Title Game

Fallston senior Sam Nolan scored five goals in Saturday's Maryland Class 1A-2A girls lacrosse state semifinal against Parkside, with none bigger than the last at Bel Air High School. Nolan's goal, assisted by Heather Summers, with 46.7 seconds left in the second overtime, gave the Cougars a 14-13 win and a berth in the state finals. C. Milton Wright was eliminated from post-season play in a rematch of a game earlier this season. The Mustangs, who lost to Century during the regular season, fell 10-8 Friday night.

With nine national championships in 13 attempts, Salisbury's run of postseason success is eclipsed only by Hobart's record of 13 NCAA titles in 14 tournament final appearances. Sunday's title contest against SUNY-Cortland will be the third consecutive year in which the Sea Gulls have reached the NCAA championship game, but just getting there is not enough for a few players. “We all know what it takes,” senior midfielder Sam Bradman said. “We know it's not anything if we just make it there.

Commissioner Jim Delany expects the Big Ten to hold a championship game next season, when Nebraska joins and brings the league to 12 teams. He also says teams likely will play nine conference games instead of eight in the future to help preserve rivalries. Ohio State is the media's pick to win the Big Ten and Buckeyes quarterback Terrelle Pryor is the offensive player of the year for the second straight season. Michigan State linebacker Greg Jones was tabbed the top defensive player again, making it the first time in 12 years that both preseason player of the year picks were repeat selections.

- Monday's NCAA tournament final will be an all-Maryland affair. The Maryland men's lacrosse team punched its ticket to the national title game with a 16-10 thumping of No. 3 seed Duke on Saturday evening before an announced 31,774 at Gillette Stadium. The Terps, who advanced to the tournament final as an unseeded team for the second consecutive season, will meet No. 1 seed Loyola at 1 p.m. Monday. The Greyhounds (17-1) outlasted No. 4 seed Notre Dame, 7-5, earlier in the day. Monday's title game will feature two teams from Maryland for the first time since 1979 when Johns Hopkins defeated the Terps, 15-9.

1 win seals nothing Andrew Carter Orlando Sentinel Boise State is off to a great start to play for a BCS national championship. But that's all it is, a start. Let's not get ahead of ourselves. The Broncos beat Virginia Tech on Monday night. That had to happen for Boise to have any chance whatsoever of playing for the title. But a lot more has to happen too. For one, the Broncos would need to finish the season undefeated. Their next real test comes Sept.

Top-seeded Maryland lost the NCAA title game to third-seeded North Carolina, 3-2, on Danielle Forword 's goal off a penalty corner with 11.7 seconds to play Sunday in Winston-Salem, N.C. The Tar Heels (20-2) earned their sixth NCAA championship and second in the past three years. Maryland (23-1), the defending champion, had beaten Carolina, 4-1, in Chapel Hill. The Terps led in shots 8-1 in a scoreless first half and got on the board seven minutes into the second half on a breakaway goal by Nicole Muracco . They led for the next 18 minutes until Forword tied it after Maryland's Alexis Pappas received a yellow card.

The Edgewood Rams (17-3 overall, 12-0 Chesapeake ) wrapped up their upper division schedule with a 63-47 road win over the C. Milton Wright Mustangs (10-9 overall, 7-5 Chesapeake) on Friday. Troy Anderson and Van Rolle led the Rams in scoring with 12 points apiece, while Detrick Matthews had 10 points in the victory. Mychal Stefanides had 17 points for CMW, and teammate Will Hazelton had 13 points. The Rams will take on Patterson Mill for the UCBAC championship Wednesday at Harford Tech.

CATONSVILLE - The Century girls' basketball team frustrated opponents with pressure defense all season long. But the Knights met their match on Saturday afternoon, when a talented and athletic Calvert High squad utilized a full-court defense and impressive teamwork at the offensive end to post a 57-22 victory over Century in the Class 2A state championship game at UMBC's Retriever Athletic Center. Century, the first Carroll County girls' basketball team to reach a state championship game in 15 years, finished the best season in school history with a 24-3 record.

Sixteen teams are going to have to wait another day to play for a state basketball championship.With sporadic school closings around the state again today because of the weekend blizzard, several local school superintendents decided to follow the law to the letter.No athletic events are supposed to be played on days when schools have been closed. So the boys and girls state basketball championships, postponed from Saturday to today, have been moved to tomorrow."We made special requests to play Tuesday, but it was met with opposition, so hopefully we will get them in Wednesday," said Ned Sparks, executive secretary of the Maryland Public Secondary Schools Athletic Association.

No. 1 Ohio State (11-1) vs. No. 2 LSU (11-2) Site -- New Orleans Time, TV -- 8:15 p.m., Fox Line -- LSU by 3 1/2 Outlook -- Except for a slip at home against Illinois, which ended a 20-game Big Ten winning streak and a 28-game regular-season winning streak, the Buckeyes have rolled to this game. Ten of their 11 wins have been by double digits, and they got to watch for the last two weeks of the regular season as contenders Kansas, Missouri and West Virginia tumbled. RB Chris Wells averages 121.9 yards per game for the Buckeyes, and Ohio State's defense ranks No. 1 in scoring and yards allowed.

