Do the HoCo-pokey

BALTIMORE (Map, News) - It could have been four.

Howard County again dominated the Maryland Public Secondary Schools Athletic Association soccer championships, claiming two girls’ titles and one boys’ crown, as the county increased its total to 65 —easily more than any other county.

If not for the Wilde Lake girls’ losing in penalty kicks in the 3A final, the county would have produced three state champions for the seventh time since girls’ soccer championships were first recognized in 1989. The boys tournament started in 1969.

“It was a good season for everybody in Howard County,” River Hill girls’ coach Brian Song said. “Not everybody plays club soccer, so you can’t say it’s about club soccer, either. We have a lot of talent, and we don’t have to go out of county to get good soccer competition. A lot of schools come to our county to play Howard County teams.”

River Hill has won at least one state soccer championship since the Clarksville school opened in 1996. But this year, the Hawks swept the boys and girls titles for the third time after doing so in 1997 and 1999.

River Hill’s boys’ title was the first under coach Matt Shagogue, and the only title the team didn’t win under the guidance of former coach Bill Stara, who retired after the 2005 season.

“It starts a new legacy. Without Mr. Stara, we wanted no tech-magnet kids so nobody can say we didn’t earn it,” said junior midfielder Jake Pace, who scored the game-winning goal in overtime Saturday. “We started 1-4, and everybody underestimated us. We came back and won it.”

River Hill, which won its fifth title in the past six years, has eight overall championships, which is second in the state behind Howard County’s Oakland Mills, which has 12.

“Its pretty big,” Shagogue said. “There’s a rich tradition at the school, and I thought I had a lot of pressure on myself. Last year, we lost to the eventual state champion, [Mount Hebron], but nonetheless, we lost. It’s just a great feeling.”

There has been at least one Howard County boys state soccer champion in 27 of the past 30 years, and the county’s boys and girls teams have combined to win at least one state title in 17 of the past 19 years.

With just three returning starters, the Glenelg girls won their second straight title — 2A in 2006 and 1A in 2007 — and fifth championship overall.

“They really developed and it’s all brand new from last year,” Gladiators coach Dean Sheridan said. “This team has never mentioned repeating.”

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