by Derek Toney
dtoney@digitalsports.com

Nerves or complanency were the last things on Courtney Thompson's mind. With South River girls' lacrosse team in a fierce struggle with Archbishop Spalding, the sophomore midfielder knew she had to make a play.

Thompson came through for the No. 8 Seahawks, scoring with 18.2 seconds remaining in regulation lifting the Anne Arundel County squad to an 11-10 decision over the No. 9 Cavaliers in the finale of the Anne Arundel Community College Tournament Monday evening in Arnold.

Junior midfielder Brooke Griffin had three goals and an assist for South River (6-1 overall) while Thompson, Olivia Pyne and junior Mary Milligan scored twice each. Senior attack Danielle Kirk scored a game-high four goals for Spalding (7-4), and Courtney Hoyes and sophomore Jessica Mucci each added two goals.

Off a restart, Thompson got a pass from Griffin, and Thompson fired a low shot past Cavaliers' goalie Cosette Larash for the game-winner. The Seahawks won the ensuing draw and ran out the remaining seconds to secure victory in a spirited battle of Anne Arundel County-based squads.

"We needed that goal and I was thinking I should take it," said Thompson. "It was a chance and I'm happy I took it."

"I knew they [Spalding] were going to face guard me and be all over me," said Griffin. "I was going to try to go in, but Courtney was right there wide open and she took the shot."

Thompson's score was the ultimate reprieve for the Seahawks, who saw Archbishop Spalding rallied from a 10-7 deficit, tying the score at 10 on Kirk's fourth tally of evening with seven minutes, 57 seconds remaining. But South River dominated possession over the final four minutes, winning seven ground balls in the stretch.

"That's what won the game," said Seahawks coach Kim McNemar. "The intensity level...these girls wanted it bad. They've been working on us for a long time. Every game is different."

Trailing 6-4, South River pulled even as Pyne extended her stick high in front of the goal to nab a pass from Thompson and scored. The Seahawks ran off five straight goals to claim a 9-6 advantage as Pyne, a sophomore midfielder, scored her second goal.

The Cavaliers behind Kirk answered South River's charge. Kirk scored three times and Rachel Hannon scored as the IAAM A Conference school pulled even, but wasn't able to get the ball out of the Seahawks' side, eventually leading to Thompson's tie-breaking tally.

"I'm proud of my team, they played hard and never let up," said Spalding coach Moira Leavitt, whose team has dropped four straight at a 7-0 start. "We had a couple of errant passes that went the wrong way."

The Cavaliers will look rebound Tuesday at St. Paul's School in IAAM A league action. South River returns to Anne Arundel County league play at Northeast Tuesday evening.

Anne Arundel Community College Tournanment
South River 11, Archbishop Spalding 10

Goals: Spalding-Kirk 4, Hoyes 2, Mucci 2, Hannon, Dalton; South River-Brooke Griffin 3, Pyne 2, Milligan 2, Thompson 2, Peterson, Acito. Assists: Spalding-Paskal 2, Kirk, Dalton, Lea. South River-Peterson 5, Thompson 2, Brooke Griffin. Saves: Spalding-Larash 7; South River-Kolarik 10.

Spalding     3 7-10
South River 3 8-11