Lacrosse playoffs: Boonsboro girls fall to Fallston in state semifinals
Saturday
Girls 1A state semifinals
Fallston 16, Boonsboro 0
Making their third appearance in the state semifinals in the last five years, the Warriors walked into James R. Harris Stadium at Havre de Grace High School carrying hopes of reaching a state final for the second time ever.
The Cougars — who have a much longer tradition of state tournament success — had other ideas.
Fallston was dominant from the start, building an 11-0 halftime lead and giving Boonsboro (12-4) very few attacking opportunities by winning the majority of draws, controlling most of the possession and hounding the Warriors when they had the ball.
"They can handle the ball. They don't drop any passes. It's hard to get the ball from them when they don't drop any passes," said Warriors coach Tori Poffenberger.
Fallston has won two state titles — in Class 3A-2A in 2009 and in Class 2A-1A in 2012 — and has made 12 appearances in state semifinals and six (soon to be seven) in state finals since 1991.
"It's hard when our schedule isn't as hard as theirs probably was the entire season," Poffenberger said. "They probably play against more competitive teams, and don't get me wrong, we had some like that, but our schedule just isn't as consistent. So playing a team like (Fallston) is like hitting a brick wall."
Senior goalie Cadence Krall made nine saves — most on shots from point-blank range — for Boonsboro. The Warriors' three best scoring chances came in the closing 10 minutes, but all were stopped.
"Our girls fought hard the entire game and never gave up, so I'm super proud of that," Poffenberger said. "I'm just excited to be here. This is a once-in-a-lifetime experience for them to be here at the state semis. For them to come out and fight really hard for our 10 seniors means the world to me."
Friday
Boys 1A state semifinals
Southern (Anne Arundel) 13, Smithsburg 6
At Havre de Grace High School, the Leopards fell behind early and never recovered as the Bulldogs advanced to the state championship game.
Southern led 3-0 at the end of the first quarter, 4-1 at halftime and 8-2 at the end of the third.
“We just never got into our game, unfortunately,” Smithsburg coach Cullan Ganley said. “They came out and they played fast, and it just seemed like we played a bit slow tonight and never got comfortable.
“They did a good job of locking some guys off. They were locking Alex (Scholl) and Ryan (Linn) off at times,” he added. “They moved the ball well. They played the better game tonight.”
Adam Batey scored two goals and caused two turnovers for the Leopards (14-2), while Garrett Mazenko also had two goals, Linn had a goal and two assists, Scholl added a goal, Clark Smith had seven faceoff wins and five ground balls, Joey Ryan had five ground balls and Zak von Garrel made eight saves.
It was the fourth straight trip to the state final four for the Leopards, who are still looking for their first title.
Wednesday
Boys 1A state quarterfinals
Smithsburg 18, Liberty 10
For the Smithsburg seniors, their final game at Coach Carroll Reid Field ended just like all their other home games — in the win column.
As the No. 1-seeded Leopards (14-1) turned back the No. 8 Lions (7-8) to advance to their fourth straight state final four, their senior class improved to 23-0 at home.
“Nobody on this team has lost on this field, for lacrosse at least,” Smithsburg coach Cullan Ganley said.
Ganley went through his records earlier in the day Wednesday to confirm the unblemished mark at home.
“I was just thinking about this class and the legacy they were going to leave on this program, which is still to be continued,” he said. “I thought that would be pretty cool for them to know going into the game, something they could leave their stamp on this program with.”
Even better would be winning the program’s first state title. The Leopards were runners-up last year.
“Hopefully, we can get that state championship finally,” senior Alex Scholl said.
Scholl led the Leopards on Wednesday, scoring five goals to go with three assists, four ground balls and two caused turnovers.
“It was a good game,” Scholl said. “At times, we played a little slow, but we picked it up when we needed to. We always had an answer for them.”
Smithsburg led 7-2 at halftime and 9-2 early in the third quarter.
But Liberty didn’t go down easily, scoring five of the next six goals to make it a 10-7 game with 2:11 left in the third period.
