The hype surrounded the game like no other public school matchup in the state; Howard versus South River – the team that has handed the Lions its last two losses.
Finally for Howard, though, the tables have been turned. No longer do the Lions need to feed off the most disappointing of defeats almost a year ago in the state championship game.
Howard overcame a 3-1 halftime deficit and outscored the Seahawks 10-1 in dominating the final 24 minutes of play to overcome South River, 11-4, at Northeast High School on Saturday to advance to their second straight 4A/3A state title game.
"From Day one we've been looking for this game right here. In the back of our minds, we knew this is probably the team it would come down to," said senior midfielder Brad Zulick, who finished with four assists. "Everyday we've been preparing ... We've been working hard, and it finally pays off to know that we'll be back in the state championship."
"It means a lot," Lions coach Jimmy Creighton said. "I think the guys feel pretty good right now. The coaching staff feels pretty good,"
Saying the game was a tale of two halves would be an understatement. Senior attackman Scott Bruner scored with three minutes left in the first quarter to give his team a 1-0 lead, but South River (15-3) controlled possession the majority of the first half and scored three in the second quarter to make it a 3-1 game.
"Their pressure really got to us in the beginning, and we couldn't really handle it," said senior Scott Bruner, who scored four goals and added two assists.
Howard (18-0) was outshot 20-5 in the first 24 minutes and lost four of six face-offs, but more importantly the Lions were sloppy with the few possessions it did have.
Whether it was clearing the ball, finding the open man or simply making the easy pass, Howard struggled with it in the first half.
"It was kind of like déjà vu for in the first half," Creighton said. "It looked like us in the state final last year, and I'm like, 'Here we go again.' ... It looked like the guys were a little tight for sure early on. A little bit of hype going into it and how fast they are."
At halftime, Creighton told his team that on the field they need to play faster and push transition to avoid the Seahawks controlling 6-on-6 defense that created havoc and held them to few scoring opportunities.
But the real message was something different.
"(Creighton) looked at the seniors and said, 'Boys, this is your last game. This could be your last game. You've got to play as if this is your last time wearing a Howard Lions jersey,'" Zulick said. "We took that to heart, and we came out in the second half and realized, we're going back to the state championship. It was exciting. It felt good to finally pull away."
The pace still favored South River early in the second half, but Zulick found Bruner for his second goal with 8:29 on the clock to cut the deficit to one.
Then, late in the third quarter, senior attackman Cody Ford simply caught fire.
He tied the game with 1:50 left in the third quarter, then put the Lions up 4-3 26 seconds later on a feed from Bruner.
Ford scored his third in less than two minutes when his shot from 20 yards beat Seahawks goalie Charlie Palandati with less than a second left on the clock.
It was then the Lions found their groove and confidence.
"Early on, (Cody) was having some trouble finding the goal. We just tell Cody to keep shooting," Creighton said. "Cody is the best pure shooter on our team, and when a kid like that is getting looks, that's a good thing for our offense. They're going to fall for him, just keep shooting."
Leading 5-3 entering the fourth quarter, Howard seemed to take its game and energy to another level.
Senior attackman Eric Schroeder got on the board a minute and a half in, and when South River answered to make it a 6-4 game, the Lions didn't flinch.
Ford scored his fourth of the game a little over a minute later, then, senior Ryan Land won the ensuring face-off and took the ball right down field to Schroeder, who found Ford for his fifth only seven seconds later.
"I think we finally got our passes down," Bruner said. "Our composure, our clearing game, everything stepped up. ... Once Cody got that first one down, he was firing shots into the back of the net."
Bruner got his hat-trick 30 seconds later and put his team up 9-4, and Schroeder and Bruner scored two more nine seconds apart with less than five minutes to go to take an 11-4 lead. From then on, South River looked deflated.
"We were just keeping our foot on the gas pedal a little bit. I noticed they got a little tired there at the end, and our guys were tired too," Creighton said, "but obviously when you're up a few goals it feels a little bit better and it's a little easier to play hard."
South River coach Paul Noone, who was coaching his last game as Seahawks coach, said the Howard attack is "top notch. They beat us between the lines."
"I like to think that either one of us, that if we could just get by this game then we're in pretty good shape," said Noone, who finishes with a career record of 128-22 as South River coach. "Trust me, after watching what they did today, they're in pretty good shape."
Howard will face Churchill, which beat Dulaney, 11-8, in the other 4A/3A state semifinal game on Saturday, in the state championship game at Stevenson University on Tuesday or Wednesday.
"Again, we're going to enjoy the moment as it comes, and once we find out who we're going to be playing later today we're going to worry about that because there is still one more step to get done," Creighton said.
Howard 11, South River 4
Goals: Ho – Cody Ford 5, Scott Bruner 4, Eric Schroeder 2; SR – Cole Fanzo 2, Grant Maloof 1, Henry Maloof 1
Assists: Ho – Brad Zulick 4, Bruner 2, Schroeder 1, Adam Friedman 1, Alex Stephanos 1, Malik Anderson 1
Saves: Ho – Collin McClelland 10; SR – Charlie Palandati 7
Halftime: 3-1, South River