Towson boys lacrosse has been there before, along with many other teams that ran into mighty Severna Park’s path in the championship game.
In a steady rain on Wednesday night, the Generals simply couldn’t keep up with the No. 5 Falcons’ talent, depth and confidence in the Class 3A title game at Stevenson University’s Mustang Stadium.
Up two goals at the break, Severna Park (16-1) dominated the final half of the season for a convincing 11-4 win over Towson for the program’s ninth straight state title and 14th overall, both state records.
For the Generals, who close out the season as Baltimore County champions and a 15-5 mark, it’s the second straight title game loss to the Falcons.
Severna Park’s unmatched offensive balance was on display with Duke Sealey and Tim Sullivan each scoring three goals, Jack Fish adding two goal and one assist and Ben Ruppert contributing two goals.
The Generals got two goals each from Hudson Arrup and Brody Donovan with goalie Jackson Harris making seven stops.
“They’re very good — well coached and a lot of talent and weapons on that team,” Towson coach Phil Rossetti said. “We knew that going into it, they were going to be tough and, at the end of the day, we just kind of ran out of gas a little bit. But I’m super proud of the guys, such an awesome group. And to the guys coming back, we’ll get back here.”
The Generals gave the Falcons a tough go in last year’s title game before falling, 8-6. And early on Wednesday, it appeared the same could happen.
But throughout the game, the champions brought game-changing plays.
Leading 2-1 in the closing minutes of the first quarter, Falcons goalie Hasting Fava made two sensational saves, the second off a shot from Alex Tyler that got Severna Park in transition with 1:08 to play. Fish capitalized to make it 3-1 going into the second quarter.
Arrup, who close out his junior season with 39 goals and 19 assists, led a brief Generals rally with consecutive goals, the second a nifty backhand flip after coming from behind the cage to tie the score at 3 with 5:16 left in the half.
Sullivan answered and then Sealey took a feed from Colin Whitacre with 58 seconds left, pushing the advantage to 5-3 at the break.
While Towson went to the locker room for halftime, the Falcons stayed active on the field and put the game away with a dominant third quarter that put them up 9-4. The Generals went 14-plus minutes without a goal and never recovered.
“They’re a great program and a great team and I think they’re consistency always makes it tough to go up against,” Arrup said. “Overall, our team played an excellent game and I know now they’re nine straight, but I thought we gave them a good fight like last year. I’m just really proud of my guys.”
The Generals showed resiliency all season. They lost to Baltimore County rival Hereford in the regular season but came back to beat the Bulls, 5-4, for the county crown.
That big win came after an uncharacteristic 12-0 loss at Frederick County power Urbana and started a five-game roll that ended on Wednesday.
“Very special group. We went to Urbana and that was a tough one for us. But after that trip we regrouped and responded,” said Rossetti, making special note of an 8-3 semifinal win at Marriotts Ridge on Friday that had a difficult, lengthy delay because of the inclement weather.
Towson — 1-2-1-0 — 4
Severna Park — 3-2-4-2 — 11
Goals: T — Arrup 2, Donovan 2; SP — Ruppert 2, Fish 2, Duke Sealey 3, Sullivan 3, Pugh
Assists: SP — Fish, Williams, Mazcko, Whitacre
Saves: T — J. Harris 7; SP — Fava 4
Have a news tip? Contact Glenn Graham at ggraham@baltsun.com, 410-332-6636 and x.com/GlennGrahamSun.