C. Milton Wright came on strong when it needed to, capturing its first Class 3A North regional field hockey title since 1991.
The host Mustangs advanced to the state semifinals after defeating Harford County rival Bel Air, 3-0, yesterday.
After some tough losses in the regular season, the Mustangs played some of their strongest hockey in the playoffs, said coach Carla Harward.
"I knew when we started the season we had the team to do it, but we just had some really tough losses," Harward said.
Both the Mustangs and the Bobcats (6-8-1) were unexpected regional finalists.
"It is a surprise because I think people thought Fallston and Towson would be here," said senior midfielder Laura Schnell.
The Mustangs defeated Fallston, 3-2, for the first time since 2000, and the Bobcats knocked off Towson, 2-0, to reach the regional semifinals.
"Once we beat Fallston, it gave us all the confidence we needed to win. We kept saying to them, this is only preparing us for the regional finals and the state tournament," Harward said.
Both teams finished in the bottom three of the Chesapeake Division of the Upper Chesapeake Bay Athletic Conference, which included nine-time state champion Fallston and last year's 1A state champ, Rising Sun.
The Mustangs (9-5-1) capitalized on their offensive opportunities, scoring all their goals in the first half.
Schnell scored on a penalty corner at 3:43, and her sister Kim scored on a pass from Sarah Baxter four minutes later.
Theresa Piccione scored the final goal toward the end of the first half.
"We were ready to have our bags packed up two weeks ago, and we got our win and kept going to practice and it was exciting to play one of our great county rivals," said Erin Sell.
The Mustangs meet defending state champion Severna Park on Monday.
No. 1 Severna Park 5, No. 12 Mount Hebron 1: The Falcons defeated the visiting Vikings in the 3A East final to advance to the state semifinals for a Maryland-record 22nd time.
Jill Puffenberger led the defending 3A state champions with two goals and one assist. Abbi Horn added a goal and an assist.
Lauren Cechak anchored the Falcons defense, which gave up just its third goal of the season.
No. 3 South Carroll 3, Middletown 0: The host Cavaliers avenged their only loss of the season to win their third straight regional title, in Class 2A West.
