SILVER SPRING — The Fallston and Liberty boys lacrosse teams arrived at Wheaton High on Friday fired up and ready to go for their Class 1A state semifinal.
Then had to wait roughly 90 minutes as thunderstorms rumbled through the area.
Once the game finally got underway, there was no weathering the storm the two-time defending 1A state champion Cougars unleashed in the first quarter.
Ian Swartzendruber scored four of his five goals the opening 12 minutes as Fallston recorded the game’s first six and cruised to a 17-3 victory.
The Cougars will play the winner of Saturday’s Forest Park-Middletown game at a day and time to be announced next week for the 1A state championship. It is Fallston’s fifth straight trip to the final. They won it all in 2021, 2023 and 2024.
“It never gets old, that’s for sure,” Fallston midfielder Owen King said. “Good to see the hard work all year continues to pay off.”
“It’s definitely exciting,” Swartzendruber said. “We’re hoping to carry all this momentum into next week, and hopefully get a state championship.”
Having to sit and wait could be rough, but Fallston coach Patrick Mull said that he saw the high energy level he’s been looking for.
“I loved their energy, loved their effort,” Mull said. “We’ve been asking for them to give the very best they have effort-wise. We sold out on all the ground balls, did all the little things tonight.”
Fallston beat Liberty in last season’s title game and knew what to expect from the Lions. They were familiar with their personnel and were ready for anything Liberty threw at them.
“We had a good scouting report,” Swartzendruber said. “We were expecting their best effort since we beat them last year. They gave it to us.”
Coming out of the lengthy delay, the fast start was critical to set the tone for the rest of the game.
“It gave us the juice to carry on the rest of the game,” Swartzendruber said. “I feel like it kind of deflated them a little bit coming out real hot.”
It was 6-0 after one quarter. A great offense performance? Of course. But Fallston’s defense shouldn’t be overlooked. That includes King reigning supreme in the middle of the field, whether it was an intercepted pass or stiff check. King was integral in Fallston not allowing Liberty to find an offensive rhythm.
“At the end of the day, we always say it starts with the defense,” King said. “A lot of our goals come from transition, from defense to offense. We’re really trying to push it on that end for sure.
At the same time, his play also set his teams offense in motion as they piled up goal after goal.
Liberty kept it within six at halftime thanks in part to Colin Hands in goal. Hands finished with 14 saves and gave the Lions a fighting chance into the third quarter.
However, another spurt from Fallston in the third quarter put the game away and the running clock was invoked early in the fourth quarter.
Jaden Riley had three goals and two assists in the win. Dominic Foster set his team up winning 11 of 18 faceoffs.
“To me, a lot of it is attitude and effort,” Mull said. “Sometimes we can get complacent, sometimes we can get more or less selfish. But tonight we shared the ball, we were playing team offense, team lacrosse and I’m happy with the result.”
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