Dammen

Severna Park and Oakland Mills advanced to the state Class 3A/4A girls soccer final with victories last night at Chesapeake (Anne Arundel) High School.In the first game, Oakland Mills defeated Old Mill, 4-2. Mia Dammen scored two goals and assisted on one to lead the Scorpions.Michelle Cope scored midway through the first 10-minute overtime to lift Severna Park over C. Milton Wright, 2-1, in the second game.With 2 minutes, 22 seconds left in the first game, Old Mill closed to within 3-2.At kickoff, it took just 11 seconds for Oakland Mills' Dammen to score her second goal and seal the victory.

Everyone who ever played high school sports, star and non-star alike, has experienced that sad moment of final competition.For the few truly great players, like Centennial soccer superstar Meg Caro, who is headed to William and Mary College next year, the ending is especially poignant -- even more so when it comes in the form of a regional playoff loss to an archrival.Oakland Mills beat host Centennial in the Region IV, Class 3A/4A semifinals Wednesday, 3-2, thus ending Caro's high school career.

To most coaches, a win is a win.After her team narrowly squeaked by perennial 3A powerhouse Oakland Mills of Howard County in a 2-1 season-opening overtime thriller, Severna Park High girls soccer coach Joyce Stefancik doesn't seem to believe that.As a result of an inadvertent handball by Scorpion fullback Bridget Roberts, the Falcons' Nicki Cecere was called upon to convert a penalty shot at 7 minutes, 36 seconds in the first overtime with the game deadlocked at 1-1.The junior midfielder tucked a right-footed shot into the lower left-hand corner of the net past goalkeeper Jenny Golding, to give the four-time defending Howard County champs their second loss in as many games.

Even in its most comfortable environment, the Severna Park girls soccer team found itself treading on unfamiliar ground Saturday afternoon.The top-seeded Falcons (16-0) trailed Oakland Mills, 1-0, early in the second half of the 4A-3A state final at Arundel High. It marked the first time all season that the two-time defending state champions were scored upon first.But Severna Park retaliated with two goals less than three minutes apart, allowing the Falcons to hold off the Scorpions, 2-1, and claim a third consecutive state title.

Friday night's clash between Oakland Mills and Mount Hebron provideda perfect snapshot of what makes the county girls basketball scene so inviting.First, Hebron and Oakland Mills are two of the top five teams in the state. Each has an excellent chance of showing up at Catonsville Community College in March for the state tournament -- Oakland Mills in the 3A division, Hebron in the 2A. In a county packed with competition, especially playoff contenders like Glenelg and Howard, Oakland Mills and Hebron are the class of the league.

The numbers told the story for Oakland Mills.The Scorpions committed 37 turnovers, and grabbed just five offensive rebounds -- one through the first three quarters -- as third-seeded DuVal (23-3) rolled to a 60-42 victory in the Class 3A state championship game at Catonsville Community College last night.The championship was DuVal's first since 1982, and its fourth overall. Oakland Mills was making its first appearance in the state finals since 1977.DuVal coach Walter Clark attributed the victory to mathematics.

The four teams that dominated county competition all season also dominated The Howard County Sun's All-County Girls Soccer Team.Howard edged out Oakland Mills for the most first-team positions, 4-3.Hammond and Centennial each have two.But Oakland Mills, the county and regional Class 3A champion that lost in the state Class 3A/4A final to Severna Park, has both the Player of the Year, Mia Dammen, and the Coach of the Year, Cindy Odell.PLAYER OF THE YEARAggressive. Determined. Intelligent. Skilled.

The game had all the drama and circus atmosphere excitement anyone could ask for.It had a regional championship at stake, an unlikely game-winning scoring heroine, a come-from-behind 2-1 victory, a protest that the winning goal really wasn't a goal and instead had fallen through a hole in the top of the net, a key player from the winning team taken to the hospital by ambulance, and a huge crowd to witness it all.It was also the third and decisive meeting of...

It has been a frustrating and painful soccer season at Rutgers for Kori Hunter (Atholton) and Hamisi Amani-Dove (Wilde Lake).Hunter, an Academic All-America and the first-team Mid-Atlantic Region goalie last year, hasn't played this season because of fractured legs. That's plural -- legs.He played all last season with stress fractures in both legs and didn't tell anyone, thinking it was shin splints. Then, in an off-season pickup basketball game, Hunter broke his right leg. A redshirt junior, he hopes to rejoin the team before the season ends.

Coach Bruce Sponsler's Old Mill girls soccer squad had just lost a physical Class 4A/3A state semifinal game, 4-2, to Howard County's Oakland Mills (13-2).The loss, last night at Chesapeake High, not only marked the end of the Patriots' nine-game winning streak in which they had outscored their opponents, 31-3, but also meant the end of their season.So why, on this chilly night and in the aftermath of what had to be a disappointing loss, was junior striker Terri Lee standing among her teammates with a smile on her face?