FALLSTON, Md. — It has been a dream season for Fallston High School lacrosse - for both the boys and the girls.
"Oh my gosh. Words can’t even express how excited we are. We have just been on fire," said girls captain Abby Kaminkow.
"These last two weeks have been great. We’re at the state championship," said boys midfielder Noah Richard.
Both collections of Cougars will play for 1A state titles on Friday. Fallston is the only school in the state that has both their girls and boys in the state final. Their presence on the biggest stage is about more than just on-field success.
"It’s huge, especially with everything that’s been going on this past year, it kind of just brings our town and our school together," said Richard. "It’s more to rally behind for the whole community."
Fallston has captured girls and boys state lacrosse titles in the same year once before (2012). To do it again the second-seeded boys will have to beat the No. 1 seed, Smithsburg.
"They are big and athletic and the thing we’ll try to stress to our guys is just play your game," said boys head coach Patrick Mull.
"If we execute and we play our game and how we know how to play lacrosse I think we can beat any team in the state," added Richard.
The top-seeded girls need a win over the three seed, Liberty.
"We understand that Liberty is going to be a tough team to beat," said Kaminkow. "We’re coming in with the mindset of confident but not cocky and understanding that we have to be determined and remain on fire."
Whatever happens on Friday, having both teams playing in the last game of the season is reason enough to celebrate after the circumstances of the past 15 months.
"To be able to end the school year on a good note for our program, the lacrosse program at Fallston and the community in general, it’s a great way to end such an unprecedented school year," said girls head coach Maddie Palko.
The boys go after their title first on Friday. They’ll play at Noon. The girls follow at 2:30 p.m. Both games will be played at Loyola’s Ridley Athletic Complex.
Follow Shawn Stepner on Twitter @StepnerWMAR and Facebook
