Northeast High School junior attacker Donovan Lange scored a team-high four goals to lift the Eagles to a 11-10 overtime win over Annapolis in the Class 3A-2A East Region semifinals Tuesday.
Northeast coach Walt Blahut and the Eagles talk about their opening possession before overtime. The Eagles scored 23 seconds into extra time to pull out a thrilling 11-10 win.
The
Northeast High School boys lacrosse team likes close games. The Eagles thrive in them.
They won two overtime games during a state semifinal run last season. After pulling out a last-minute win over
Annapolis midway through the season, Northeast knew it would have its hands full again when the Panthers returned to Pasadena on Tuesday.
Senior attacker Mark Donahey scored 23 seconds into the first overtime period to lift the Eagles to a thrilling 11-10 victory over Annapolis in the Class 3A-2A East Region semifinals.
Northeast (11-5), the No. 3 seed, will take on the Kent Island-Easton winner in the region championship Wednesday. The Eagles will be aiming for their second straight 3A state tournament berth.
"One of our mottos is to stay organized and stay composed," Eagles' second-year coach Walt Blahut said. "We say that over and over again."
"They have confidence in the coaching staff and the schemes we come up with. We discuss what extra-man play we should run as a team ... We all agreed on the what we should do together."
Northeast had a man-up advantage -- the Panthers (9-7) committed two penalties in the final minute of regulation and one carried over into extra time -- so the Eagles went with Mike Tibbs and the senior delivered.
Tibbs finished with a team-high four assists and any time he had the ball in open space, he created opportunities for his teammates. It happened again in overtime when he found Donahey camped out on the far side of the crease.
"My boy Tibbs got me the ball and I finished," said Donahey, who tallied two goals and an assist in the game.
Senior attacker Corbin Voelker finished with three goals, including his score with nine seconds left in regulation to tie the game, 10-10. Voelker was leveled by an Annapolis defender after he released his shot, which resulted in the second man-opportunity for the Eagles.
Before his late-game heroics, Voelker was behind two crank shots that capped a three-goal surge Northeast used to open the second half and grab a 7-3 lead.
"At first, I kept shooting high and I couldn't make anything," Voelker said. "Coach told me to start shooting low and they just started to fall for me."
The Panthers rallied and scored four straight goals to start the fouth quarter and tie the game, 8-8. Sophomore midfielder Dan Kowalyshyn tied the game and then scored the go-ahead goal for the Panthers when he picked up the rebound from a Brian Gehrdes shot and beat Northeast goalkeeper Pat Berry with 3:33 left.
Berry finished with 18 saves.
Senior midfielder Ron Hartman scored his second of two goals for Northeast to knot the score again. Senior midfielder Cole Greene (team-high four goals) countered quickly for the Panthers, who took a 10-9 lead with 52 seconds left.
"To win again in overtime like last year is huge," said junior attacker Donovan Lange, who netted a team-high four goals for the Eagles.
Said Tibbs: "At the beginning of the season, no one thought we were going to make it this far. After our first win against Annapolis, we pulled it out with eight seconds left and ever since then, we've had a nice little win streak."
Aside from a 13-10 setback at South River, the Eagles have won nine games since their first victory over the Panthers.
Annapolis (9-7) 3 0 1 6 0 - 10
Northeast (11-5) 3 1 4 2 1 - 11
GOALS: AN - Greene 4, Wilhelm 2, Kowalyshyn 2, Scherger, Proulx; NE - Lange 4, Voelker 3, Donahey 2, Hartman 2. ASSISTS: AN - Missel, Shackleford, Gehrdes; NE - Tibbs 4, Walker 2, West, Donahey, Voelker. SHOTS: AN - 35; NE - 27. SAVES: AN - Olienyk 7; NE - Berry 18. GROUND BALLS: AN - 57; NE - 30. FACEOFFS: AN - 11; NE - 8.