturday at North County High.
"We were waiting for this game since last year, 3-2, to tell you the truth," said La Plata coach Dennis Burns, whose team lost to Northern 2-1 in the regular-season opener this year. "We had them the first game of the year, which is hard to see because it's a brand-new team, you never know. But we were ready for today."
"Last year we just had a tough match," La Plata's Steven Barock said. "We were looking forward to [the rematch] the whole year. We just came out here and played hard and worked for it."
La Plata (11-6) withstood some early Northern (13-4) pressure, and then broke on to the scoreboard midway through the opening half courtesy of Kyle Tolson, who after not seeing much action through much of the season worked his way into the mix and has been a key contributer down the stretch, according to Burns. Then, with barely half a minute remaining in the half, Ricky Jackson headed in the Warriors' second goal to give La Plata its second two-goal playoff lead at Northern in the last two years. But this time, the team was not about to let it slip away.
"That's the good thing about having the experience from losing last year," Burns said. "We had the experience and we had to remind them a couple times. We lost 3-2 last year, we were up 2-0, this game is not over. Give us 40 minutes of hard work and this game is ours."
It took less than two minutes for the Warriors to gain an even stronger hold on the game. Jackson converted an early opportunity for his second goal of the night and a 3-0 Warriors' lead, and thus, seemed to cinch the contest for the visitors.
"I think that broke their back a little," Burns said. "That first goal of the second half was huge. It set the tone and right there and then we knew we had it as long as we gave 40 minutes of hard defense. They played the game of their lives tonight, and as good as our offense was at times, it was our defense that started most of the transition."
"The past two years [Northern] ened our season," Jackson said. "It's about time we came out and beat them and it feels great."
For Northern, which entered the year as the two-time defending region champion, the season was still successful. Looked upon by some as a team in rebuilding mode, the Patriots won the SMAC championship and came within a game of returning to the state semifinals for the third consecutive season.
"Coming in, eveyone told us it was going to be a rebuilding year, everybody in the know about soccer," Northern coach John Rossi said. "We did graduate a lot, but for a rebuilding year -- winning SMAC, beating Huntingtown, a big county rival, two out of three times, beating Leonardtown which we haven't done since I've been here -- great accomplishments. If that's a rebuilding year I'd love to have a rebuilding year every year."
The regional crown was the fifth overall for La Plata, which will now look to advance to the state final for the first time since 1997.
"It means a lot," Burns said of the regional title. "These guys were ready. They were ready to accomplish the regional goal, but we're not done yet."
astates@digitalsports.com