Walter Johnson

Walter Johnson, winner of one state championship, will get a shot at another Saturday after turning aside North Carroll, 1-0, in the Class 3A state semifinals at Goucher College yesterday.The victorious Wildcats (12-4), who had relied on a superior defense throughout the season, got some help at the other end of the field in thwarting a North Carroll team bidding to make a final for the first time since 1987."Today they were the better team; they outplayed us," said North Carroll coach Denean Koontz, who previously had taken a team this far in 1994.

When Walter Johnson scored eight minutes into its Class 3A West regional semifinal at Liberty yesterday, it seemed the Wildcats would be headed to the final and a possible third successive trip to the state tournament.At the time, there was little indication that would be the last goal for the Bethesda school, but that turned out to be the case.Liberty tied the match halfway through the half, then struck twice within 1 minute, 51 seconds before the break and went on to a stunning 4-1 victory over the Wildcats (10-4)

MIDDLETOWN -- North Carroll's Colleen Lawson and the defending Class 3A state champion South Carroll boys team both used yesterday's Class 3A West region meet to show how good they are.Lawson, a first-year runner, scored a 27-second victory in the girls race, and the No. 3-ranked Cavaliers, despite running without top gun Bobby Mead, were impressive, as well, on a cold afternoon at Middletown High School in Frederick County.This was the South Carroll boys' second straight region title.Lawson quickly found her stride after coming out for the team about a week late, having dropped another sport.

North Carroll started slowly, then scored twice in the final 10 minutes of the first half and went on to win the Class 3A North regional championship, 3-0, at Catonsville yesterday.The winners totaled eight goals in their string of three successive regional shutouts behind junior goalkeeper Devan Bosley.The victory sent the Panthers (14-1) to the state semifinals for the seventh time, the first time since 1994. They will meet Montgomery County's Walter Johnson (11-4), which defeated Damascus for the West title, 3-0.Seniors Meredith Gill and Jessica Bradford gave North Carroll a 2-0 lead with goals in the final 10 minutes of the half, and Bradford added the third one halfway through the second half.

It was a long time coming, but as far as North Carroll was concerned, its 1-0 victory over South Carroll last night could not have come at a better time.A header from about 8 yards by Danielle Shearer off a long throw-in by Amy Bromwell caromed off the right post into the goal with nine minutes left, and the Panthers' defense made it stand up for the win.The decision was the first for North Carroll (8-5-2) over South Carroll (9-5-1) since 1993, although there had been ties, most recently a scoreless match two weeks ago.The Panthers now move along to the Class 3A regional semifinal Saturday at Montgomery County's Walter Johnson, a 3-0 winner over Wheaton.

Francis Scott Key made its first appearance in a regional boys lacrosse game a successful one as it scored the first 10 goals en route to a 12-5 victory over visiting Lansdowne yesterday.The triumph improves the Eagles to 4-7 and sends them to Loch Raven tomorrow (3: 45 p.m.) in a Class 1A-2A West Region semifinal.Key coach John Baugher had some background material on Lansdowne, but did not tell his players. "We wanted to concentrate on how well our team played," he said.Before the game, attackman Dan Edwards, a senior tri-captain for the winners, spoke of the lack of a scouting report.

FREDERICK -- For the Wilde Lake and Walter Johnson soccer teams, the similarities were many. Both shared the same nickname, lost in state finals last season and clad themselves in green uniforms.In last night's Class 3A state semifinals at Linganore High School, however, that's where the comparisons ended.Freshmen Ian Rodway and Michael Dello-Russo each scored goals, and Wilde Lake controlled the midfield most of the way in a 2-0 victory.With their eighth shutout this season, the Wildecats (12-2-2)

Bel Air's streak of five consecutive shutouts came to a halt last night, as La Plata of Charles County scored with 3: 51 left in the first half and went on for a 1-0 Class 3A semifinal victory.The loss marked the second straight state semifinal loss for the Bobcats (9-5-2), who were outshot, 16-7."We didn't have enough good chances," said Bel Air coach Bill Jefferson. "They were just well-coached, very quick, well-skilled -- they really didn't have any weak spots."After staying in a defensive posture early, the Bobcats nearly took the lead on two prime scoring chances near the end of the first half.

Fallston, which had been living on the edge with two regional shootout victories last week, got one in regulation time yesterday, but it took a superb defensive effort to thwart offense-minded Walter Johnson, 1-0, in the state Class 3A semifinals at Goucher College.The win sends the No. 4 Cougars (15-1) into the state finals, where they will play Northern-Calvert County (14-2) at Goucher Saturday at 2 p.m.Completely outplayed by speedy Walter Johnson (13-3) in the first half, Fallston struck suddenly for its goal just two minutes, eight seconds after halftime.

BETHESDA -- Three weeks ago, struggling with a 2-5-3 record despite the presence of five starters from last year's state finalist entry, Walter Johnson did not exactly have the look of a playoff contender.Since then, however, the Wildcats have gone 6-1, and last night reached the Class 3A West regional final with a 2-1 conquest of visiting Liberty (9-5). The home team got a goal in each half and Liberty's goal was by Mike Reese inside of the last two minutes.Walter Johnson junior Priam Chun capitalized on a sudden one-on-one situation as two defenders slipped down, and beat Lions goalkeeper Craig Rauser for the game's first score at 26: 35.Speed set up the goal, as moments before a Liberty defender had cleared the ball out of his end, only to have Walter Johnson come right back.