WORTON — It’s been a minute since there has been this much excitement swirling around the girls lacrosse program at Kent County High School.
Tomorrow at 4 p.m., No. 1 seed KCHS will face off at home against No. 2 seed Southern of Anne Arundel for the Class 1A East Region II championship. Both schools advanced with double-digit victories in their respective region semifinal on Thursday, May 8.
With their 18-8 victory, the all-underclassman Trojans improved to 7-6 — more wins in one season than the four previous seasons combined.
Spurred on by two early goals from sophomore attacker Liza Loller, KCHS never trailed in its semifinal win, though upset-minded North Dorchester (2-11) kept it close through the opening half.
Jules Tobat and Adi Thomas each scored four goals for North Dorchester, which just added lacrosse this year as a varsity sport.
Tobat’s solo run with less than a minute remaining in the first frame closed the gap to 5-3, and a pair of Thomas’ goals in the span of 23 seconds early in the second quarter made it 7-5.
And then the Trojans’ triple threat of freshman Abby Gallo, sophomore Jane Cleary and junior Mary Jane Joiner took over, scoring or assisting on every goal in a 6-0 run that quashed any hope of an Eagles’ comeback.
“Draw control was the biggest thing, draw control and ball control,” Jim Egan, the Trojans’ assistant coach who was filling in for head coach Aly McDonald, told The Evening Enterprise in an interview immediately after the game.
“If we didn’t maintain ball control, it would have been a closer game,” Egan said.
“And we didn’t make too many mistakes,” he added.
Egan was gracious in victory, noting that it was difficult to defend against Jules Tobat once she made up her mind to go to goal and that Jules’ twin sister Maddie in the net made several quality saves.
The Trojans’ lead of 7-5 with 10:23 remaining in the second quarter was looking a little flimsy after they missed a free-position shot at the 9:23 mark and then eight seconds later Maddie Tobat made a tremendous save on a point-blank shot.
Gallo, who would finish with a career high of seven goals, started the decisive 6-0 run with a free-position tally with just under nine minutes to play in the half.
Two minutes later and the lead still only 8-5, freshman Lyric Frase — brand new to the sport of lacrosse and only four games under her belt as goalie — had a key stop while the Trojans were down a player because of a foul.
The ball control that coach Egan pointed to as being key for the Trojans was on display in the waning minutes of the half. Loller capitalized on a pass from Cleary to make it 9-5 at 1:49. Gallo scooped up the ground ball on the ensuing draw and then lickety-split found the back of the net for a 10-5 advantage.
North Dorchester shot wide with 50.2 seconds remaining before intermission and despite retaining possession did not get off another shot before the half ended.
KCHS extended the spread to 13-5 after scoring the first three goals of the third quarter — Gallo leaning in with her left shoulder for a whipping shot from the right side with only 26 seconds elapsed, Cleary to Joiner less than a minute after that and then southpaw Cleary in traffic with a right-handed strike that eluded Maddie Tobat for a 13-5 lead with not even three minutes gone in the quarter.
But the Eagles refused to go away quietly.
Thomas ended their scoring drought of nearly 17 minutes with 5:43 to play in the quarter.
KCHS won the ensuing draw, but Maddie Tobat made another save at the doorstep.
And then Thomas scored again at 4:21, with the assist credited to Jules Tobat, to close to 13-7.
But it wasn’t enough as the Trojans engineered a 5-0 run that bridged the third and fourth quarters, building an insurmountable 18-7 lead on a Grace Gerstung-to-Gallo goal.
Gallo started off the flurry with 2:33 remaining in the third quarter when she raced the length of the field and then bounced a shot into the net.
Cleary had the last shot of the quarter, circling around from the back of the cage before ripping a shot from the right side with just 29.7 seconds to play in the quarter.
Loller netted her fourth goal of the afternoon with 9:55 to go.
Forty-six seconds later, after another draw control won, Gallo put the ball in the net to give the Trojans a 10-goal lead, 17-7, and start the running clock.
Gallo and Jules Tobat traded goals down the stretch, with Tobat finishing off the scoring on a free-position shot with three minutes and change remaining.
Frase made her final save with 2.8 seconds to go, held the ball until the final whistle and then was mobbed by her teammates.
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Southern-AA (6-7) advanced to tomorrow’s region championship game with a 15-2 rout of Cambridge on May 8.
The Trojans’ win on Thursday was their first playoff victory since 2018.
KCHS is seeking what will be only the second region title in program history.
The Trojans won their only championship to date in 2000, when they competed in the Class 1A/2A/3A East Region. They rallied to defeat their border rivals from Queen Anne’s, 14-13, behind future collegiate All-Americans Julika Blankenship and Greta Sommers and a host of talented players.
Kent County went 15-2 that year, losing in the state semifinals to powerhouse Glenelg of Howard County, 15-8.
The lacrosse program was still young, having fielded its first varsity team in 1996.
KCHS was a region runner-up in 1998 and 1999 when classes 1A, 2A and smaller 3A schools were lumped together, and there were only four regions — unlike today’s eight regions and separate tournaments for 1A, 2A, 3A and 4A schools.
