No. 3 Sparrows Point girls beat No. 10 Patterson Mill for fourth straight state title

Winning state championships has become the norm for the Sparrows Point girls soccer team and sophomore midfielder Julie Lynch has done her part the past two seasons to help keep it that way.

With the No. 3 Pointers down a goal to No. 10 Patterson Mill midway through the second half, in a rematch of last year's Class 1A state title game, Lynch made the difference.

After scoring the tying goal 20 minutes into the half, Lynch converted a penalty kick with 8:11 to play for the game-winner — her second in as many state title games — to lead Sparrows Point to its fourth straight crown with a 2-1 win over the Huskies at Loyola's Ridley Athletic Complex.

Sparrows Point finished with a 17-1 mark, avenging its only loss of the season with a win over Class 4A runner-up up Perry Hall for its third straight Baltimore County championship.

Last season, Lynch was a freshman on a senior-laden team when she scored in the state title game's opening minute in a 2-0 win over the Huskies. On Saturday, her heroics came later with more work to do as she scored her 17th and 18th goals, and also ended the season with 12 assists.

As for her knack for coming up big at the biggest times?

"I guess it's just the rush of playing as a team and with this team," she said. "... Just being able to put forth my best effort into everything and come through when [I can]."

Patterson Mill (16-3) came into the game a confident group, with impressive wins over Class 3A state champion Urbana, Perry Hall and Fallston, last year's Class 2A state champion, during the regular season.

After being blanked by Sparrows Point in the 2015 state title game, the Huskies got the game's first goal Saturday when senior Annie Wysong scored 16 seconds before the intermission. But they were unable to add to the advantage in the second half, and then Lynch took hold of the game for the Pointers.

"I think we had a great season. The girls on our team were not only good players but good people, too," Wysong said. "It's an unfortunate loss. We had all the confidence in the world that we were going to win this game. It was unfortunate they had a PK, but we have to finish our opportunities and we couldn't in the second half. It was a great season, great girls and it's sad."

With standouts Lynch, All-Metro midfielder Kasie Lambert and junior midfielder Emily Vetri the key returners, the Pointers, who graduated 13 seniors from last year's team, were able to make an impressive transition with so many new starters.

Perry Hall ended Sparrows Point's 36-game winning streak with a 2-1 overtime win on Sept. 16, but the Pointers showed their growth with the impressive 2-0 win over the Gators to repeat as Baltimore County champs. Saturday's win gave them 13 straight victories and their fourth straight crown. Lambert, the steadying influence in the middle with 10 goals and 15 assists, was a starter for all four.

"It's unbelievable," she said. "I was just so happy to get back. We have basically three starters back and were able to come back and win it again."

After a first half filled with near misses from both sides, Wysong was at the right place at the right time with 16 seconds left until the break to give the Huskies the lead.

With the ball bouncing around directly in front following a corner kick served by Marissa Lapinsky, Wysong hit a clean left-footed shot that found the right corner to give the Huskies the big lift.

Patterson Mill coach Mike Parker said it would have been ideal for the Huskies' goal to come a little earlier in the first half to give them a chance to build further momentum. Instead, the defending champions got a chance to regroup with a halftime talk and then found the second-half goals to win.

"At no point did I ever think we were out of it," Sparrows Point coach Joe Lambert said. "We've been in this situation a couple times before this year and we've won, so I never doubted for a minute that we couldn't come back and win."

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3 Sparrows Point 2, 10 Patterson Mill 1

Girls soccer

Class 1A state final

(at Loyola University)

Goals: PM – A. Wysong; SP – Lynch 2

Saves: SP – Foos 1; MP – Cicenia 3

Half: PM, 1-0