BALTIMORE (Map, News) - Winters Mill senior midfielder Jen Peters thought she had the game won in double overtime.

But just seconds after her shot ringed the goal post, she watched teammate Mackenzie Cyr find the back of the net to give the Falcons the Class 3A/2A state title with a 14-13 victory over Towson on Wednesday at UMBC Stadium.

“I knew I could take my defender,” Cyr said. “At first, I didn’t realize the game was over and then everyone started running at me and I was like ‘Oh, we just won states!”

Towson (13-5) appeared to have forced a turnover and gained possession in the second, sudden-death overtime, but senior defender Lauren Taguding was called for charging, giving possession to Winters Mill (16-2).

Peters ripped a shot from the side of the crease, but it hit the far pipe. She gathered her rebound and restarted the offense by passing the ball around the perimeter. But when the ball got to Cyr, the sophomore attacker sprinted past her defender and scored from six yards out to make Winters Mill  just the second school in Carroll County to win a state title in girls lacrosse.

Century, which won state titles 2004, 2006 and last season, is the county’s other team to win a state championship.

After each team scored once in the first three minutes of overtime, Winters Mill appeared to win the game when Peters scored with just 12 seconds remaining. Towson, however, won the draw and raced toward the goal, with junior midfielder Caitlin Powers finding sophomore attacker Lizzy Cutting for the tying score with just two seconds remaining.

“That’s how the mentality of our team is,” Towson senior defender Kathy Bachur, whose team came up short of winning its first title since 1997, said. “We never stop trying and never stop fighting.”

The Generals twice appeared to have control of the game in the second half, racing out to a pair of two-goal leads. But Winters Mill responded each time, tying the game for the seventh time at 10 with 3:41 left on a free-position score by sophomore midfielder Katie Leech. Towson again took the lead on a goal by sophomore midfielder Annie Farrell, but Winters Mill forced overtime on a score off of a rebound by sophomore midfielder Amalie Trentzsch with 1:17 left.

“After [losing in the state semifinals in] basketball, it was devastation,” Peters, who along with starting goalie Katherine Russo are the only seniors on the team, said. “And now to go out your senior year as a state champion, there aren’t really any words you can have to describe it.”

dcarey@baltimoreexaminer.com