It was a cold, wet, foggy night. But Ben Simmons’ memory is crystal clear.
His Springbrook lacrosse team trailed Damascus by a goal in the final seconds of the division championship game and Simmons, then a freshman, took the final shot. He doesn’t remember seeing it. He was decked on the play. He only remembers the sound — doink.
For three years, Simmons has lived with the sound of his failed shot that bounced off the pipe. On occasion his senior teammates tease him about it. But it’s not a sore subject anymore, just motivational fuel. Simmons is the leader of a resurgent Springbrook (8-0) squad that has already clinched the Montgomery 4A East title.
“I’ll never forget that play,” said Simmons. “We were crushed to lose that game. But I took some positives from it. I was a freshman, but the team had confidence in me to take the shot.”
The shot will be in the back of Simmons’ mind Saturday morning when the Blue Devils travel to Damascus (6-4), anxious to avenge three straight losses, including last year’s 12-11 setback.
When coach Mark Pim’s team needs a big play, it often turns to the Salisbury-bound Simmons (25 goals, 13 assists). Friday when the Blue Devils trailed Sherwood, 10-7, with four minutes left, the 6-foot-1, 195-pound midfielder scored a goal igniting a rally that produced an 11-10 victory.
Confidence in dire situations comes from a solid core of seniors including athletic faceoff man David Abramson (16 goals, 12 assists) and attackmen Adam Brizendine (28 goals, 10 assists), who scored the tying goal Friday, and Tim Roe (16 goals, 19 assists), who set up the game winner.
“We’ve played together for a long time,” said Roe. “We’ve also got a lot of athletic guys who play other sports. We get so many fastbreak goals, using our speed to get downfield.”
Springbrook’s emergence in Montgomery County is satisfying in a sport that has been ruled by demographics.
“We’re doing it without a lot of the advantages of the downcounty schools,” said Brizendine. “Those schools still have a lot more players than we do. More than half of our guys didn’t play until high school. But we’ve got a group of players who have been together for a while and we really want to win badly.”
DEVIL OF A TEAM
» Senior Jake Farrow (Marymount) leads the Springbrook defense.
» Goalie Kyle King has a save percentage of 58.
» Michael Winogradoff has 20 goals and 14 assists.
