The wind is picking up and clouds are moving in fast as Fallston boys lacrosse wraps up a mid-March practice, the Cougars’ last before their season opener against conference-rival Perryville. The weather may be worsening, but the energy could not be better.
Vibes are high on this field this time of year. And for good reason — Fallston has won two consecutive and three of the last four 1A state lacrosse championships and feels capable of doing it again.
“Just in the huddles when we’re talking, cutting up and joking around,” coach Patrick Mull said describing these early-season workouts. “But when we have to flip that switch and compete, it’s very competitive.
Fallston also knows it has become the team every opponent dreams of knocking off. That pressure can become overwhelming throughout the ups and downs of a season. But so far, the Cougars have kept that colossal attention from becoming too heavy. Can they do it again?
“Pressure can be something that can break you,” Mull said. “But at the same time, it puts you in adverse situations and you have to rise to the occasion.”
When asked to pinpoint how this run started, the coach starts with a devastating loss.
Fallston fell in the 2022 state championship game to Southern-AA, 14-7, the freshman season for this year’s seniors. “They kicked us in the teeth pretty good,” Mull says now after taking a moment to reflect on the loss. It was supposed to be the start of a historic run after winning the title the prior season. Instead, frustration and confusion permeated throughout the program.
“I had just gotten pulled up from JV, so I wasn’t even really on the team,” Owen King said. “I was just trying to not make eye contact. I felt helpless on the sidelines.”
“I felt so bad for the seniors,” Ian Swartzendruber added.
A “galvanizing moment” followed, Mull said. The season was technically still a major success — most teams wouldn’t make wide-scale changes after reaching the state title game. But that wasn’t enough for Fallston. Adjustments ranged from big picture, philosophical strategies to the colors players were allowed to practice in.
“Some people would wear a red shirt and green shorts,” Swartzendruber. “But now, we’re all uniform. Everyone is white shirt, gray shorts. It’s developing a routine of consistency.”
The Cougars have hardly lost since, claiming the last two state titles and avoiding many regular season defeats. They’re 3-1 so far this spring, beating UCBAC foes Perryville and Joppatowne and splitting against South River and Catonsville in the nonconference. Fallston’s three wins have come by an average margin of more than 11 goals per game.
Turnover is expected in high school sports, but perhaps no team was hit harder than the Cougars. They lost 14 seniors, including eight starters, from last year’s state title winning roster. But the current crop of fourth-year players say they learned valuable lessons from their time observing them. Most important among them is how to play as the hunted.
“Everyone’s got our game circled,” King said. “We go to every game knowing we’re gonna get their best shot. You can’t take any game off.”
A post-practice dinner followed the final workout before the season opener — fried chicken, macaroni and cheese and a “plethora of desserts,” King said, was put together by the school and parents. The rain began shortly after.
A stretch of four games in six days awaited. But for these few minutes, these players are just friends enjoying a meal. Smiling faces are bountiful around Fallston boys lacrosse. Being the team the rest of the state is chasing is a position they’ve found comfort in.
Said Swartzendruber: “I feel like the only people really standing in our way of getting another state championship are ourselves.”
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