Poly boys defend lacrosse title in rematch against City
Defending Baltimore City boys lacrosse champion Poly was surprised by the separation between itself and rival City in a comfortable win earlier in the regular season.
During Monday’s Baltimore City title game rematch, the Engineers were determined to further separate themselves and wanted to do so in a hurry.
Mission accomplished.
Led by the dynamic one-two of Bowen Valery and Darryl Spence, Poly scored the title game’s first six goals and rolled to a comfortable 17-3 win over the Knights at Frederick Douglass High.
In beating City for a second straight year for league bragging rights, Poly (14-1) now has five city crowns.
The gap between the Engineers and the rest of the city field has widened. Last year, they beat City, 6-5, for the championship. With their entire midfield and attack returning, they claimed a 16-6 win over the Knights earlier in the season. Leading 14-2 at halftime on Monday, the second half was played with a running clock.
“I spent time over the weekend watching the game we played initially, just looking at some of the mistakes we made and how we could capitalize to put the game away early,” Poly coach Phil Thompson said. “I told these guys over and over, if we take care of the ball and finish our goals, this game would be over by halftime.”
Sure enough.
The Engineers won the ground balls in the middle of the field and Valery and Spence took advantage. Valery opened the scoring less than two minutes into the game. Spence scored the next two goals before Valery closed out the first-quarter scoring. He then opened the second quarter with another goal to give the Engineers a 5-0 lead with 10:26 to play in the first half.
After Ben Kaplan scored for City to make it 6-1 with 8:52 to play in the first half, the Engineers rattled off eight straight goals before the break.
Other boys lacrosse scores:
Broadneck 10, Severna Park 4: Broadneck senior goalkeeper Colin Gray worked at Starbucks on Saturday when he spotted a parent of one of his teammates. He couldn’t wait to tell her, “It’s our time to finish it.”
The team’s last win, an unexpected blowout, as well as the 13 that came before it, filled Gray with confidence for Monday’s county championship against Severna Park. When he combined that with sour memories of losing to the rival Falcons in this game a year before, Gray strongly felt nothing could stop his team now.
For all the success Broadneck’s offense had, Gray was the one the No. 7 Bruins held on their shoulders at the end. The senior keeper made 20 stops against some of the county’s most prolific scorers to preserve the Bruins’ 10-4 victory at Glen Burnie.
It is the first time a team other than No. 10 Severna Park won the Anne Arundel boys county title since 2015 and the Bruins’ first since their first time winning it in 2001.
The full impact of what Gray, a transplant from Southern California two years ago gave to his adopted community washed over him in waves: first, when he threw his stick to the sky after closing the game with a save, as his teammates thundered toward him. Then, when he thought of the memory, his eyes glowing with pride and joy.
“I’ve been dreaming of it. It’s what I’ve been working for. I’ve imagined it in my head so long,” Gray said. “I knew it had to happen.”
To make Gray’s legendary efforts worthwhile, six Bruins came together to pile on those 10 goals. At the forefront were senior midfielder Ryan Della and junior midfielder Tyler Hicks, who each netted three goals.
— Katherine Fominykh
Hereford 11, Catonsville 10: Despite the fact that Hereford defeated Catonsville by 11 goals earlier this season, the Bulls didn’t let down in Monday’s Baltimore County championship game. The Bulls used an early-five goal spurt to build a lead before holding on for an 11-10 victory.
Junior Brenden Kittner had three goals and three assists, senior Baylor Davis had four goals, and senior Trey Gibbons had three goals and one assist to lead the Bulls (11-2), who jumped out to a 5-0 lead. Catonsville got three goals each from Noah Kennedy and Nate Wess, two from Eric Kaplan, and one each from John Gorski and Colin Fox.
Kittner used a pair of one-goal losses last season to Catonsville, including the county title game, as motivation and didn’t dwell on the blowout earlier this season.
“Hereford vs. Catonsville is always a backand-forth game,” Kittner said. “We knew coming in the first game was a fluke and we needed to have energy. We needed everybody and we needed the bench, we needed the coaches, we needed the fans and it worked out for us.”
— Craig Clary
Girls lacrosse
Severna Park 12, Broadneck 6: Charlotte Diez remembers being a sophomore playing her first varsity game for Severna Park after the pandemic stole her first year. It was pounding rain and Broadneck, the Falcons’ rival, beat her and her squad.
Then, the Bruins did it again in the Class 4A region championship in 2021 before Severna
Park moved to 3A last year. Diez remembers it.
Now, she and the other graduating seniors will leave Severna Park having not lost to Broadneck in two years.
The No. 9 Falcons grabbed the momentum Monday night and pulled away for a commanding 12-6 win in the Anne Arundel County championship at Glen Burnie.
“It’s so important. Especially as a senior,” Diez said. “It means everything.”
They got ahead of themselves in the region championship two years ago, she said. Then, the Falcons led by five goals at halftime, just to lose in double overtime. Diez said the team took lessons from those kinds of defeats and applied them Monday.
“We worked for good goals and we chipped off slower, rather than forcing things and causing turnovers,” Diez said. “Because they’re such a good team and they can score like that. Having possession was key.”
— Katherine Fominykh
Towson 16, Dulaney 4: Towson coach Taylor Carhart addressed the elephant in the room Monday before it even developed a taste for peanuts.
Facing rival Dulaney in the Baltimore County championship, the No. 12 Generals weren’t going to think about last year’s heart-wrenching collapse in the same game.
“I always give a quote [during the] pregame, and my quote today was, ‘Don’t look at the past, don’t look at the future. Play right now, right here,’ ” Carhart said.
Towson did just that, scoring on its first four shots and building a commanding lead
it never relinquished in a 16-4 win, giving the host Generals their first county title since 2009.
Senior Brigid Vaikness scored five goals and junior Gabi Galvez added four as Towson built an 8-1 lead early in the second half and led by at least six the rest of the way. The end result was markedly different than a year ago when Towson seemed all but assured of a title after building an 11-1 lead on Hereford, only to fall silent in the second half and eventually lose in double overtime, 13-12.
“I brought it up, but I don’t like to bring up the past too much,” Carhart said. “We focus on what’s in front of us.”
This time, the Generals (11-1) made sure history wouldn’t repeat itself.