After Wootton defeated Springbrook, 15-8, Wednesday night in the Maryland 4A/3A West Region title game, Jonathan Keslow called his bobbing, boisterous teammates to order, pointing to the scoreboard.
“When you’re determined, that’s what you can do,” bellowed the senior defender. “We’re one step closer to where we want to be. We got division. We got region. Now we get state.”
If a similar proclamation was made last year, after the Patriots won their first region championship, they might not have bought in. But Wednesday night, Keslow’s words had resonance. This time Wootton has reason to believe.
“We’re deeper, we’re better, we’re more confident than last year,” said Keslow. “Last year’s experience at the state semifinals (13-7 loss to eventual state champion Severna Park) told us that we could play at their level. We didn’t know that going in. Now we do.”
Wootton (17-0) knows history is not on its side. Montgomery County boys teams are 0-9 in state semifinal competition. But the Patriots are the first team in county history to march into the 4A/3A state semifinals undefeated. Wootton will face Dulaney (13-4) or North County (5-11) tonight at 8 at Annapolis High.
“We’ll see if we’re ready,” said Wootton coach Colin Thomson. “I think we’re excited to represent Montgomery County and see what we can do.”
Thomson has been focused on the state final four for a while. He scheduled tough preseason scrimmages with Severna Park and Broadneck. The Patriots also invited perennial state power Westminster to its spring break tournamentand thumped the Owls, by a confidence-building score of 9-2.
Wootton’s multitude of offensive options include assist leader Ricky Hafer (Salisbury), top goal scorer Sam Burns, Jon Yates, Richard Kent and Ben Engleman (Gettysburg), who had four goals Wednesday.
Tommy Whitlock (55 ground balls), Matt Canter, Brandon Ray and Keslow key a deep defense in front of goalie Steven Silverberg (Christopher Newport), who has a save percentage of 74. Sophomore faceoff man Patrick Bailey, who has won 76 percent of his draws, is a possession weapon.
“We honestly think we can win states this year,” said Hafer. “It’s been the goal since day one. We actually surprised ourselves last year when we lost to Severna Park by only six goals. Now we’ll be disappointed if we don’t win.”
0-FOR-A-LIFETIME
Montgomery County boys schools have an 0-9 record in state semifinal lacrosse games. Here are the results:
2006 » Severna Park d. Wootton, 13-7
2005 » Dulaney d. Walter Johnson, 19-4
2004 » Westminster d. Walter Johnson, 17-7
2003 » Severna Park d. Sherwood, 17-6
2003 » Annapolis d. Seneca Valley, 12-5
2002 » Severna Park d. Churchill, 16-5
2002 » Annapolis d. Seneca Valley, 16-5
2001 » Arundel d. Whitman, 11-10
2000 » Severna Park d. Seneca Valley, 12-3
Montgomery County girls schools have an 0-10 record in state semifinal lacrosse games. Here are the results:
2006 » Severna Park d. Blake, 24-7
2005 » Dulaney d. Walter Johnson, 16-1
2004 » Westminster d. Whitman, 13-5
2003 » Broadneck d. Whitman, 15-7
2003 » Annapolis 17 d. B-CC, 17-4
2002 » Broadneck d. Whitman, 18-9
2002 » Annapolis d. Paint Branch, 19-5
2001 » Southern (AA) d. Northwest, 12-5
2001 » Severna Park d. Whitman, 24-7
2000 » Severna Park d. Whitman, 20-2
