BERLIN- Stephen Decatur’s girls’ varsity lacrosse team’s run at a possible state championship ended with a 10-8 loss to Oakdale in the 3A-2A Region Final Four last Saturday.
The Seahawks cruised through the early rounds, beating fellow Bayside Conference rival Parkside, 12-8, in the second round and trouncing Calvert, 18-5, at home last week to win the 3A-2A East region title and advance to the Final Four. Decatur traveled to Annapolis High to face 3A-2A West Region champion Oakdale last Saturday afternoon, but fell to the Bears, 10-8, after mounting a big comeback.
The Seahawks fell behind early, 4-0, before getting their offense on track. Decatur battled back to even at 4-4 before Oakdale scored just before the half to take a 5-4 lead into the intermission. The two teams swapped goals early in the second half before the Seahawks took their first lead of the game at 7-6 with a goal with about 13 minutes left in the game, but Oakdale again tied the contest a short time later.
Oakdale then scored two goals in a span of around 20 seconds to take a 9-7 lead it would not relinquish. Payton VanKirk scored for Decatur with just over six minutes remaining to cut the lead to 9-8, but that was as close as the Seahawks would get. Oakdale added a late goal to extend the lead to 10-8 and then held Decatur at bay as the clock wound down.