The Century HS Lady Knights lived up to their national ranking (No. 10 in the nation and No. 6 on the MaxPreps Xcellent 25 Writer's Poll covering the Northeast/MidAtlantic) during the second round playoff game vs Northwood.  The final score was a lot to a little. 

Photos and video from the game can be found at the NHS website.

Hope you all enjoyed the season. 

According to the Maryland Public Secondary Schools Athletic Association (MPSSAA) website (www.mpssaa.org), the Northwood HS Girls Varsity Lacrosse team will travel to Century High School on Friday May 11 for a 6 pm game. 

Century High School is located near Sykesville/Eldersburg MD - which is essentially midway between Baltimore and Frederick Md.  It is 33 miles to Century via Georgia Ave (approx 1 hour travel time).

The Century HS Knights are 13 - 1 this season and are highly ranked in the MaxPrep National Girls Lacrosse rankings.

Note:  Game time and location confirmed.

Karen Flores scores with 1.6 seconds left in the game to seal a 9 to 8 win.

Just wanted to get the important news on the table right away.  Now back to the regular write-up.

It was a dark and stormy night - actually it was just a very heavy and persistent drizzle in South Hagerstown (a 90 minute bus ride for the team) on Wednesday night for the play-off game between Northwood Lady Gladiators and the South Hagerstown Rebels.

The stands were packed with Northwood fans, we had 30% of the crowd rooting for the Lady Gladiators.

The match was evenly played from the starting whistle until the very end.  Although Northwood never trailed in this game, the score was tied 4 different times.

Lizzie Sulc got Northwood started with a goal just 2 1/2 minutes into the game.  But Hagerstown answered a minute later.  Goals by Lizzie (number 2) and Amanda Frew opened up a 3-1 Northwood lead with 10 minutes left in the half. 

The Northwood defense, with emergency backup goalie Crystal Thompson minding the pipes, marked well and limited the number of open looks for Hagerstown.  Olivia Kimmel, Alex Moser, Jasmine Diaz and Shannon Burke worked double teams and disciplined marking.

But Hagerstown scored the next two goals to tie the match at 3 all late in the 1st half.  Lizzie responded again with her 3rd goal of the half for a 4 - 3 lead that took us to half-time.

Game conditions were a bit tricky as the mud in the goal mouth made bounce shots useless - several times Northwood shots stuck in the mud just in front of the goal line. 

It was also a hard fought match with several yellow caution cards being "awarded" to each team.

Alix McAtee kicked off the second half by scoring with just 1 minute gone to increase Northwood's lead to 5 - 3.  Hagerstown scored the next two to tie it back up at 5 all with 18:00 left in the game.

Alix scored her second goal with 15 minutes remaining, followed by Amanda's second goal of the game to rebuild the lead to 7-5.  Amanda shook off a stick to the face to help maintain offensive pressure on Hagerstown.

Amanda scored her 3rd of the game after another Hagerstown goal for an 8-6 lead with just 7:30 left in the game.

The offense and midfield (Melanie Guerrero, Emma Afflerbachor, Madeline Pifer with many others) put consistent pressure on Hagerstown clears by double teaming the ball carrier deep in the Hagerstown defensive zone.  And the offense was able to possess the ball for long periods of time during the early parts of the half.

But as time wound down, pressure built up and Hagerstown scored with 2:45 and 1:41 left to tie at 8 all.  Hagerstown had a golden opportunity for a game winner with about 45 seconds left as one of their better players was left open in front of the goal - but luck was smiling on the Lady Gladiators - and she hit the pipe.

Which led to three penalty shots in a row for Northwood in the last 30 seconds.  Lizzie shot wide.  Ung got blocked.  That left a Karen Flores penalty shot with 4 seconds on the clock.  The Hagerstown goalie had saved 10 penalty shots throughout the game as Northwood was forced to shoot high - and frequently shot into the goalie's body or helmet.  But not on this shot.  Following Karen's score, there were only 1.6 seconds remaining to be played - and Northwood's Varsity Girls lacrosse team enjoyed their first play-off victory.

Congratulations to the team and coaches Montalvan and Zwaan!

The next playoff game is Friday, May 11 (time and location TBD)

For those of you who could not make the game, it is captured in its entirety on video at the NHS website.

You will also find additional play-by-play descriptions with the video clips.

Well that was much better.