In the final minute of the quarter, the Leopards answered with a flurry as Kyle Batey scored two goals and Blake Linn added another for a 13-7 lead.
After the Lions scored the first two goals of the fourth quarter to cut it to 13-9, Ayden Weakfall answered with a pair of goals as Smithsburg took control for good.
Weakfall and fellow freshman Blake Linn each finished with four goals for the Leopards.
“It’s awesome to have those guys step into these positions and step up in a big game,” Ganley said. “You need that. We call on them, and they answered the call tonight.”
Batey finished with three goals for Smithsburg, while Ryan Linn had a goal, five assists, five ground balls and two caused turnovers, Garrett Mazenko had a goal and two assists, Clark Smith had 23 faceoff wins and 12 ground balls, Blake Linn added an assist and goalie Zak von Garrel made seven saves.
“It’s about keeping it going,” Ganley said. “We keep talking about earning another practice, earning another game, and they keep coming out here and earning more practices and earning more games.”
The Leopards will face No. 5 Southern (Anne-Arundel) in the semifinals Friday at 6 p.m. at Havre de Grace High School. Smithsburg defeated Southern 15-10 in last year’s semis.
Girls 1A state quarterfinals
Boonsboro 15, Perryville 6
Freshman Nicole Malasky won the opening draw of the second half, raced down the field and scored — all in a mere eight seconds.
It was only one goal, but it set the pace for the No. 4-seeded Warriors (12-3) after halftime as they raced away from the No. 5 Panthers (10-4) to advance to the state semifinals for the third time in program history.
“She’s a ball of energy. She’s a kid that really is a spark plug for us. She’s super speedy out there,” Boonsboro coach Tori Poffenberger said of Malasky. “Her winning that draw, it was huge for us, because I told them, like ‘Hey, second half, we’re only up by three. They can come back at any time.’ So for her to get that off the draw, that was a huge knife in their side. And then it just escalated from there.”
The Warriors scored the first seven goals of the second half as their 6-3 lead at the break ballooned to 13-3 with 12:50 left in the game.
“We really got our momentum there,” Poffenberger said. “That’s what’s good about this team. At halftime, I was like, ‘We can’t let down our energy,’ and honestly, we just picked it up. They didn’t let down at all. They only went upward and really got us some good goals.”
Malasky finished with a team-high five goals to go with an assist and two draw controls.
Ava Selby added three goals and seven draw controls for Boonsboro, while Anna Kate Davis had two goals and two ground balls, Bekah Meiklejohn had two goals, Taeler Stouffer had a goal, three assists and four draw controls, Lexie Wilt had a goal, three assists and two ground balls, Micah Stine had a goal and three ground balls, Ayden Chesnutwood had an assist and three ground balls and goalie Cadence Krall made three saves.
Sarah Murrell scored five goals to lead Perryville.
Next up for the Warriors is a trip to Havre de Grace High School to face top-seeded Fallston in the semifinals Saturday at 2 p.m.
“Fallston is definitely a really good team, but I’m going to watch a lot of film and prepare for that,” Poffenberger said. “We’ll be ready. I know they’re talented, but not unbeatable.”
Monday
Girls 1A West Region II final
Boonsboro 13, Smithsburg 8
The first time the rival Warriors and Leopards met this season, in late April, Smithsburg star Bri Ellis — still recovering from an injury — only played on defense and Boonsboro rolled to an 18-3 win.
The rematch, with Ellis back in Smithsburg's midfield, proved to be much tougher for the top-seed and host Warriors. However, after falling behind 4-1 in the opening 4:11, Boonsboro's defense stiffened and the offense got going to rally for a 13-8 victory and a spot in Wednesday's state quarterfinals, at home as the fourth seed against fifth-seed Perryville at 5 p.m.
“I told the girls the game was going to be completely different with that girl (Ellis) playing midfield. She's a great player,” Warriors coach Tori Poffenberger said. “She sees the field really well and she can win the draw.”
Ellis and the Leopards (6-8) won four of the first five draws in the game, and converted each one into a goal — leading Boonsboro (11-3) to call a timeout with 20:49 left in the first half. Ellis finished with four goals and four assists in the game — having a hand in each Smithsburg tally.
