The Liberty boys lacrosse teams is undefeated. It rolled to the county championship and now begins its quest to repeat as Class 2A-1A West Region champions and perhaps even go farther.
The Manchester Valley girls lacrosse team won its third straight county championship. Each of the past two seasons, that has led to a 2A-1A state championship for the Mavericks.
The regional playoffs begin tonight, but both of those teams, as well as the South Carroll and Westminster boys and Century girls squads, have earned first-round byes. There are four intra-county matchups and a few others featuring Carroll teams to open up the postseason.
Here's a look at how each Carroll team will begin the playoffs, and seeing who has the best chance to be hoisting a state title in a few weeks.
Boys Lacrosse
There have only been two county teams to win a state championship — Winters Mill in 2007 and Westminster in 2013.
Liberty may have the best chance to become the third Carroll team to do so.
The Lions (15-0) won their first county championship since 2000, and first outright since 1985, with a 17-8 win over South Carroll in Monday's county title game. They ended Westminster's 30-game win streak against Carroll teams on April 25 and they also had a quality win over Glenelg on April 4.
Liberty hasn't loss since last year's 2A-1A state semifinal when it fell to Southern. The Lions are focused on getting past that this season and capturing the program's first state title.
"We have a lot of guys back and I think continuity really makes the difference," Liberty coach Mike Flemming said. "The belief and development each year, when these guys are freshmen and we're rebuilding the program, they're 9-7. When they're sophomores, we're 13-3. When they're juniors, we're 14-4, state semifinals. So I think it's that growth and that experience."
The Lions will have to play against a few more county teams to make it back to the region final. In the second round, they'll play the winner of tonight's matchup between Francis Scott Key (4-9) and Manchester Valley (6-6).
The Mavericks host the Eagles tonight at 6 after beating them 12-8 on April 14.
Also in Class 2A-1A West Section 2, North Carroll (3-11) travels to Century (10-4) in a first-round matchup. The Knights beat the Panthers 11-8 on April 28.
The winner of the NC-Century matchup will play South Carroll (9-6) in the second round.
Winters Mill (5-7) travels to Centennial to open the playoffs in 3A-2A South Section 1.
Westminster (9-5) has a first-round bye in 4A-3A North Section 1 after playing a tough regular season schedule that featured losses to DeMatha and Kent Island in the last two games.
The Owls will play the winner of Sherwood-Springbrook in the second round. But their toughest challenge to make it to the region final will be Howard, which has eliminated Westminster from the playoffs each of the past two seasons. The Owls beat Howard in the state final in 2013.
Girls Lacrosse
Manchester Valley defeated Century 13-10 in the county championship game on Monday to earn their third straight county title. Both teams will have a first round bye as the 2A-1A playoffs get under way this week.
"It's really exciting for us and a real confidence booster as we go into playoffs," Mavericks junior midfielder Rayna Deltuva said. "Coming off with that win will help us as we move forward."
The Mavs have won two 2A-1A state championships in a row and will look to repeat that for a third time this year.
Liberty closed out the regular season with two non-county victories against Walkersville and Bel Air. The Lions will face South Carroll in the opening round of the 2A-1A West quarterfinals and the winner will play Man Valley.
"I think it gives us a little bit of momentum," Mavericks coach Shelly Brezicki said. "I think for us, the biggest thing is if we can compete against really good teams then it will push us and propel us to be better. [Monday's] game did that for us as we move forward into the playoffs."
The Lions last met the Cavaliers at home on April 21 and defeated the Cavs 16-12.
North Carroll and Francis Scott Key will face off tonight at 7 and the winner will face Century, the top team in the Hersh Division.
The Panthers defeated FSK 17-5 in Uniontown on April 21 and closed out their regular season with a pair of victories over Linganore and Brunswick. The Eagles registered just two wins this season, both non-county, against Smithsburg and South Hagerstown.
Prior to their county championship loss against Man Valley, Century battled McDonogh and took the Eagles to overtime on May 2 before losing 12-11.
"That really put a fire under us," Knights junior midfielder Kylie Davis said after the loss. "We want to beat any team that's in our way and I feel like other teams will see this score and would be nervous. We're just going to want to attack and hopefully get the state title."
The Knights have won seven state championships and earned their most recent one last year when they beat then-undefeated Stephen Decatur 10-7 for the Class 3A-2A title.
Winters Mill will play Reservoir in a 3A-2A South Section I quarterfinal tonight and the winner will play Marriotts Ridge. Westminster and Paint Branch will face off in a 4A-3A North Section I quarterfinal tonight with the winner advancing to play Sherwood.
