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By James A. McCray III
Prince George’s County, Content Manager
Reagan Beasley knocked in her second goal of the game 2 minutes before the half, and then she acknowledged a fan that held up a sign that read, “Great Mills=Regional champs.”
Although the sign was not all the way true at that very moment, it held true to its saying at the end of the 3A South championship contest Thursday as Great Mills defeated the visiting La Plata Warriors, 2-1, to win its second consecutive 3A South regional title in a rematch of last season’s championship game.
Beasley put the Hornets on the board only 1 minute into the match to give Great Mills a 1-0 lead, and in turn set the tone for the eventual regional champions.
“That is what I have been begging them to do all playoffs, go down and score first,” Great Mills head coach Michelle Richmond said. ” … Northern scored on us first [in the 3A South semifinal], and that was one thing that we had stressed coming into this game, we needed to jump on them right away.”
La Plata (8-7) went into the halftime period down 2-0, however the Warriors came out and looked to be more aggressive. In being aggressive, senior Jeanette Lebarron was able to score a goal, and cut the lead to 2-1.
“I am proud of all of their accomplishments,” La Plata head coach Pomie Radcliff said. “Teamwork and communication has been the big thing. I had 13 seniors this year, and we went this entire year with total teamwork. … As you probably noticed, they picked it up in the second half. Picked it up just a little bit too late, but they picked it up in the second half.
“Great Mills had the regional championship last year, we had it the year before, we wanted it back, they wanted to keep it, and they have 13 seniors, so we knew it was going to be a really tough game.”
Great Mills (14-1) enters its bid for a state title with more experience than last season. Last season, Richmond led a junior-laded team. However, this year, 13 seniors look to add to the regional championships.
“We have actually experienced the [artificial] turf, and we have seen the level of competition there, so now we are a lot more prepared,” Beasley said.
“They know what to expect now,” Richmond said. “The surface is not going to be a big surprise, it is not going to be a shock, and they are not going to be star struck. I am hoping the difference is that they know what we are heading into now.”
tmccray@digitalsports.com
Great Mills 2, La Plata 1
La Plata 0 1
Great Mills 2 0
Goals:
La Plata (Lebarron)
Great Mills (Beasley 2)
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