Falcon Boys Win Eighth Straight State Title

All season, the Severna Park boys lacrosse team has beaten teams into submission with firepower, defenses never knowing from which player it comes on a given night.

In the 3A state championship game against Towson, the Falcons did it yet again with defense.

Behind one solid scoring run and a concerted effort to value possession of the ball, the Falcons outlasted Towson 8-6 at Stevenson University on Tuesday, extending the program’s state championship streak to eight.

“These guys know lacrosse. It was just a matter of letting them do their thing,” said Severna Park coach Bob Zichelli. “We didn’t have a lot of plays, a lot of structure, and we just let them do their thing. We want to be unpredictable.”

The unpredictable nature of Severna Park’s offense showed itself in the first three quarters. Timmy Sullivan scored the Falcons’ first three goals, while Jack Fish added two later in the game to help give them some breathing space. Nolan Grizzle, John Burkhardt and Tyler Lawhorne also tallied for the Falcons, who went from 4-3 down to 7-4 up over a nearly 21-minute stretch between the second and third quarters.

But in the fourth quarter, the title was won on defense, faceoffs, and tenacity. Davis Bates won 12 of 17 faceoffs, and the Falcons fought for every loose ball. Both of Fish’s goals came off lost possessions. Sullivan crushed a Towson player fighting for a loose ball. Late in the game, when Towson had closed back within one, defenders Upton Young and Teddy Evans made crucial plays to force turnovers.

The only goal of the fourth quarter came from Lawhorne, and the Falcons made it stick to add their names to the school’s history books.

“As you grow up, you watch those older guys play, and we’re friends with all their younger siblings, and they’re telling us, ‘You’d better not lose the streak,’” said Grizzle, one of the team’s seniors. “It’s kind of a relief because it’s expected for you to get there. … It’s great to come full circle. This is exactly how I wanted it to end.”

That victory extended Severna Park’s state record of consecutive titles, as well as extending the state record for overall championships, now at 13.