The girls lacrosse region playoffs got underway Wednesday with Harford Tech and Bel Air both netting wins to advance in each team’s respective brackets.
Tech’s win came at home, 9-8, in overtime over Fallston in Class 2A East play, while Bel Air also won at home, beating Edgewood 15-0 in 3A North action.
Aberdeen, meanwhile, lost at Kenwood, 14-3, in 3A North play.
At Tech, Kellyann Coccia’s goal off a free position shot (FPS) just 18 seconds into overtime lifted the Cobras past the Cougars.
The Cobras (6-6) won the overtime draw (12-6 draws) and already a player up, wasted little time getting into scoring position.
“I didn’t know what to do then, I saw everybody coming towards me,” Coccia said of scoring the winning goal. “It was overwhelming, but it was really exciting because we all work together. This wasn’t a one-person effort.”
The Cobras went ahead less than three minutes into the game on Molly Re’s FPS goal.
Fallston (5-7), however, scored the next four over a stretch of seven minutes. Juliana Williams scored the first off a turnover, unassisted. Williams then added the second goal with an assist from Megan Dudick.
Taylor Aumiller, from Allie Holt and Logan Ward, with the Cougars at a player advantage, scored goals three and four just 20 seconds apart.
“We definitely worked on that throughout the season, when we get down, not hanging our heads and coming back from that,” Tech coach Katie Freeman said. “We called the timeout and we talked to them about how this was still not out of our reach and we just needed to focus and I think that helped change the momentum and we got back into it.”
Coccia halted the Cougars run with her first goal, assisted by Mackenzie Gallery.
With 1:53 left in the half, Holt scored a FPS goal to push the Cougars lead back up to three, 5-2.
The Cobras responded with a Molly Re goal with 1:01 to play and a Claire Ashburn goal with 19.6 seconds to play.
Fallston led 5-4 at half.
Tech, though, scored two more to open the second half and led, 6-5. Madison Re and Cassidy Poole (Molly Re assist) provided the goals.
Another run by the Cougars led to an 8-6 lead with 6:19 to play. Aumiller and Rachel Solak converted back-to-back FPS goals and Holt scored unassisted with 6:29 to play.
Tech shots missed the goal on a pair of FPS opportunities and it was looking a bit grim for the Cobras.
A late turnover, though, gave the Cobras new life and they took full advantage of it. Ashburn scored with 1:35 to play off a Molly Re assist.
With 1:03 to play, the Cobras went a player up and a FPS for Molly Re. She converted the goal to tie the game.
Molly Re, a freshman, finished with three goals and two assists. Coccia and Ashburn finished with two goals apiece.
Wiliams, Holt and Aumiller scored two goals each for the Cougars.
”It was a hard-fought game to the end. Obviously, it didn’t go our way, I‘ve got to give it up to Harford Tech,” Cougars coach Maddie Palko said. “They payed a great game, we played a great game. It didn’t go our way today, but I’m still proud of how the girls played.”
In goal, Tech played two keepers. Sammy Peters had one save and Mackenzie Bianchi made four. Fallston goalie Lauren Gabranski had 10 saves.
The Cobras will play at North Harford (8-5) in Friday’s next round.
Bobcats roll
In Bel Air’s win, the Bobcats (6-7) were led by Maggi Hall’s five goals. Bailey Springer, Gabby Trzeciak and Ava Goeller added two goals each, while Addie Kalama, Jenna Ranney, Katie McGrain and Logan Cook scored one goal each.
Trzeciak added two assists. Others credited with an assist were Kalama, Ranney, Hall, Goeller and Alexis Augustitus.
Bel Air played two goalies, with Riley Patrick making three saves and Isabel Gautreax adding two saves.
Edgewood (4-7) stats were not provided. Bel Air will visit C. Milton Wright (9-3) in Friday’s region quarterfinal round. The Mustangs defeated the Bobcats, 12-7, in their previous meeting at Bel Air in early April.
Eagles ousted
In Aberdeen’s (3-10) loss the Eagles got single goals from Layla Gagne, Emma Cook and Hanna Armstrong.
Eagles senior goalie Taylor Miller made 11 saves.
More Friday action
In 1A East, defending 1A state champ Patterson Mill (6-6) will visit Havre de Grace (6-6) at 4 p.m.
The winner will travel to Perryville (9-2) on Monday for a 5 p.m. clash with the Panthers.