Learning the game of lacrosse in Baltimore City and playing for Walbrook during his high school days, Limestone College freshman Jamar Peete has come a long way. On Sunday, lacrosse will take him to Gillette Stadium as the Saints (17-1) take on Dowlin College in the NCAA Division II championship game set for 1 p.m. Seeing time at midfield for Limestone, which is located in Goffrey, S.C., Peete has scored one goal and added five assists in a reserve role this season. Limestone is making its first title game appearance since 2005.

After losing to perennial powerhouse Severna Park in last year's Class 4A/3A state championship game, the Westminster girls' lacrosse team had waited for the chance to play the Falcons again. The Owls arrived at UMBC Stadium Wednesday night, but had to hold off for another day when lightning storms forced the postponement of the scheduled meeting between last year's state finalists. But an extra day to prepare for the rematch didn't matter, as Severna Park took an early six-goal lead and cruised to its second consecutive championship victory over the Owls, 13-6, on Thursday at UMBC Stadium.

Maryland and Northwestern haven't played during the regular season since 2007, but the two most successful NCAA women's lacrosse tournament teams are well-acquainted with each other. In 2010, the Terrapins won their 10th NCAA title by beating the Wildcats, 13-11, to end Northwestern's string of five straight championships. Last year, the Wildcats took the title right back, edging Maryland, 8-7. This year's showdown between the teams that have combined to win 15 of the past 20 NCAA titles comes a round earlier, in a national semifinal.

The Century girls' lacrosse team added to its trophy case again on Tuesday, earning its sixth state championship with a 12-9 victory over Queen Anne's in the Class 3A/2A title game at UMBC Stadium. Century used a familiar formula to win its sixth state title. Haley Bordner, Alice Mercer, and Angela Flister provided the bulk of the scoring in the Knights' 12-9 Class 3A/2A championship win over Queen Anne's, which was playing in its first title game. Bordner scored five goals and added an assist for the Knights, who tallied five unanswered goals in the final 5:09 of the first half to turn a 5-3 deficit into an 8-5 halftime lead.

This championship was for Tracy Vander Kolk. The sophomore on the Severna Park girls lacrosse team died of undisclosed reasons May 10. Even though her teammates have been in mourning, the Falcons still managed to advance through the state playoffs, finding strength from one another and the support of the Anne Arundel community. Their resilience culminated in Thursday night's Class 4A-3A state championship game at UMBC, where No. 8 Severna Park knocked off Westminster, 13-6.

When North Harford pitcher Kevin Mooney opened his eyes Wednesday morning, the first thing he thought was that the Hawks were going to the Class 3A state championship game. "Right away I thought of that," Mooney, the team's senior captain, said. "Then I remembered -- the perfect game. It was just starting to sink in, and I smiled and thought, 'Wow!'" The fact Mooney slept at all Tuesday night might be almost as amazing as the fact he threw his first perfect game, and it came in the 3A state semifinal against North Hagerstown , a game the No. 1 Hawks won, 4-0. Now he gets to try to do it again at 7 p.m. Saturday at Ripken Stadium in the championship game against J.

No. 2 Roland Park avenged its only non-win of the season against a league opponent by edging No. 9 Friends, 7-6, yesterday in the semifinals of the Association of Independent Schools A Division Tournament.The win sent the two-time defending champion Reds (12-1-1) into tomorrow's title game against No. 7 Mount de Sales. The game, at noon at Garrison Forest, will be the first meeting between the AIS's two highest-ranked teams, whose regular-season meeting was rained out.Yesterday, the host Reds had trouble but eventually shook of Friends (9-3-2)

A few hours after their loss in the state championship baseball game, most of Joppatowne's players partied the night away at their senior prom.Whether they realized it then or not, said Coach Al Zelinski, they had plenty to celebrate. "It was a great season. They have nothing to be ashamed of. There are no losers in a game like that -- only winners. I'm very proud of them."Even though the Mariners lost, 5-1, to Brunswick in the state Class 1A title game at McCurdy Field in Frederick on May 23, they accomplished something no Joppatowne baseball team had since 1980: They won the Harford County championship.

The site and time of Friday's Class 4A state championship baseball game has been changed. No. 8 Arundel and Northwest will play at the University of Maryland's Shipley Field at 2:30 p.m.

Salisbury will meet SUNY-Cortland in Sunday's NCAA tournament final with an unblemished 22-0 record, a 29-game winning streak and a history that includes capturing nine national championships including last year's crown. Perhaps as a reward for their season, the Sea Gulls led all Division III programs by placing seven players on the All-American first team as published by the United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association ( via Inside Lacrosse). Senior Matt Cannone, who leads the country in assists (64)