Matt Gregoire scored four goals and dished off two assists as South River dominated Marriotts Ridge, 10-3, in the inaugural District V championship game at North County High School last night. Alex Carros contributed two goals and two assists for the Seahawks (13-0), who remained undefeated.

"I'm tickled to death for these guys. They have worked their butts off from day one," second-year South River coach Paul Noone said. "It's been a long time coming. These kids deserve this. I'm especially proud of our seniors. They have been real leaders and done a great job all year long."

South River, which went 11-0 to capture the Anne Arundel County regular season crown, seized control in the first quarter, but missed a few scoring opportunities early. Marriotts Ridge, a Class 2A school, scored the game's first tally on a goal by Gavin Harrison with 6:22 remaining in the first. It was all downhill from there for the Mustangs, who won the Howard County title with a 10-1 mark.

South River dominated possession and responded with five consecutive goals to take a 5-1 halftime lead. Gregoire scored three goals while Carros had two assists during the decisive stretch.

"We knew we could put the ball in the net," Noone said. "We just had to settle the ball on offense, be patient, run some sets, get some touches, and we would wind up with good looks at the goal. When you have open looks right in front of the cage, you have to finish them, and that's what we started doing."

David Balinsky controlled the faceoffs as South River opened the second half with four more goals to turn the game into a rout. Gregoire and Joey Rotolone each had a goal and an assist during that run to help the Seahawks take a commanding 9-1 lead with 9:55 remaining in the fourth quarter.

"I'm not really surprised. I thought we would come out and play well," Gregoire said. "I guess I am a little surprised we got that big of a win. We were all excited to come out and play a team we hadn't faced before."

Seven players factored in the scoring for South River, which out-shot Marriotts Ridge, 36-16. Drew Lee also finished with a goal and an assist.

"We're really athletic on offense, and it's hard to stop one guy. Our offense is very balanced. If you look at our points, there's nobody that stands out by a lot," said Gregoire, who has signed to play with University of Maryland-Baltimore County.

South River has always been known for being able to put points on the board, but this year's squad has displayed an ability to play lockdown defense. The Seahawks disrupted the Mustangs' offense last night after limiting high-scoring Severna Park to just six goals Friday.

Sam McKelvey, a senior who is also headed for UMBC, anchored a suffocating unit that includes Nicholas Walsh, Wally Edelen, Sam Cunard, Seth Mackin, Kieran Hegarty, and Cody O'Dell. Marriotts Ridge struggled to handle the ball and had what few shots it put on cage stopped by South River keeper Scott Marsh (eight saves).

"Our defense does get overlooked. All those guys are good. They're fast, they're big and they're disciplined," Noone said. "As a unit, I thought the defense played sound, disciplined ball, which is what we've been teaching them."

Despite the lopsided score, Gregoire felt the matchup with a strong out-of-county opponent was a good test heading into the postseason.

"It was very much like the playoffs. The farther we get into the playoffs, the more we're going to play teams we haven't seen before," he said. "We feel like we're rolling into the playoffs pretty well right now. We're playing good ball, and we're confident."

Marriotts Ridge (12-3) 1 0 0 2 - 3

South River (13-0) 3 2 3 2 - 10

GOALS: MR - Harrison, Williams, Martinelli; SR - Gregoire 4, Carros 2, Sonnefeld, Rotolone, Lapaglia, Lee. ASSISTS: MR - Williams; SR - Rotolone 3, Carros 2, Gregoire 2, Lee, Tidwell. SHOTS: MR - 16; SR - 36. SAVES: MR - Schonfeld 12; SR - Marsh 8, Willett 1. FACEOFFS: MR - 7; SR - 10.