South River girls lacrosse had already sapped Severna Park’s once impressive lead to three goals when Erin Hussey remembered the bet.
Falcons senior Alyssa Gore-Chung, sidelined by an injury, vowed to buy her ice cream if she scored enough goals in the semifinal round of the AACPS Showcase girls lacrosse tournament. But if she netted precisely four goals and two assists, Hussey owed her the sweet treat instead.
Between that frustrating third and fourth quarters, as the Falcons coaches implored someone to strike the Seahawks’ net as quickly as they could, Hussey carried four goals and two assists.
“A lot of people on my team also knew about this thing with Alyssa. It made me push a little harder,” Hussey said.
The junior midfielder could not have humanly hit her fifth goal any quicker. Hussey plucked the draw from the air, took a feed from Maria Bragg, zipped through an open lane before the cage and fired. Severna Park had its first goal of the half, inspiring another three to flow from Falcon sticks, including one more from Hussey, to forge a 13-6 triumph.
Hussey supercharged the victory with six goals, two assists and two draws, an act not only motivated by dessert, but a high expectation her performances this spring has placed on her.
They’ll certainly ask for another one at Glen Burnie on Monday night, as the Falcons (13-1) rematch rival Broadneck in the county championship. In their last meeting, Hussey tallied eight draw controls, two goals and an assist.
“We gave her a huge shoutout at practice yesterday for how amazing she’s been,” Severna Park coach Annie Houghton said. “She’s just a finesse player with so much speed and endurance. She weaves through people, and she’s not flashy. It’s always a perfect placement.”
Without the new AACPS Showcase tournament bracket, there likely would not have been a high quality team on Severna Park’s doorstep at this point in the season. Given the mostly unbridled success the Falcons have been reveling in lately, Hussey honestly appreciated the trial.
“I think we need a team to push us, and they certainly did that,” Hussey said. “It’ll keep us in the loop with these other teams and keep our feet ready.”
Houghton feels “torn” on the first-year system. If their playoff region plays out as she expects, the Falcons could see South River a third time in just a matter of a week and a few days. Generally, teams don’t love the prospect of beating a team three times.
South River proved what even meeting a team twice in a short period of time can mean. At first, the Falcons knitted a potential blowout together without much interference, levying a 6-1 lead through the first quarter.
Then Severna Park’s mistakes piled up.
South River took the first two draws of the second quarter, forced Severna Park turnovers on another pair, scored a couple and mostly kept pace from 6-1 to 9-3 at halftime.
But the Falcons generate their victories on perfection and discipline. Without it, a hairline fracture could easily split into a cavernous crack. And for 12 minutes, it did.
In the third quarter, Severna Park claimed draws like asphalt collects raindrops — there for a second but gone just as quickly. Each fell victim to turnovers and each ultimately graced the stick of a Seahawk for a goal. Annabella Burke scored twice and Alex Alto scored once.
The Falcons had nothing to counter South River’s three goals. Before the third, Houghton called her team in, but not to scold, shout or plead.
“Just go back to solid passes. Force nothing,” Houghton had said. “I think they’d pass, they’d bobble the ball, turnover, and South River capitalized. But not panicking is something we’ve done well. As long as we stayed disciplined and kept possession, they can’t score.”
The Falcons showed their coach they listened. Turnovers diminished. Severna Park pulled most of the final frame’s draw controls, and the one they didn’t, they swiped back and scored nonetheless.
“We can’t make those mistakes. We all realized that. We know then we need to pick up and fight hard to make up for it,” Hussey said. “So we all did that.”
South River — 1 2 3 0 — 6
Severna Park — 6 3 0 4 — 13
Goals: SR — Burke 2, Norton 1, Reidy 1, Alto 1, Toth 1; SP — Hussey 6, Kreis 2, Van Gieson 1, Jeffers 1, Bragg 1, Stefancik 1, Dunoyer 1; Assists: SP — Hussey 2, Bragg 3, Evans 1, Jeffers 1