Seahawks Stunned in Region Final

BERLIN- Stephen Decatur's girls' varsity lacrosse team dropped a heartbreaker to visiting Annapolis in the state Class 3A-2A East Region championship on Wednesday, falling to the Panthers, 7-5, after leading 4-1 in the first half.

After running the table in the regular season and collecting another Bayside Conference championship, the Seahawks entered the state regional tournament undefeated and seeded number one. Decatur scored first on a goal by Olivia Turner and made it 2-0 early in the first half when Leigh Ann Flounlacker grabbed a blocked shot out of the air and fired it past the Panther goalie.

Annapolis got one back about a minute later on a direct penalty shot that would become a theme later in the game. Decatur got goals by Turner and Bethany Howe to extend the lead to 4-1 before a long scoring drought settled in that would last the rest of the first half and most of the second. The Seahawks led 4-2 at the half and appeared to be poised to take the region title, but the Panthers, fueled by a rash of Decatur penalties in the offensive end, reeled off five straight goals to build a 7-4 lead as the clock ticked down.

Decatur finally broke the ice with a goal by Charlotte Deck with under five minutes to go to cut the lead to 7-5, but that was as close as the Seahawks would get despite the furious final minutes when they got several great looks at the Annapolis goal.