LACROSSE: South River Boys Oust Arundel

The boys lacrosse team is headed back to the state semifinals.

With a 9-2 victory over on Wednesday night, the Seahawks return to the final four after finishing as the state runner-up last season.

"It's a pretty damn good feeling," said South River coach Paul Noone.

A disciplined performance from the Seahawks on both ends of the field kept the high-scoring Wildcats off the scoreboard until the third quarter and ultimately sent them packing.

Junior Ben Chisolm spearheaded South River's 3-0 first quarter lead, with a goal and an assist to his credit.

Dyland Mansur and Matthew Gaskins added to the South River lead, as the hosts took a 5-0 lead into halftime.

Gaskins was instrumental in the Seahawk attack, dominating the face-off circle against Arundel's Colin Potter.

"Story of the game to be totally honest with you, [Gaskins] from them does a hell of a job at the face-off," Arundel coach Kevin Necessary said. "If you want me to be totally honest with you, I did not anticipate that. [Potter] has been one of the best in the county all season long, he's still one of the best in the county and he fought his butt off in there, but [Gaskins] played a hell of a game in the face-off circle."

At the half, South River held a 6-1 advantage in face-offs won.

Tyler Young put Arundel on the board in third quarter. Followed by a goal from Logan Fate, the Wildcats had cut the lead 5-2. But the Arundel attack had a difficult time beating Seahawk goalie Nick Marcelino all night.

"Our offense held the ball down on their side of the field for a good portion of the game too, which helped a lot, so when the ball did come down it was only for brief periods," said Marcelino, who finished with seven saves."My defense really gave me easier shots to save, too, which made it really nice."

A goal from Chisolm near the end of the third quarter ended the Arundel run.

Mansur's second tally and two goals from Jon Carr, who finished with a game-high three scores, put the game out of reach as South River won the game 9-2.

"They played well in big times when they needed to. They stepped up really well," Noone said.

South River moves on to the state semifinals now, while Arundel's season comes to an end.

"I'm super proud of our guys," Necessary said. "They had a tremendous season. [They] fought back from 1-5. Battled through adversity that no one could imagine. They fought until the end of the night."

South River will next take on Bel Air at 8 p.m. Friday at Franklin High School.

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South River: 3 2 1 3 - 9

Arundel: 0 0 2 0 - 2

GOALS: SR -- J. Carr 3, Chisolm 2, Mansur 2, Gaskins, White; A -- Fate, Young. ASSISTS: SR -- Mansur 3, Chisolm 2, Ward; A -- H. Cetrone. SAVES: SR -- Marcelino 7; A -- Jones 9.