For the first time in county history, three girls' lacrosse teams reached their respective state championship games this past week.
Squads from Winters Mill, Westminster and Century high schools comprised half of the girls' field at the annual event May 24 and 25 at UMBC Stadium, in Catonsville. But only one school returned to the county with a state crown.
Winters Mill continued its domination of state-level foes, defeating Loch Raven for its third state title in the past four seasons. The lopsided 13-2 victory in a rematch of the 2010 title game allowed the Falcons to successfully defend their Class 2A-1A championship.
But frustration hit the previously-undefeated Westminster Owls, who saw their near-perfect season end with a 14-7 loss to 10-time state champion Severna Park in the Class 4A-3A championship contest. Two-time defending champion Century was denied a seventh state title in nine years by Marriotts Ridge, which handled the Knights by an 8-4 score in Class 3A-2A.
Winters Mill-Loch Raven
Over the years, the footprints of girls' lacrosse players from Winters Mill and Loch Raven have become ingrained in the artificial turf at UMBC Stadium. Entering the Class 2A-1A title game, the two programs had combined for six state titles in 11 appearances at UMBC.
Mill scored the first four goals and was never challenged, rolling to a 13-2 victory over the outmanned Raiders.
The Falcons, who finished 15-3, took their second straight Class 2A-1A title and claimed their third state championship in four years. Loch Raven which was trying to win its fifth state title, closed at 11-6.
Sophomore Sydney Trentzsch scored a game-high three goals, while senior Erin McMunn and junior Madison Cyr each contributed two goals and two assists to an efficient Falcons' offense. Senior goalkeeper Kacie Fogle, a converted midfielder, stopped four Loch Raven shots in her final high school game.
The outcome was never in question, as Winters Mill raced to a 9-1 halftime lead and cruised to another title. Cyr opened the scoring at the 22:57 mark, and the Falcons scored three more times before Christie Moyer tallied Loch Raven's first goal midway through the first half.
But a free-position goal by junior Felice Artuso started a six-goal Falcon run that put the game out of Loch Raven's reach. A standout Winters Mill defense held the Raiders to one goal in the final 39 minutes and just eight shots for the entire game.
"I don't think anybody expected us to be here, with starting two freshmen and four sophomores," said longtime Falcon head coach Courtney Vaughn, who lost three high school All-Americans from the nation's top-ranked public school team in 2010. "This group overachieved. They have the heart of a lion."
After last spring's title-game loss to the Falcons, Loch Raven head coach Wendy Mabe talked of upgrading her team's schedule to better prepare for the state tournament.
"It's amazing that we're back here, with such a young team," Mabe said. "But we're a little frustrated right now because we didn't play our game today at all. It's disappointing when you don't play well in the most important game of the season."
Century leads all county teams with five state titles, but Winters Mill is rapidly gaining ground. However, Vaughn deflected speculation that his program could ow be considered a dynasty.
"We're just a team of hard-working individuals," Vaughn said. "They've worked to get where they are. Our county and region are among the toughest in the state, and that prepares us to play here."
Fogle, who will return to the midfield next year at Liberty University, agreed with her coach's assessment.
"We are a young team," she said. "We saw the challenges ahead of us and had all the confidence in the world."
Westminster-Severna Park
The Westminster Owls had reached the Class 4A-3A state title game twice before, losing to C. Milton Wright in 2004 and Severna Park two seasons ago. But those Owls teams didn't bring an undefeated record and the No. 1 ranking among the state's public school teams with them to UMBC Stadium.
This year's matchup with Severna Park was considered the Owls' best chance to capture their elusive first state championship.
But Westminster's history of frustration at the state tournament continued May 25 as Severna Park dominated the Owls in the second half on the way to a 14-7 victory. It was the 10th state title for Severna Park, who have beaten the Owls four consecutive times in either a state semifinal or title game.