“We came out flat even know we knew what was coming, but I'm really proud that we were able to pick up our effort after I called that timeout,” Poffenberger said. “We got ourselves together, got our energy back and our offense definitely got more in sync.”
Micah Stine and Ava Selby helped get the Warriors going, scoring two goals each in the first half. Stine, a senior, finished with four goals in the game and was the fiery spark plug Boonsboro needed to get pumped up and going.
“Her goals definitely brought the energy — you could see her celebrations afterwards,” Poffenberger said.
Defensively, the Warriors tightened up and only allowed four goals over the final 45:49 of the game. Senior Ayden Chestnutwood played a key role, winning three ground balls and two draw controls in addition to scoring a goal at the end of the first half that gave Boonsboro a 7-6 lead at intermission.
“We switched into man defense, got a little but more settled and didn't high pressure as much, and it worked for us. It settled the game down and made our slides and our crashes a little bit quicker,” Poffenberger said. “Ayden came out of our defensive end with a lot of really key ground balls, won a couple key draw controls for us, and that really changed the momentum.”
The game stayed tight through the first several minutes of the second half, with Stine scoring her final two goals for Boonsboro and Ellis netting a goal and feeding an assist to Maddie Kesselring to keep Smithsburg within a goal at 9-8.
But the Leopards did not score over the final 18 minutes, while Bekah Meiklejohn scored twice and Anna Kate Davis and Nicole Malasky added a goal each as the Warriors put the game away.
Boonsboro won its third region title in its last three playoff appearances (2018, 2019 and this season) — COVID wiped out the 2020 season and the Warriors were one of several teams in the county and state to opt out of the 2021 playoffs.
“I know we're going to face tough teams and we will have to make adjustments under pressure. To come back after being down three goals is huge and I think it gives them a lot of confidence to know they can step up in those moments of pressure and stress and be successful,” Poffenberger said. “I'm really glad this score was a lot closer … because I know we're going to face some really tough teams coming out of Annapolis, Baltimore and the Eastern Shore.”
Boys 1A West Region II final
Smithsburg 11, Brunswick 4
After a slow start, Ryan Linn and the Leopards (13-1) rolled past the Railroaders (10-4) at North Hagerstown’s Mike Callas Stadium, capturing the program’s fourth straight region title.
Linn, a senior, scored seven goals to lead the way.
“I finally got something to drop, found my rhythm and just let ’em fly,” he said.
At the end of the first quarter, Brunswick led 1-0.
“We dealt with some adversity today as a team prior to the game, and we definitely came out a little flat and had to overcome that,” Smithsburg coach Cullan Ganley said. “We were down two guys tonight. We just had to fight through it, plugging some different guys in and asking some more out of people.
“Ryan Linn really stepped up. He’s been spearheading for us all year long.”
Linn scored two goals in the second quarter as the Leopards took a 4-3 lead into halftime.
He added two more goals in the third period and then scored three in the fourth.
“We just had to wake up there a little bit in the second quarter,” Ganley said. “And from that point on, we controlled the game.”
Alex Scholl had two goals and an assist for the Leopards, while Blake Linn had a goal and two assists and Josh Kalons added a goal. Domenic Rucci had an assist, five ground balls and two caused turnovers, Bruce Reynolds had an assist and three ground balls, Josh Hegbe had five ground balls, Ryan Linn had four caused turnovers and goalie Zak von Garrel made 11 saves.
For Brunswick, Josh Cadle scored two goals, JT Harich had a goal and two assists and Cam Cornett added a goal.
Smithsburg, last year's state runner-up, is the top seed in the state tournament and will host eighth-seed Liberty in the quarterfinals Wednesday at 6 p.m.
Friday
Boys 1A West Region II semifinals
Smithsburg 23, Boonsboro 4
Clark Smith scored nine seconds into the game, and the top-seeded Leopards (12-1) were off to the races in their playoff opener against the visiting Warriors (3-10).
Smithsburg led 9-0 at the end of the first quarter and 21-0 at halftime.
