"THIS IS THE BEST OUR ENTIRE TEAM HAS PLAYED THIS YEAR"

by Aaron Gray
agray@digitalsports.com

(See video clips and interviews below)

Broadneck High School seniors Chappy Cole and Ryan Barber know that another bout or two with rival Severna Park may still be on the agenda this season.

In the meantime, they wanted to pull off something the boys lacrosse team at the Cape St. Claire school has not done in its last seven tries: beat the Falcons.

The pair combined for five goals and junior goalkeeper Houston Zemanski tallied 18 saves to lead the Bruins to a 6-3 victory over visiting Severna Park in a Anne Arundel County game on Saturday.

Broadneck (6-4 overall, 6-1 in the county) opened a 6-0 lead with 1:42 left in the first half. The Bruins were held scoreless after the break but it was their defense that made the difference. Broadneck held a Falcons (8-2, 6-1) team that entered the contest averaging 11.7 goals a game to its season low.

"Our poles played hard and we did a nice job of clearing the crease," said Broadneck coach Clay White, whose team beat Severna Park for the first time since the 2004 regular season.

"It was Jeb Smith, Jeff Nagle, Cameron Rowe, Logan Hundermann and Zach Treakle -- I mean our five poles are pretty tough. Collectively, they played pretty hard and Houston bailed us out when we made some mistakes."

Rowe dropped back on defense to attend to Sean Price, one of the Falcons' leading scorers. The adjustment worked as Price was held to a goal and an assist. When Severna Park did get a quality look, Zemanski was there with a kick save or a point-blank block.

"This was the best the entire team has played this year," said Barber, who netted back-to-back goals to spark a 4-0 lead for the Bruins nine minutes into the game.

"We actually put four quarters together. Solid defense all game and our offense held the ball to give the defense a rest. We played a quality game."

Barber didn't play during the Bruins' last game -- a 9-4 win at Old Mill on Tuesday -- but made a big splash early Saturday.

Both of his scoring strikes came from about 10 yards out and on both plays, he capitalized off great passes from teammates. Freshman midfielder Joey Oddis made a spin move to free himself and then fed Barber for the first and junior attacker Kyle Colleran found Barber, his football teammate, for the other.

Cole, another football player for the Bruins, was effective in the isolation set and scored two of his game-high three goals after dodging from behind the Falcons' net.

"Kyle took his man that way once and I pulled it a couple times," Cole said. "We got good looks that way so it was working out."

After falling behind 4-0 in the first quarter, Severna Park coach Larry Kramer called a timeout with one minute left in the period to settle his team down.

"In the first half, I think we just psyched ourselves out," he said. "Things happened early and we couldn't come back."

Cole netted a score off a restart from behind the cage one minute into the second and Colleran scored on a wraparound to build the insurmountable 6-0 lead before the Falcons finally got on the board.

Sam Jones found Price with a quick pass and the junior attacker delivered to build some momentum for Severna Park before halftime.

"We just didn't shoot well and we didn't play well," Kramer said. "Their goalie played a fantastic game. What else can you say?"

The county setback was the first endured by Kramer since he started coaching the Falcons in 2007. Kramer was also an assistant for Broadneck in 2004 and was on the Bruins' sideline for their last win over Severna Park.

The Broadneck offense peppered Severna Park goalkeepers Andrew Gvozden (12 saves) and Jeff Loman (three saves) with 16 first-half shots. In an attempt to rally, the Falcons pulled the trigger early and often in the second half and finished with more shots in the game, 29-22.

"(This performance) has really motivated me," said Zemanski, who has been sharing starts with freshman goalkeeper Corey Johnson. "I think we can really push for a state championship. This is everything right here."

Jeff McGuire scored after a flurry of passes and Kyle Zorn took advantage of an open net to account for the all the scoring for the Falcons in the second half.

Severna Park (8-2)    4    2    0    0   -    6
Broadneck (6-4)         0    1    1    1   -    3
GOALS: SP - McGuire, Zorn, Price; BN - Cole 3, Barber 2, Colleran. ASSISTS: SP - Jones, Price; BN - Oddis, Herrick, Colleran. SAVES: SP - Gvozden 12; Loman 3; BN - Zemanski 18. SHOTS: SP - 29; BN - 22. GROUND BALLS: SP - 30; BN - 41. FACEOFFS: SP - 6; BN - 7.

Severna Park-Broadneck rivalry since 2004

Year    Winner    Score       Location
2008    BN            6-3           BN
2007    SP             9-2          Glen Burnie (County Championship)
2007    SP           11-9          SP
2006    SP           11-6          SP (Class 4A-3A East Region semifinals)
2006    SP             9-6          Anne Arundel CC
2005    SP             9-8          BN (County Championship)
2005    SP           15-7          BN
2004    SP           11-7          Arundel (County Championship)
2004    BN            6-5           SP