"We had an undefeated season to this point, and our kids have nothing to hang their heads about," said Westminster coach Jackie Stevens, whose Owls finished 17-1. "Severna Park is a great program, and definitely our nemesis."
A balanced offense, led by a game-high four goals by sophomore Morgan Torggler and a three-goal, one-assist effort from senior Kendyl Gardner, paced one of the state's elite programs to another state championship. Severna Park's 10 state crowns rank second only to the 15 titles won by Mt. Hebron.
The Owls jumped to a quick 3-0 lead in the first four minutes thanks to two goals from sophomore Jessica Carder and one by senior Bethany Baer. But the Falcons rallied to tie the game at 4-4 on Torggler's second goal of the half. Westminster senior Jordan Wilkins gave the Owls a 5-4 halftime lead, but the second half belonged to the Falcons.
Westminster took its final lead at 6-5 on a fine left-handed shot from senior Kate Haker with 22:47 remaining in the game. But Severna Park's speed and total domination in the faceoff circle made for the longest half of Westminster's sterling season. Led by midfielder Rachel Mia, Severna Park won the first eight draw controls and 10 of 13 overall in the second half, and outscored Westminster 10-2 in the final 25 minutes.
"We struggled with our draw controls all season," said Severna Park coach Carin Peterson, who guided the Falcons to all 10 of their state championships. "But Rachel Mia was phenomenal on the draw tonight. And that's the best second half we've ever played."
When the Owls did get a good shot on goal, they were usually stymied by senior goalkeeper Emily Mata, who finished with 10 saves.
The Falcons' championship charge began when senior Elizabeth Barranco started a nine-goal run at the 22:05 mark. By the time that Westminster's leading scorer, senior Alyssa Semones, scored her only goal with 5:55 remaining, Severna Park had already built an eight-goal lead and the outcome was settled.
"When you get down to this type of team, you think that it's going to get away from us," said Baer. "And it got away from us tonight."
Century-Marriotts Ridge
The Century girls' lacrosse team was playing in a state championship game for the eighth time in the program's nine-year history. The Knights had won six state titles in their "second home" at UMBC Stadium, the longtime site of the annual championships.
Marriotts Ridge had never reached a state title game until this spring.
But the Knights' tradition and past tournament success didn't matter May 24 when a superior Marriotts Ridge team claimed its first state crown with an 8-4 victory. The Mustangs finished with an 18-1 mark, while Century closed at 15-3.
On their way to the Class 3A-2A title, the Mustangs held Century to its lowest postseason single-game goal total and denied the Knights a third straight state championship. A staunch Mustang defense and uncharacteristically sloppy play by the Knights were the keys to victory for Marriotts Ridge, which lost to Century in last year's state semifinals.
"Century had experience from being here before, and my girls came out with some jitters but they took control," Mustangs head coach Natalie Gaieski said.
Junior Nicole Grote totaled three goals and an assist and senior Laura Maskell scored twice for Marriotts Ridge, which won the title in its fifth varsity season. Grote started the scoring at the 22:27 mark of the first half, but Century sophomore Abby Remenapp tied it four minutes later. After Grote scored her second goal, senior Jill Remenapp found the net twice to give Century its only lead of the game with 10:37 remaining in the opening half.
From that point, Marriotts Ridge dominated the contest. The Mustangs scored six straight goals and kept Century scoreless for nearly 35 minutes, until Jill Remenapp tallied with just 44 seconds left in the game. The Mustangs held four of the Knights' top five scorers without a point.
"I never thought I'd see the day when we'd be held to four goals," said first-year Century head coach Becky Trumbo, like her coaching counterpart Gaieski, a graduate of Liberty High. "They sent slides at the right time, and we didn't handle their pressure very well. They outhustled us and played a very intense game."
The Knights' 17 turnovers were also a major factor.
"We just weren't starting up on offense as we usually do," said Jill Remenapp, who will play collegiately at the University of Denver. "We didn't get in the groove, and what should have been easy goals became turnovers."