The Howard boys lacrosse team could have been filled with doubt when it returned to the field for the second half of Saturday's Class 4A-3A state semifinal against defending champion South River.
The past two years, the No. 7 Lions had their season ended by the No. 8 Seahawks in state tournament play. Last year, they took a 17-0 record into the title game only to once again fall. And then came Saturday's first half, when the Seahawks won faceoffs and ground balls and simply kept the ball as the minutes passed.
Averaging nearly 19 goals per game this season, the Lions mustered only one in the first 24 minutes.
But there was no time for doubt.
Instead, the Lions were urged to keep faith in the plan. They started winning the middle of the field and played faster, their pace. And the goals soon poured in.
Cody Ford scored five second-half goals and Scott Bruner added four goals and two assists as Howard won 11-4, outscoring the defending champions by a 10-1 count in an overwhelming second half that puts the Lions a giant step closer to the program's first state title.
Howard (18-0) will take on Churchill either Tuesday or Wednesday at Stevenson University.
The loss drops South River to 15-3 and ends Paul Noone's impressive eight-year run as coach. He is stepping down to pursue other interests and leaves with three state titles and two other title game appearances.
On Saturday, it was clearly the Lions' turn and as they charged toward goalie Collin McClelland, there was a sense of accomplishment and relief that went with the expected excitement.
"It's been three years in the making," said Ford, a senior. "They beat us in the state semifinals my sophomore year — they killed us — and then they beat us at states last year, 9-6, and it was a tough feeling. We had a great [senior] group last year and they told us that we had to make it again. And this time we did it."
Trailing 3-1 at the half, the Lions finally got the game tied at 3 when Ford scored with 1:50 left in the third quarter. It started a goal-scoring splurge. Before the end of the quarter, Ford scored two more times with Bruner assisting on both. Midway through the fourth quarter, Ford scored twice in seven seconds to push the lead to 8-4 and send the Lions on their way.
"We dug deep, we dug deep. We stepped up our offense, we handled the pressure and we stuck it to them," Ford said.
Eric Schroeder added two goals and an assist, Brad Zulick had four assists and McClelland finished with eight saves for the Lions.
"You definitely feel proud of the guys — preparing for [South River] like they did and sticking with the plan. It hurt last year and for them to come out and perform the way they did in the second half was very impressive," Howard coach Jimmy Creighton said.
This marks the first time since 2010 that South River won't be playing for the state championship, but Noone got everything out of his team.
"We just ran into a better team today. It got late in the game and everything we tried just didn't work," he said. "But, hey, win, lose or draw, I love my kids — always have and always will. This is my last game, I would have liked to have gone out a little bit different, but it's OK."
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Boys lacrosse
Class 4A-3A state semifinal
(at Northeastern)
7 Howard 11, 8 South River 4
Goals: SR – Fanzo 2, G. Maloof, H. Maloof;
H – Bruner 4, Ford 5, Schroeder 2.
Assists: SR – Egley, Thomas, Hirata, Schimoler;
H – Zulick 4, Stephanos, Bruner 2, Dunnigan, Schroeder, Friedman.
Saves: SR – Palandati 10;
H -- McClelland 8
Half: SR, 3-1