Severna Park High School junior attacker Jaci Gassaway (left) scored three goals to help lead the Falcons to a 26-8 win over South River.
Severna Park High School senior Hayley Rausch (right) caught the attention of South River defenders like Taylor Giordano. Rausch finished with four goals and two assists.
by Aaron Grayagray@digitalsports.com(See video interviews and action clips below)Severna Park High School girls lacrosse coach Carin Peterson said she was shocked.
The "perfect" play her team exhibited in the early goings of its 26-8 win over a formidable
South River squad Friday shouldn't have been a surprise.
After all, the Falcons (14-0 overall, 11-0 in the county) wrapped up their second straight undefeated regular season with the victory and extended its current win streak to 34 games dating back to last year.
"I didn't expect it and next thing you know, it's 5-0 four minutes into the game," Peterson said. "They were playing perfect the first 15 minutes of the first half. I couldn't have asked for anything better."
Aided by a potent performance from junior Sam Farrell (goal, three assists) with draw controls, Severna Park actually opened a 10-0 lead before South River even registered a shot.
Senior midfielder Julie Gardner paced the Falcons' attack with six goals -- four in the second half -- followed by senior midfielder Hayley Rausch (four goals, two assists), senior midfielder Allison Behringer (four goals, two assists) and senior Kendal Pittinger (four goals, assist).
The loss for the Seahawks (12-2, 9-2) denied them a chance at a county championship appearance. Instead, Severna Park will meet
Broadneck (11-2, 10-1) in the league final Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. at Meade.
"We did not want to lay off at all," said Gardner, who notched her team's first goal of the second half to open a 14-6 lead with 24:34 left.
"We pulled it together after halftime. (Peterson) had a talk with us and we knew we couldn't let down."
The Falcons took 30 more shots than South River and possessed the ball after restarts (29-9 draw control advantage).
"It's hard to come back from 10 goals against a team like Severna Park," said Seahawks coach Julie Norton, whose team finally got on the board when Stephanie Peterson scored with 15:42 left in the first half.
"They come at you hard and they don't give you any breathing room. Its a great lesson we learned. I think we need to go up against more of that kind of pressure and it's a shame we don't see it until the end of the season."
South River junior goalkeeper Kim Kolarik was on her heels most of the night. Of the 41 shots she faced, she saved 10 of them.
Sophomore midfielder Brooke Griffin scored two her team-high three goals after the break for the Seahawks while senior midfielder Ali Mattingly finished with a goal and an assist.
For a photo gallery of the Severna Park Senior Night ceremony, click
here.
South River (12-2) 6 2 - 8
Severna Park (14-0) 13 13 - 26
GOALS: SR - Griffin 3, A. Glanell, Demo, Mattingly, Peterson, Dorsey; SP - Gardner 6, Rausch 4, Pittinger 4, Behringer 4, Gassaway 3, Lloyd 2, Wilke, Jones, Farrell. ASSISTS: SR - Mattingly; SP - Farrell 3, Rausch 2, Behringer 2, Wilke 2, Pittinger, Gardner. SAVES: SR - Kolarik 10; SP -Wadsworth 1. SHOTS: SR - 11; SP - 41. GROUND BALLS: SR - 12; SP - 25. FACEOFFS: SR - 9; SP - 29.