Both River Hill and Howard boys lacrosse teams knew its matchup on March 23 was going to be a perfect test to see where each of their games stood in regards to the top teams in the county.
And after one half, it looked like the Hawks had the defending county champion Lions right where they wanted, trailing by only one, 5-4, through first 28 minutes of play.
The second half, however, was a completely different story as Howard racked up 10 goals in the third quarter alone en route to a 19-7 victory.
"The first half I thought we played well and got some good looks, but their goalie made a couple really nice saves. They kept punching back and making some plays," said Lions coach Jimmy Creighton. "The difference in the second half was we were able to put them in the back of the net. ... We got on that big run in the third quarter and it really helped us out."
Senior attackman Cody Ford led the way for Howard, scoring six of his eight goals in the third quarter. Up 8-6, the Lions scored 11 unanswered goals to put the game away.
"(River Hill) brought a lot of early intensity," Creighton said. "Some of our guys didn't look ready to roll, but once we matched that intensity we were ready to go. I think we need to do that more often on both sides of the ball."
Howard started the game strong and built a 3-0 lead, but River Hill got on the board with only 4 seconds left in the first quarter after senior defender Brady Kinner scored on a shot from about 70 yards out that Lions goalie Collin McClelland never expected.
The Hawks got another goal to start the second quarter from senior attackman Jimmy McEneaney, and the two teams traded two goals apiece the rest of the half.
Even though the Hawks were outshot 18-10, River Hill coach Keith Gonsouland thought his team was winning many of the little battles to keep them in the game.
"I think we battled. We battled for ground balls, we were aggressive," said River Hill coach Keith Gonsouland. "We were really battling for ground balls, and in the second half, we didn't."
The Lions took off in the third quarter and did so in a hurry. Howard got three goals within the first three minutes of the half, including two from Ford.
Although the Hawks got two goals back after a timeout to make it 8-6, senior Ryan Land kept the pressure on the River Hill defense by dominating in the faceoff circle. He won nine of the 12 draws in the third quarter.
"I think (Ryan) relaxed a little bit. He was really excited to play this game for sure," Creighton said. "We knew they had some good faceoff guys ... Ryan just relaxed a little bit, and once he did that, he was fine."
The extra possessions meant goals for the Lions, especially for Ford, who scored four straight goals to extend the lead from 10-6 to 14-6.
"The kid can shoot. He works at it," Creighton said. "He was getting shots early on, they just weren't falling. Once they started falling, we were able to put a nice run together."
Gonsouland said he was disappointed in his team's second half performance, especially the way they lost so many ground balls even after discussing its importance at halftime.
"It was something we emphasized in the pre-season, and it's something we are going to work on going forward," he said. "We said at halftime that's what the game was going to come down to. That's why the result was what it was."
River Hill will face Atholton Tuesday, while Howard, which beat Hammond 26-0 on March 21, will face Oakland Mills Thursday.
Howard (2-0) 19, River Hill (0-1) 7
Goals – Ho: Ford 8, Bruner 4, Schroeder 4, Zulick 1, Kelehan 1, Stephanos 1; RH: Friedman 2, Isaac 2, McEneaney 1, Kinner 1, Remson 1
Assists – Ho: Zulick 4, Bruner 2, Ford 2, Kelehan 2, Dunnigan 1, Schroeder 1; RH: Schulman 1, Isaac 1
Saves – Ho: McClelland 6, Overstreet 1; RH: Khademi 17
Half: 5-4 Ho
Other scores:
Oakland Mills (1-0) 13, Hammond (0-2) 0
Goals – OM: Riss 4, Snead 3, Wash 2, Claxton 1, Hughes 1, Canada 1, Allen 1
Assists – OM: Paez 3, Bhylet 1, Kelly-Chung 1, Allen 1, Riss 1
Saves – OM: Ketchum 4
Atholton (1-0) 14, Long Reach (1-2) 6