Severna Park claims 26th hockey crown

Ashley Dalisera made sure her teammates' work didn't go to waste.

After watching her defense settle and the offense erase a pair of two-goal deficits, Dalisera paid them back by stopping Shannon Denno's right-side shot to seal Severna Park's 4-3, penalty-stroke victory over South River yesterday in the Class 4A East Region final.

"'Nothing by me,'" Dalisera said. "That's all I was trying to keep in my head."

Dalisera allowed three goals over a 14-minute, 30-second span during the second half, but regained her focus to keep the Seahawks scoreless through two overtimes and stuff three strokes for a 3-2 edge against Emily Melanson.

Casey Pohlmeyer tied the score at 3 with 9:04 left in regulation, and Hannah Balleza's high, left-side penalty stroke delivered the Falcons (15-2) their 26th region title and sets up a meeting with Class 4A North's Dulaney in the state semifinals.

"I have nothing left inside," said Severna Park coach Lil Shelton, who's in search of her fifth consecutive title and 19th since 1979.

The Falcons' late push spoiled South River's second-half display. Mary Milligan scored twice in the first six minutes to put the Seahawks ahead, and Brooke Griffin made it 3-1 with 16:14 left.

But Marissa Balleza and Pohlmeyer snuck shots by Melanson and watched Madison Thomas, Sami Kiser and Hannah Balleza break a tie with South River on strokes for the second time in three years.

"We knew everyone could do it," Hannah Balleza said. "We just had confidence in them."

South River (16-2), which won its previous 13 games including a District V championship and a 2-1 mark against Broadneck in the semifinal, had its season cut short by Severna Park for the third consecutive year.

"They're a great team, but we're a great team, too," Seahawks coach Katie Corcoran said. "We shouldn't be done."

The Seahawks held Severna Park without a shot on goal during the first half and built a 2-0 lead off Milligan's stick.

Milligan tapped in a loose ball off Dalisera's left leg during the 32nd minute, and Griffin slid her a quick, centering pass for another goal with 24 minutes left.

"We knew they always come out hard in the second half, so we knew we had to score before them," Milligan said. "We didn't want it to turn out like it did last year. Unfortunately, we ended up on the losing end."

Griffin answered Thomas' 40th-minute score by launching a 20-yard shot off Stacey Mackintosh's penalty-corner lead-in past Dalisera.

"I really needed to get my groove back," said Dalisera, who made 11 saves. "I let myself sink because they weren't getting too many shots off, and mentally, I just relaxed a bit. And you really can't do that."

Cassie Ballard fueled the Falcons by setting up penalty-corner scores. Ballard dropped a right-side cross to Marissa Ballard to cut the lead in half with 14:14 to play. Ballard found Pohlmeyer five minutes later to force overtime.

Pohlmeyer blasted a 10-yard shot between Melanson and Nicole Platek to erase the Falcons' largest deficit since suffering a 3-0 loss to Broadneck on Oct. 1.

"We just knew we had to put it all out there," Pohlmeyer said. "It was do-or-die. We just had to finish. There was no turning back."

Carrie Hancock blocked Marissa Balleza's shot with 7:06 left, and Melanson made a kick save on Hannah Balleza's eight-yard attempt in the 77th minute.

Melanson came 12 yards out of the cage early in the first overtime to divert Pohlmeyer's breakaway shot, and she got Hannah Balleza and Thomas on back-to-back shots in the 66th minute.

"Our defense and Em have been rock-solid back there," Corcoran said. "We held them. They didn't score more than us. We went to strokes, and unfortunately, we came out on the losing end."

Severna Park, which allowed only one shot over both 10-minute overtimes, took a 2-1 lead on Kiser's penalty stroke - a left-side sweep.

Jennie Milligan and Griffin fooled Dalisera with drives to the right to make it 2-2, and Hannah Balleza countered by pulling the ball shoulder-high by Melanson.

"I just had to shut everything out," Balleza said. "I'm like, 'You can do this. You've done strokes for how many years? You do it in practice. You got it.'"

Dalisera focused on Denno and made a quick move to the right post to put a glove on the ball and turn South River away for the final time.

"We were confident," Corcoran said. "It's funny with penalty strokes: You're either on or you're off. They were on, and we weren't."

Severna Park (15-2) 0 3 0 0 - 4

South River (16-2) 0 3 0 0 - 3

Severna Park wins in penalty strokes, 3-2.

GOALS: SP - Thomas, M. Balleza, Pohlmeyer; SR - M. Milligan 2, Griffin. ASSISTS: SP - Ballard 2, Anspach; SR - Griffin 2. SAVES: SP - Dalisera 11; SR - Melanson 10. SHOTS: SP - 20; SR - 15. CORNERS: SP - 10; SR - 10.