Severn senior attacker Tyler Perreten scored his team's first goal and what turned out to be the game-winner as the Admirals defeated host and St. Paul's, 8-5, in a Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association A Conference quarterfinal in Brooklandville Friday afternoon.
Perreten finished with three goals and teammate Michael Lamon, a junior attackman, also scored three times.
Severn coach Jamie McNealey said he had been waiting for his team to play four quarters of lacrosse this season and Admirals did just that against the Crusaders (14-7).
"That's the best 48 minutes we have played," said McNealey, whose team made the playoffs after a four-year absence after going 0-9 in the league last season. "We are peaking at the right time. It's really the guy's work ethic and not being content with what they have done."
Severn (15-6) advances to play Boys' Latin in a semifinal Monday at Johns Hopkins (7:30 p.m.).
The Admirals lost to the Lakers, 8-7, in late April.
"We are really looking forward to this one," Perreten said. "I don't think anyone can stop us if we play our offense and our defense. The key is faceoffs. We have to do it at the X."
Severn owned much of the first half against St. Paul's and led 4-2 at the break.
But the third quarter belonged to St. Paul's.
Joe Pollard scored an unassisted goal two minutes into the period to trim the deficit to 4-3.
The Crusaders had four consecutive shots late in the quarter and Mitch Gordon scored on the last one — a blistering attempt to the lower left corner past goalie Tyler Gilmore (seven saves) that made it 4-4.
"Defensively, we hung in there and played pretty good for the long stretches that they had the ball," St. Paul's coach Rick Brocato said. "I am proud of my kids that we fought to come back. But those ground balls or rebounds that (Severn) picked up made a difference. That certainly gave them some momentum going forward after we were coming back."
Perreten, who plans to play lacrosse at the Naval Academy, gave the Admirals the lead for good at 6-5 when he bounced a shot off of goalie Alex Rode's left hip and into the cage with 8:38 remaining in the fourth quarter.
After that goal, St. Paul's pressured Severn and reeled off three consecutive shots in the middle of the period during a two-minute span. However, Gilmore saved two of them and Gordon's attempt was wide of the goal.
The Admirals scored twice in the final two minutes to finish off the Crusaders.
Lamon's third goal of the game came with 1:41 remaining and Perreten finished the scoring with another tally.
"I give Severn a lot of credit," Brocato said. "They did a great job and stepped up today. They have a lot of seniors on that team and lot of good leadership."
GOALS: SP – Pollard, Gordon, Posner, Karey, Mayer; S – Lamon 3, Perreten 3, Olmert, Volk. ASSISTS: S – Olmert 2, Lamon, Volk. SAVES: SP – Rode 12; S – Gilmore 7. FACEOFFS: SP - 8; S - 11.