Mallards Fall in South River Tourney

BERLIN- Worcester Prep's boys' varsity lacrosse team suffered its first defeat in an otherwise nearly perfect first half of the season last week, falling to South River of Anne Arundel County, 14-8, in the championship game of the Greg Carroll Invitational tournament.

The Mallards entered last Saturday's tournament in Annapolis with a perfect 4-0 record, having routed its early season opponents by a combined 63-9 score. A week earlier, Worcester had swept two games in its own invitational tournament on Easter weekend including a 13-4 win over neighborhood rival Decatur, before routing ESIAC foe Gunston, 17-2, last Wednesday.

In the opening round of the Greg Carroll Invitational in the Annapolis area last Saturday, the Mallards edge St. Mary's Ryken, 10-8, in the semifinal found to set up a date with host South River in the championship. South River set the tone early with a goal just 15 seconds into the championship game to take a 1-0 lead.

South River continued to push the Mallards, extending its lead to 8-3 by halftime. Worcester Prep settled down after the intermission and held South River scoreless in the third quarter while cutting the lead to 8-5. The lead was just three goals with a full fourth quarter remaining, but South River quickly shut down any hopes for a Mallard comeback.

South River scored two goals in the first 16 seconds of the fourth quarter to extend its lead to 10-5 and never looked back. Worcester played South River fairly evenly for the remainder of the fourth quarter, but the damage had been done and the Mallards suffered their first loss of the season, 14-8.

Brad Harris and Justin Butler each scored two goals in the loss, while Brad Regan, Alex Ternahan, Hunter Marshall and Jake Emche each scored single goals. Austin Gerachis was solid in goal with nine saves. Despite the final outcome, Worcester led in several key statistical categories. The Mallards took 27 shots to South River's 24 and won the ground ball battle by a whopping 40-28. However, South River won the face-off battle, 12-9, and, of course, the final score, 14-8.