BERLIN- Pocomoke’s varsity field hockey went to sudden death overtime in its bid to return to the state championship with a 2-1 loss to Fallston in the 1A-Region final on Monday.
Fallston scored first just about 24 minutes into the first half to take a 1-0 lead. Pocomoke finally broke through with about three minutes left in the first half on a goal by Dani Batze off a deflection to tie the game at 1-1, which is how the first half ended.
Both teams had opportunities in the second half, but neither could push across the leading goal and regulation ended in a 1-1 tie. Fallston scored just a few minutes into the sudden death overtime to win 2-1 and advance to the 1A championship game.
For Pocomoke, it was another recent near miss after decades of dominance. The Warriors, under Coach Susan Pusey, have one of the greatest, if not the greatest, records of dominance in state high school championships in any sport and at any level. Pocomoke won eight state championships between 1983 and 1997 including four straight from 1994 to 1997. After a brief hiatus, Pocomoke then won nine more state championships in a row from 2001 to 2010.