The Northwood Lady Gladiators enjoyed a highly successful senior night against the Kennedy Cavaliers.  During pre-game activities, the team and fans recognized the efforts and accomplishments of seniors Jasmine Diaz, Alix McAtee, Alex Moser, Crystal Thompson, and Elizabeth Ung.  Jasmine, Alix and Ung then went out and celebrated by scoring during the game - Jasmine scoring with 5 minutes to go in the second half, Alix scoring two early in the first half and Ung scoring midway through the second half and 1 second after the final whistle.  Crystal and Alex celebrated through a tenacious and occasionally fiesty defense that held the Cavaliers to just 4 goals total.

Emerson Milam had another very solid game in the nets, making a number of saves, with Olivia Kimmel and Shannon Burke anchoring the defense with Crystal and Alex.  Northwood's other scores were delivered by Karen Flores (1), Amanda Frew (3) and Lizzie Sulc (4), providing a final score of NHS 12 and Kennedy 4.

The game was followed by a number of players enjoying cupcake facials and coach Montalvan getting mini-gatoraded.

Lots of photos/video of the game and the senior night activities are available at the NHS website.  The video clips include additional play-by-play comments.

It will be a short turnaround for the team as they head for Washington County's South Hagerstown on Wednesday, May 9 for a play-off against the SHHS Rebels.

The evening started roughly for the Lady Gladiators as the Springbrook Blue Devils built an 8 to 2 lead during the first half.  Lizzie Sulc was responsible for both of the Northwood goals, scoring at mid half and just before half time.

But - as they have done all season - the Lady Gladiators continued to battle throughout the second half, scoring 4 additional goals while giving up just 3.  Ung scored midway through the half off an assist from Amanda Frew.  Madeline scored unassisted just 2 minutes later.  Lizzie added two more goals late in the game.

Northwood also put together a number of offensive passes and played solid, well marked defense throughout the second half. 

Emerson Milam continued to provide a number of saves in goal, while Alex Moser, Olivia Kimmel, Shannon Burke and Jasmine Diaz boxed out Springbrook through much of the second half.

Look here for individual photos of all the team players, fans and coaches, along with photos and video of the game.

The evening started with a lot of promise as the Lady Gladiators built a 4 - 1 lead over the Clarksburg Coyotes.  While Clarksburg scored first, within 10 minutes Northwood had put four goals in the net.  Lizzie Sulc started the scoring, followed by Madeline Pifer, Alix McAtee and Elizabeth Ung. 

Then fundamentals started to get in the way.  Missed passes, trouble gaining possession of ground balls, too many penalty shots given up and a renewed defensive effort (and some pretty heavy checking) by Clarksburg started to chip away at the Northwood lead.  Clarksburg began collapsing 2-3 players to the ball carrier when Northwood was on attack, and Northwood shots either went wide or were saved by the Clarksburg goalie.

At halftime, it was an evenly matched game with Clarksburg up 5 - 4.

Clarksburg came out of the half time break strong and scored the next 5 goals. After a short break for beleagured and injured Emerson Milam to be replaced by Alix McAtee in goal, Lizzie Sulc added her second for a 10 - 5 score with 14 minutes to go. 

Clarksburg responded with another goal.  Lizzie then scored with 5 minutes left and again with 3 minutes left to bring the score to 11 - 7, but Northwood could get no closer.

Photos and video (second half) are available at the NHS website.

The Einstein Titans jumped out to a quick lead, scoring within the first minute of play.  Goalie Emerson Milam saved several shots on goal during the next 5 minutes while the Titans continued to put offensive pressure on the Lady Gladiators.

Unfortunately, Northwood then received a yellow card and Einstein rapidly scored goals number 2 & 3.  Northwood came back with a goal by #5, Lizzie Sulc at 8 minutes of play.  Northwood had few quality shots during the remainder of the first half and were continually challenged on defense by Einstein’s play design – clearing the zone in front of the goal and letting their attacks go one-on-one.

 First half score:  Northwood 1 Einstein 7

Northwood came out shooting well in the second half but were stymied by a strong Einstein goalie, who made a number of good saves.   Emerson Milam also had a good start to second half in Northwood’s goal with numerous blocks before Einstein added goal number 8 during the 8^th minute of play.  Unfortunately, this started a 5 goal unanswered streak for the Einstein Titans, as they rolled the crease multiple times.  Northwood added goal number 2 by Lizzie Sulc during the last 4 minutes of play. 

Final Score Northwood 2 Einstein 12

Photos and video are available at the NHS website