Jack Fish felt glad South River lacrosse won last time. Otherwise, the Severna Park boys might not have been so motivated for the rematch.
A few days before their last brush with the Seahawks, the Severna Park boys had their heads deep in the clouds after crushing rival Broadneck — so high that they couldn’t come down to earth in time. Fish, a prolific scorer widely considered one of the best in the county by opposing coaches, still shakes his head at his own substandard performance. “Four turnovers,” he murmured, and a broken stick.
But Friday was different. Friday, South River once again shuffled off a school bus onto the Falcons fields, this time with a bid to the county championship game on the table.
From warmups, Fish knew this night would be different. By his fourth goal, he lost count with the Falcons well on their way to a 15-5 rout.
After minutes of seesaw lead changes, the Falcons (12-1) trapped South River in a whirlpool they couldn’t escape: six-straight goals from first quarter to second and a running clock by the fourth.
“I was ready to play from the start,” said Fish, who earned a heavy Falcons logo chain around his neck for his efforts. “Everybody was locked in and ready.”
The junior attack’s five scores and two assists zipped past Seahawks keeper Conner Campbell like phantoms passing through walls. His teammates had to adopt a similar style, pumping so much fire into each successful shot so that Campbell, who stopped 15 shots the first time around, physically had no hope of getting in front of as many this time.
The only surefire way to disarm a goalkeeper like that was to take as many shots on him as possible. Of the 35 shots they pelted Campbell with, he saved 20. The Falcons hogged the ball, either by claiming faceoffs or by defenders quickly plucking turnovers away from the Seahawks’ sticks.
“Defense played phenomenal, especially Merric Warren and Landon Williams,” Severna Park coach Robert Zichelli said. “They were the difference.”
Severna Park bolstered its lead from 4-2 to 8-2, as Fish stung the net thrice and Falcons defenders hounded Seahawk attacks, banning even the best shooters — such as Trevor Phipps, who netted one of those two first-quarter goals — from feeling such satisfaction. It helped, too, to have a black hole settled between the pipes.
Senior Calvin Winship gobbled 11 South River shots, only giving up goals in the first and third quarters, and only in short spurts.
“Calvin was on fire today,” Zichelli said. “[Phipps] knows how to play and Calvin saved three, four, five of his.”
Behind 8-2 midway through the third frame, the Seahawks moved with urgency. Senior Jack Laye laced one, with Caden Travis and Phipps following. By the period’s end, 9-4 seemed a shallower ditch to wrench themselves out of.
But Severna Park still held the shovel.
“We just kept doing our thing. Didn’t change much,” Fish said. “That long six-minute possession we had off the bat in that quarter was good for us. And, Brayden Arnold really stepped up.”
Arnold hardly let the fourth quarter clock begin running before striking the strings behind Campbell. John Burkhardt, Nolan Grizzle, Ben Ruppert and Fish piled on.
“We weren’t as good as we thought we were the last time. We needed to get punched in the face and get into reality,” Fish said. “So we could do this.”
The Falcons advance to see Broadneck at Glen Burnie on Monday, and intend to pick up a little more vengeance there over the reigning county champions.
South River — 2 0 3 0 — 5
Severna Park — 4 4 1 6 — 15
Goals: SR — Phipps 2, Laye 1, Adams 1, Travis 1; SP — Fish 5, Burkhardt 3, Ruppert 3, Grizzle 2, Arnold 1, Sullivan 1. Assists: SR — Marcian 2; SP — Moran 4, Fish 2, Arnold 2, Grizzle 1. Saves: SR — Campbell 20; SP — Winship 11
