BERLIN- The Stephen Decatur girls’ varsity lacrosse team’s improbable run at a possible state championship ended last week with a narrow 11-10 loss to Oakdale in the state 3A-2A region semifinals.
The Seahawks breezed to the 3A-2A East region championship last Wednesday with a decisive 15-6 win over Huntingtown to claim their third straight trip to the Final Four. However, as with each of the last two trips, Decatur’s goal of winning a state championship proved elusive again this year with the 11-10 loss to Oakdale on a late goal last Friday.
Last year, Decatur reached the 3A-2A state championship game, but saw it title hopes and the dreams of a perfect season fall with a 10-7 loss to Century. In 2014, the Decatur girls won the region championship before falling in the state semifinals. This year, with the loss of several key seniors from the 2015 state finalist team, Decatur was widely considered to be in a reloading mode, but the Seahawks didn’t miss a beat in going 15-2 overall on the season.
However, while the Seahawks reached the threshold again, they couldn’t kick the door in for a state championship. Nonetheless, with the exception of a couple key senior defenders graduating, the 2016 team will largely be intact heading into next season and the hope is the Seahawks will be able to take that next step.
Decatur was a little slow out of the gate against Oakdale in the state semifinal in Annapolis last Friday and found themselves trailing the Bears, 2-0, early in the contest. The Seahawks quickly rebounded, however, and scored five unanswered goals led by two each from Victoria Kerkovich and Lexie VanKirk to take a 5-2 lead.
As would be the case for most of the game, Oakdale answered with a mini-run of its own and tied the game at 5-5 heading into the half. Decatur came out firing early in the second half and took an 8-6 lead after a pair of goals by Claire Porter. Again, Oakdale battled back in the see-saw contest.
Decatur led 10-9 with eight minutes left in the game, but knew Oakdale had at least one more run in them and holding on would be difficult. The Bears tied the game at 10-10 with around seven minutes left and scored again about a minute later to take the lead at 11-10.
With the one-goal lead and about six minutes left, Oakdale was able to maintain possession of the ball for much of the remaining time and kept the Seahawks out of their defensive end. When the final horn sounded, the Bears had held on for the 11-10 win and a trip to the state championship game. For the Seahawks, the final horn signaled another close finish in the Final Four and unfinished business for next season. Incidentally, Oakdale fell to Glenelg, 14-1, in the 3A-2A state championship game on Tuesday.
Despite another near miss for the Seahawks, the loss in the state semifinals did little to tarnish what was another remarkable season for the Decatur girls under new coach Sarah Braniecki. The Seahawks went 14-1 in the regular season, their only loss a narrow 9-8 defeat to Cape Henlopen. The Decatur girls won the Bayside Championship, beating Queen Anne’s, 9-7, in the title game.