Severna Park High School senior Julie Gardner (#24) was one of three players to score four goals for the Falcons in their 20-4 win over South River in the Class 4A-3A East Region semifinals Tuesday.
Seniors Kendall Pittinger and Julie Gardner along with junior Sam Farrell netted four goals each and the
Severna Park High School girls lacrosse team proved once again its utter dominance in Anne Arundel County with a 20-4 victory over visiting
South River in the Class 4A-3A East Region semifinals Tuesday.
The top-seeded Falcons (16-0) will host the Broadneck-Leonardtown winner in the region championship Wednesday at 7 p.m.
It was the second meeting for the two teams in a little over a week with the same result. The Falcons are used to the wide margins for their wins and, at times, have been described as a "machine."
"We have had a tremendous season, there is no doubt about it," Severna Park coach Carin Peterson said. "When our girls play well, they are very hard to beat, and when you have seven or eight people score for you, it is hard to stop."
When the two teams last met in the regular-season finale, Severna Park jumped out to a 10-0 en route to 26-8 over the Seahawks. South River made some adjustments for Tuesday's game but could not put it all together on both ends of the field, according to coach Julie Norton.
"We came prepared and made some changes based on what happened last game," she said. "One of the things we harped on was our defense and today I can’t say anything bad about the defense."
"They showed up today. They made some great stops and caused turnovers. We had opportunities but had a hard time cashing in and I think it’s hard when we can’t play on both ends."
Severna Park scored four goals before South River got on the scoreboard with a goal by junior attacker Stephanie Peterson (two goals).
South River cut it to three goals with 14:52 left in the first half after a score from sophomore midfielder Brooke Griffin. But Severna Park proved to be too potent and netted six unanswered goals to go into halftime with a 12-3 lead.
Junior attacker Jaci Gassaway produced the most points for the Falcons as she scored two goals and had three assists.
Severna Park’s defense was smothering and the second half was again all Severna Park as they rattled off six more goals.
"They are a good team, but I guess one of the key things is that we got the goalie down fast and all of our shots were pretty good," Pittinger said. "We just came out early."
South River 3 1 - 4
Severna Park 12 8 - 20
GOALS: SR - Peterson 2, Grifin, Mattingly; SP - Farrell 4, Gardner 4, Pittinger 4, Barranco 3, Gassaway 2, Cloud, Lloyd. ASSISTS: SP - Gassaway 3, Behringer, Rausch, Patterson. GROUND BALLS: SR - 19; SP - 23. SHOTS: SR - 14; SP -32. SAVES: SR - Kolarik 8; SP - Wadsworth 8. DRAW CONTROLS: SR - 7; SP - 23.