Playoff fortunes can turn in the blink of an eye.
Marriotts Ridge trailed Mt. Hebron by a goal with less than three minutes remaining, but had possession looking to tie the game. However, the Mustangs were called offsides, giving Mt. Hebron the ball back. Off the restart, the Vikings’ Maverick Smith sprinted downfield, tip-toeing the sideline with a defender draped on his hip.
The ball eventually circled to Gianni Karam, alone in front of the cage. He faked low and buried the shot high, extending the Vikings’ lead to two.
That momentum swing proved pivotal as the top-seeded Vikings defeated fifth-seeded Marriotts Ridge, 7-5, advancing to the Class 3A East Region I final. Mt. Hebron’s defense held its opponent to five goals or less for the ninth straight game.
“My head was rushing, I didn’t know what to do,” Karam said. “I’ve done it before. I always fake high, fake low. Once I saw him drop, I hit top and somehow it went in.”
The first half was a defensive battle, remaining scoreless for more than nine minutes. However, the Vikings found success in the final 2:30 of the first with goals from Rich Tangires and Karam.
The Vikings stayed hot, scoring twice in the opening five minutes of the second quarter on goals from Karam and Keegan Ryan. Cooper Stockenberg thrived as a facilitator, assisting on three of the first four goals.
While the offense was building momentum, goalie Everett Armstead and the Vikings defense remained disruptive. They took the Mustangs out of rhythm, effectively sliding to the right spots. Marriotts Ridge ended their drought with 20.6 seconds remaining in the first half, as Mt. Hebron took a 4-1 lead into halftime.
“The first half, excellent,” Mt. Hebron coach Mike McCarthy said of the defensive performance. “Obviously a breakdown the last 30 seconds, but to hold them to zero goals for the first 23:30 that sets the tone. It lets us kind of get our feet wet. [Marriotts Ridge goalie] Tyler Gladstone made some good saves early. We were peppering him, it easily could’ve been 5- or 6-0. The next thing you know it was 4-1 and it’s a ballgame.”
Marriotts Ridge scored first in the second half. Ryan Keenan scored his second of the game using his defender as a screen, giving the Mustangs more confidence. However, Mt. Hebron struck back on a delayed penalty, pushing the lead back to three. Smith dodged from behind the cage wrapping a backhand shot in mid-air past Gladstone.
“They were man-up since they were offsides, so I knew they were going to double me,” Smith said. “I was trying to run it out and as I went to X, I saw an opening by the crease.”
Twelve minutes away from the end of its season, Aidan Elliott got Marriotts Ridge going in the fourth quarter. He scored two quick goals, the first on a feed from Charlie Burd and the second beating his defender inside for the finish.
“We finally got things clicking,” Marriotts Ridge coach Tom Minard said. “The one that really killed us was the offsides when it was 6-5. I thought we had the possession and that was just the momentum killer. Finally, a couple goals were starting to fall for us, you keep shooting those things will happen.”
The teams exchanged goals leaving Mt. Hebron up, 6-5. However, Karam’s final goal proved to be the knockout blow, as shortly after the Vikings piled on Armstead celebrating a regional final berth.
“We haven’t been in this position since freshman year,” Armstead said. “We actually get to play it at home this time. I’m excited to just share these last couple of days of my senior year, hopefully not but last couple of my high school career for lacrosse, that I can spend it with these guys and come out on top.”
