It looked early on in the season that the Howard boys lacrosse team would need to make some serious strides in order to be in position to win the county title for a third straight season.
But in the final week of the regular season, that's exactly where the Lions are, as they steamrolled Mt. Hebron, 9-1, May 3 on senior night. A win at Atholton on May 6 means they will clinch at least a share of the county title, and if Centennial knocks off River Hill the same night then Howard wins the title outright.
"It's huge, especially for our senior class," said Lions coach Jimmy Creighton. "These guys have been around for a while and put a lot of work in for this program and for them to finish off their career with at least a share of another county title would mean a lot for our guys."
Everything went right for Howard (9-4) against the Vikings (8-5), who suffered a big blow to their county-championship aspirations with the defeat. Felix Knorr won all six face-offs and finish the game 11 of 13 to allow the Lions to dictate the tempo, and the trio of Mark Bruner, Alex Stephanos and Tristan Kelehan scored two goals apiece to lead the offense.
"I think face-offs were huge. Felix again dominated his match-up from start to finish," Crieghton said. "I thought we did a great job of working to get good shots, too. Their defense has been doing a great job most of the year and they've got a great goalie, so you need to work hard to get good shots and get long possessions and I thought we did a good job of that, especially early on."
The result was never in doubt for the Lions. Kelehan and Malik Anderson each scored in the first quarter, and Kelehan and Mark Bruner pitched in with goals in the second to give Howard a 4-0 lead at the half.
Mt. Hebron was playing a zone defense in the first half and as a result the Lions slowed the pace down and waited for the perfect moment to strike. On the other end of the field, the Vikings were unable to get anything going offensively because of the tempo and inability to win the draws. In fact, they only registered two shots in the first 24 minutes of play compared to 11 for Howard.
"Felix dominated the game and they controlled possession," said Mt. Hebron coach Mike McCarthy. "I thought we were pretty good defensively for most of the first half. Two of our turnovers that were unforced led to two of their goals. When you play defense the whole game you're going to give up goals. They have enough good players that they controlled the tempo and possession."
The Vikings moved away from the zone defense in the second half to try and create more offensive opportunities, but Lions goalie Collin McClelland was up to the task while his offense took advantage.
The game turned into a rout in the third quarter thanks to a three-minute stretch where Howard had three different players – Stephanos, Kelehan and Michael Travisano – find the back of the net. McClelland, meanwhile, stopped four shots in the quarter and didn't allow the Mt. Hebron offense to gain any momentum.
"We had great possessions. We had the ball a lot and rarely did we just throw the ball away," Creighton said. "That was a huge thing – limiting turnovers."
Creighton also credited his defense's preparation and its ability to buy in to the game plan. In six county contests, the Lions' defense has allowed just 24 goals, and one goal for the Vikings is a season low.
"Guys have responded to the way we're preparing them in terms of film prep and scouting and executing the game plan," he said. "A big part of it is what Felix is doing at the 'X' and keeping those guys fresh and they're able to do what we want them to do – play aggressive, get after it and get the ball up the field."
Dylan Scheeler scored Mt. Hebron's lone goal on the extra-man offense eight seconds into the fourth quarter, but Howard scored the final two goals to create the final 9-1 margin.
While the loss is the Vikings' fourth in their last five contests, the win is the Lions' sixth in their last seven games. They have won 27 of their last 28 county games dating back to the start of the 2014 season.
Howard (5-1 county, 9-4 overall) – 9, Mt. Hebron (4-2, 8-5) – 1
Goals: Ho – Tristan Kelehan 2, Mark Bruner 2, Alex Stephanos 2, Michael Travisano, Malik Anderson, Patrick Sutch; MH – Dylan Scheeler
Assists: Ho – Anderson 2, Bruner 2, Stephanos; MH – Jake Edmonson
Saves: Ho – Collin McClelland 10; MH – Casey DuBois 6
Halftime: 4-0, Howard
Other scores:
Centennial (6-3, 6-6) – 11, Oakland Mills (2-4, 7-6) – 4
Goals: C – Tommy Kolp 4, Jaylen DeCarlo 3, Thomas Thurmond 2, Michael Hughes, Josiah Gavlin; OM – Nick Miller 3, Khaaliq Canada
Assists: C – Jeremy Wilson 6, Kolp 3, DeCarlo; OM – Canada, Ben Goldfein
Saves: C – Jason Simpson 6; OM – Andy Osiander 11
Halftime: 6-4, Centennial
Reservoir (4-7, 6-8) – 12, Hammond (0-6, 2-9) – 2
Goals: Re – Max Zester 4, Jesse Eckstrom 2, Kevin Obler, Logan Mitchell, Tyler Reiff, Josh Wynn, Jackson Hill, Campbell ; Ha – Nick Pekins 2
Assists: Re – Eckstrom 5, Zester 3, Wynn, Hill, Campbell; Ha – None
Saves: Re – Callan Weith 2, Jon Howe 1; Ha – Dylan Sicca 7
Halftime: 3-1, Reservoir
Glenelg Country (5-1 MIAA B, 7-5) – 13, Gerstell Academy – 8
Goals: GCS – Reid Chaconas 5, Mikey Welsh 3, Riley Schmidt, Riley Martin, Nelson Lequang, Justin Lucas, Nelson Lequang, Sean Escalante
Assists: GCS – Welsh 2, Schmidt, Riley Martin, Cameron Martin
Saves: GCS – BJ Borowski 14
Halftime: 7-3, Glenelg Country
Glenelg (5-2, 5-8) – 11, Marriotts Ridge (2-4, 5-8) – 7
River Hill (9-1, 10-3) – 18, Long Reach (0-6, 0-10) – 1
Atholton (6-4, 8-5) – 15, Wilde Lake (2-4, 7-6) – 5
Monday's result:
Centennial (5-3, 5-6) – 4, C.M. Wright – 12
Goals: C – Jeremy Wilson 2, Jaylen DeCarlo, Tommy Kolp
Assists: C – Wilson
Saves: C – Jason Simpson 18
Halftime: 6-1, C.M. Wright