Words: Joey Sedlacko
On Friday night, Centennial Boys Varsity lacrosse suffered their first county loss(4-1) against a very talented Marriotts Ridge team (2-2 county, 8-2 overall) by a score of 8-7. The Eagles fought hard to tie up the game 7-7 in the final minutes of the fourth quarter, but Marriotts Ridge scored with 24.5 seconds left to win the game.
The first quarter went well for Centennial. Jack Schlossberg made great saves in the first few minutes of the game and sophomore Ty Sams, who was assisted by senior Jeremy Wilson, opened up the scoring with 5:15 left in the first quarter. A costly turnover at midfield though led to a Mustangs goal to tie up the game 1-1. With 1:04 remaining, Jeremy Wilson scored unassisted to put the Eagles up 2-1 at the end of the first quarter.
Both teams played solid defense in the second quarter, but Charlie Hockersmith created some space and buried a shot into the net giving Centennial a 3-1 lead. In the final minutes of the quarter, Centennial could not capitalize on a man up advantage. However, with 16.6 second left Marriotts Ridge was able to make the score 3-2 going into half.
In the third quarter, Centennial’s defense began to falter and allowed Marriotts Ridge to score three unanswered goals to put the Mustangs up 5-3 at the end of three.
To start the fourth, Marriotts Ridge won the faceoff and scored a goal two minutes in. Another costly turnover by Centennial leads to another goal for the Mustangs. Marriotts Ridge went on a 5-0 scoring run and had blown open the lead to 7-3.
However, the Eagles came storming back with their own 4-0 run. With 6:51 left in the game, the momentum flipped when the scoring drought ended after a goal by senior Thomas Thurmond assisted by Jeremy Wilson. Just a minute later, a Centennial goal by junior Peter Krawczyk narrowed the lead to 7-5.
Centennial amped up their defensive pressure and made big stops giving their team a chance to continue to chip away at the Marriotts Ridge lead. Jeremy Wilson scored with 2:16 left to make it 7-6. Marriotts Ridge won the faceoff, but a clutch defensive stop would lead to a game-tying goal by Thomas Thurmond assisted by Jeremy Wilson.
In a crucial faceoff to get a chance for a final shot, Centennial could not come up big. The defense for the Eagles had been spectacular this quarter, but a well-executed possession for Marriotts Ridge would put them up 8-7 with 24.5 seconds remaining in the game.
The Eagles had one last opportunity for a shot on goal with eight seconds remaining. Unfortunately, the shot would go wide of the net and the Eagles would suffer their first county loss.
Before going into the game, Centennial Boys Varsity was tied for first place in the county with Glenelg. After the loss on Friday night, Centennial would fall to second place, putting them overall at 7-2.
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