FREDERICK - Fifth-ranked Dulaney reached the Class 3A finals for the third time in the past four years by defeating Leonardtown of St. Mary's County in double overtime last night, 2-1.

James Russo, Dulaney's leading scorer this season, kicked the game-winning shot with 4:32 left in the second overtime.

Center midfielder Sean Rush took the ball from the back at the corner of the 18 and sent a diagonal pass to Russo, who turned the ball back as a defender overran him.

"I then had no one on me and shot it to the corner," said Russo, who has 18 goals and didn't play the first 10 minutes because he missed practice Monday. "They came with quickness on the flanks and good skills in the middle."

The Lions will play River Hill at 5 p.m. Saturday at UMBC for the state championship.

Leonardtown (17-1) was undefeated and had allowed just six goals coming into yesterday's game.

The Raiders scored in the fifth minute on a header by Chad Johnson, who scored his 18th goal off a throw-in from Blake Roth.

Dulaney (14-4) tied it in the 52nd minute on a 35-yard kick by Eric Frey, his ninth goal this season.

"No one stepped to me, and I got a good crack on it," Frey said. "We haven't come back often this season, but I thought we had them on their heels in the second half."

Dulaney outshot Leonardtown, 14-8.

Dulaney coach Steve Shaw said: "The key was flank play. They won every ball at first, but I knew it'd be tough to hold a lead for 75 minutes. I expected their big throw-in. The field was muddy and the conditions were terrible."

No. 2 River Hill 2, Liberty 1: River Hill reached the state final for the fifth time in the school's seven-year history by defeating Liberty on Justin Hughes' goal with 15 seconds left in the first half of a state Class 3A semifinal.

The Hawks dominated the first half by outshooting Liberty 12-2, but Lions goalkeeper Matt Jolley had six saves.

Mo Hamzeh put the Hawks (15-2-1) on the board with a 10-yard kick to the far post in the 15th minute.

"Victor [Argueta] played a great ball to me, and I trapped it on my chest," said Hamzeh, who leads the Hawks with 17 goals.

Liberty (9-8), an underdog after a 5-0 loss to the Hawks earlier this season, stunned River Hill with 6:48 left in the first half, when freshman Taylor Van Brackle got loose and put one on the ground past Hawks goalkeeper Dave Marquart from 10 yards out. Van Brackle had an almost identical chance with 3:50 left in the game, but shot high and Marquart deflected it over the goal.

Hughes' game-winning goal was a header off a corner kick by Pat Nairin.

"It was an incredible ball by Pat and everyone went up, and I just put it in," said Hughes, who has 10 goals and 14 assists. "This is the best feeling ever. We had a lot of time to focus and get ready for this game. Now, I'm looking forward to Saturday."

Yesterday's game at Thomas Johnson was postponed twice and switched from its original location at Urbana.

River Hill had 15 corner kicks during the game to just two for Liberty and outshot the Lions 16-4.

"We played scared in the first half," Liberty coach Ed DeVincent said. "In the second half, we realized we could play a little with them. You can't give up a goal on a corner kick with 15 seconds left in the first half in a big game when we had the momentum. But we grew up a lot this year, and they see what it takes to get to this level."

Class 1A

No. 9 Oakland Mills 2, Rising Sun 0: Senior back Glenn Clardy and junior back Kyle Marcon both scored first-half goals and senior back Adam Magruder had an assist to lift Oakland Mills to a convincing victory over Rising Sun of Cecil County and put the Scorpions into the 1A state championship game for the fifth straight season.

Oakland Mills (12-4) will go for a state record 12th title and fourth in the past five years when it faces Smithsburg of Washington County at noon Saturday at UMBC. The Leopards scored five second-half goals to defeat St. Michael's of Talbot County, 6-1.

Clardy, Marcon, Magruder and the rest of the Scorpions' fullbacks played strong defense as well. Oakland Mills outshot Rising Sun, 10-8, but most of the Tigers' eight shots came from outside the penalty box and did not threaten junior goalkeeper Dan Rogers (two saves). Rising Sun's best chance came on a free kick in the 54th minute, but Tigers leading scorer Anthony Juliano hit the crossbar from 20 yards.

Juliano, who entered the game with 28 goals and nine assists, was shut down as Rising Sun (13-3) had its five-game winning steak broken.

"We knew they've been scoring a lot of goals all year, and Juliano is pretty good," Clardy said. "He can shoot from anywhere, so we were looking out for him. We were ready for anything."- Nathan Max