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CommunityA heartbreaking loss
Leonardtown falls by a single goal in 4A-3A East title game
Friday, May 16, 2008
 Click here to enlarge this photo Staff photo by REID SILVERMAN
Leonardtown’s Zack Werrell attempts to lift the spirits of Brian Dallaire, left, after the Raiders fell to Severna Park in the 4A-3A East region title game on Wednesday.
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What the Raiders (15-2) didn’t expect was to walk away with an 11-10 loss after taking the two-time defending state champion Falcons (16-2) to the brink of elimination.
‘‘It was a battle,” said Leonardtown head coach Matt Chew. ‘‘It was there tonight. Unfortunately, it didn’t happen.”
The match was scoreless until Severna Park’s Sean Price broke through with the game’s first score with two minutes and 11 seconds left in the first quarter to put the Falcons up 1-0. Twenty-nine seconds later, Severna Park went up 2-0 when Adam MacBride blocked a pass from Leonardtown goalie Mitchell Kanowicz and tossed the ball past the junior goaltender.
‘‘This is the first team that scored double digits on us all year,” said Severna Park head coach Larry Kramer. ‘‘We knew it was going to be a battle.”
After ending the quarter down by two, the Raiders showed their first sign of life when the duo of Kenny Aicher and Brian Dallaire scored Leonardtown’s first goal with 11:30 left in the second quarter. It was the first of four goals for Dallaire and the first of two assists for Aicher. But just when Leonardtown seemed ready to even the score, Severna Park scored three consecutive goals to take their biggest lead of the game at 5-1 with 8:20 left in the first half.
After the Falcons’ fifth goal of the night, Chew called a timeout to settle his offense. The team responded, scoring three unanswered goals to end the half down by one at 5-4.
‘‘Those guys really fought back,” said Kramer. ‘‘I have to give those guys from Leonardtown a lot of credit. Those kids were really tough kids and played hard.”
The Raiders started the second half with a spectacular goal by Aicher with 10:13 left in the third quarter. A groundball during a Leonardtown possession caused a muddled race for the ball that drew in every defender and attacker. Somehow, Aicher, perhaps the smallest man on the field, came away with the ball and sprinted towards the Severna Park goal for an unassisted score that tied the game at 5.
‘‘We knew it was going to be a hard-fought game,” said Aicher. ‘‘We knew it was going to be a one or two goal swing. And it would have been two goals either for us or them. And they got one. It went their way.”
Later in the quarter, with the Falcons up 9-7, Aicher again came through with a tremendous unassisted goal that brought the Raiders back within one score. With 51 seconds remaining in the third, Aicher charged hard at the Severna Park net, blasted through four defenders and somehow managed to squeeze a goal past Severna Park goalie Andrew Gvozden. The goal gave Leonardtown eight for the night, and left it trailing by one entering the fourth quarter.
‘‘It’s the little things [that made the difference],” said Aicher, echoing a sentiment shared by his head coach. ‘‘Things you forget, like missed passes.”
After another Aicher goal, this time assisted by Dallaire, tied the match at 9 with 9:48 left, the Raiders seemed poised to pull the upset. But Severna Park answered with two goals to go up 11-9. And although Dallaire was able to score one last time with 35.4 seconds left, the Falcons got the ball back and ran out the clock to secure the victory.
‘‘It was a hard fought loss,” said Leonardtown senior Stephen Norris, who said the key to the game was Severna Park’s ability to control the ball. ‘‘We gave it our all, the other team gave it their all. The better team came out on top.”
Many of the Leonardtown players were nearly brought to tears after the game, devastated after coming so close. After losing to Annapolis last season by only three goals, the Raiders entered the match with Severna Park looking to prove itself to the rest of the state.
And after taking the Falcons, winners of three of the last four state championships and runners-up four times since 2000, to the brink of elimination, Leonardtown felt it let a game they could have won get away.
‘‘I think we all feel that way,” said Chew. ‘‘And I think that’s what’s hanging over our heads, is that last year we came out with a three goal loss and a good effort and this year we saw it. It was there. And I think that’s what we all feel tonight –– we missed our opportunity.”