Maybe the bad taste is finally out of the Leopards’ mouths.
In their final game of the regular season on May 3, they fell 9-6 to Middletown for their only loss.
“We didn’t exactly end the regular season the way we wanted to, so the point of emphasis with that long break was getting back to our style of play,” Smithsburg coach Cullan Ganley said. “We hadn’t put up a lot of goals in those last two games. It was just getting back to what we hang our hat on, which is move the ball in transition and try to get out on guys quick.”
Smith finished with five goals, an assist, 15 ground balls and 26 faceoff wins for the Leopards, while Alex Scholl had five goals and an assist, Garrett Mazenko had four goals and four assists and Blake Linn had three goals and three assists.
Also for Smithsburg, last year’s state runner-up, Ryan Linn scored two goals and Kyle Batey, Ayden Weakfall, Wyatt Grove and Ashton Redman each added a goal. Zak von Garrell had five saves, while backup goalie Logan Ryan made three.
“We didn’t end the way we wanted to, and the guys came out with something to prove,” Ganley said. “And they still feel like they have something to prove.”
For Boonsboro, Brett Sharpless had three goals, Eric Phipps scored one and Jacob Wells had nine saves.
Smithsburg will take on Brunswick in the region final Monday at 6 p.m. at North Hagerstown. The Leopards defeated the Railroaders 14-6 on March 24.
Girls 1A West Region II semifinals
Boonsboro 23, Brunswick 1
The top-seed and host Warriors raced to a 17-0 halftime lead and into Monday's region final.
Taeler Stouffer led the onslaught with five goals, one assist and six draw controls, and Lexie Wilt ladded four goals and three assists for Boonsboro (10-3). Ava Selby had three goals, one assist and four draw controls, and Bekah Meiklejohn also scored three goals.
Micah Stine and Nicole Malasky each scored twice and Kate Montgomery, Amber McLucas, Hanna Santora and Mack Kidwell added a goal each. Ayden Chestnutwood had three assists and Nina Price added two assists.
Boonsboro will host Smithsburg (6-7) on Monday night (tentatively scheduled for 7:30), with a spot in the state quarterfinals at stake. The Warriors reached the state final in 2018 and the state semifinals in 2019.
Smithsburg 16, Catoctin 10
Led by Maddie Kesselring and Bri Ellis, the Leopards (6-7) turned back the visiting Cougars to advance to the region final.
Kesselring had six goals, three assists, five draw controls, seven ground balls and two forced turnovers, while Ellis had six goals, six draw controls and three forced turnovers.
Smithsburg was in control at halftime, leading 9-4, before Catoctin scored the first two goals of the second half to cut its deficit to three.
“We came out flat in the second half,” Leopards coach Monica Hovermale said. “I called a timeout, got the team together and told them that we’ve got to go, the intensity has to be high and we have to want it. We have to finish the game.”
Smithsburg responded by scoring five unanswered goals to all but put it away, up 14-6.
Also for the Leopards, Norah Keller, Hope Burleson, Erika Reiter and Kirsten Mislan each scored a goal, and Emma Wilkinson made 15 saves.
Next up for Smithsburg is a trip to play top-seeded Boonsboro on Monday for the region title. The Warriors defeated the Leopards 18-3 on April 26.
“Boonsboro is a great team. They’re well-coached,” Hovermale said. “But we made some mistakes earlier in the year playing them. We came out flat and played flat the whole game. We’ve worked on some stuff during practice. That’s what you do. You learn from your losses, and we just practiced on what we can improve on. … We’ll be ready Monday.”
Wednesday
Boys 2A West Region II quarterfinals
Oakdale 25, North Hagerstown 2
Boys 3A West Region I quarterfinals
Frederick 16, South Hagerstown 2
Girls 2A West Region II quarterfinals
Walkersville 22, North Hagerstown 2
Girls 3A West Region I quarterfinals
Thomas Johnson 1, South Hagerstown 0 (forfeit)
This article originally appeared on The Herald-Mail: Washington County lacrosse playoff roundup
