Southern surges into final
Bulldogs score six straight goals in fourth quarter to knock out Fallston, 9-4
In Saturday’s Class 2A-1A state semifinal against defending champion Fallston, positive signs came early in the fourth quarter for the Southern boys lacrosse team.
A bone-jarring check by senior defenseman Tyler Nation was soon followed by a game-tying goal from Brandon Thomas.
It turned out the Bulldogs were only getting started in their most important and most impressive quarter of the season.
Southern dominated in every facet in the final 12 minutes, with the Thomas tally starting a run of six unanswered goals, and a tightly contested, defense-first game turned into an impressive 9-4 win over the No. 12 Cougars at Northeast High.
Southern (12-4) will meet South Carroll — a 12-9 winner over Liberty in Saturday’s other semifinal — for the state championship either Tuesday or Wednesday at Stevenson. The Bulldogs, who lost to Liberty, 9-8 in overtime, in last year’s semifinals, will be making their fifth title game appearance and are still seeking the program’s first crown.
Fallston, which had won four of the past five state titles and five overall, ends its season with a 14-4 record.
On Saturday, Thomas finished with four goals, Colin Phipps provided the gamewinning goal and added three assists, and Ben DeBlauw scored three times to lead the attack. Nation and fellow defenseman Brody Northrop kept the Cougars’ dangerous attack in check with goalie Gavin Taquino making six stops. Nic Pomerleau also won key faceoffs to give the Bulldogs possession in their fourth-quarter run.
“The fourth quarter, we just went out and sold everything out, we went all out. … We were pounding, executing everything,” Thomas said. “Coach [Brendan Brace] talks about keys to success every game — hustle all over the field and execute every ground ball — and everything just works when you do that.”
Fallston took the game’s first two-goal lead when Ben Claffee took a feed from Dylan Wolf to make it 4-2 with 3:38 left in the third quarter.
Southern took over from there as Thomas scored with 20 seconds left and the momentum stayed with the Bulldogs the rest of the way. After Thomas scored the tying goal, the Bulldogs had the man advantage soon after and Phipps took a pass from Elias Hutchinson to give them the lead for good with 5:45 left. Goals by Thomas and Logan Clingerman, and two from DeBlauw more than secured the win. Goals: S—DeBlauw 3, Thomas 4, Clingeman, Phipps; F Claffee, White, Williams, Wolf. Assists: S—Phipps 3, O’Brien 2; F—Wolf 2, Claffee, Otenesek. Saves: S—Taquino 6; F—Olin 7. Half: 2-2