Boys’ Lacrosse: River Hill Beats Mt. Hebron On The Road For Much Needed Win

Going up against a tough Mt. Hebron Vikings team on the road and coming off back to back losses, the River Hill Hawks needed a win in the worst way to keep pace in the county.

Between 48 minutes of great defense and timely scoring, River Hill came away with an 11-8 win over the Mt. Hebron Vikings.

After the game, River Hill head coach Keith Gonosuland was smiling from ear to ear, and you could hear the glee in his voice.

“We needed this; we needed this in the worst way.” Gonosuland said, “Our defense just did [great]. It was a total team win, and I couldn’t be happier for our guys.”

River Hill jumped on the board early, going up 1-0 a little more than a minute into the game after Matt Gray scored. But only two minutes later, Jake Stevens of Mt. Hebron tied it up, scoring the first of his five goals that day. Before halftime, David Erskine and Matt Morton scored for River Hill, but Stevens and teammate Paul Walker scored to keep the game even at 3-3.

The first shift in the game came right after the teams came back on the field. With 10:42 to go in the 3rd quarter, Matt Gray scored to put River Hill up 4-3. Max Williams scored just 20 seconds later to make the margin a two-goal lead, 5-3.

The Hawks ran their lead to 8-5, but Stevens’ fifth goal pulled the Vikings back within two with just 4:34 left to play in the game.

But River Hill would close out the game like only a defending state finalist can, with three goals by Jon Matsunaga, Williams and Corey Schwaab coming at the 3:36, 3:08 and 2:35 marks, respectively.

Mt. Hebron’s Cody Gould managed two goals in the final minute of the game but, it was only enough to cut into the five-goal cushion River Hill had given themselves.  

It was a tough loss for a Mt. Hebron team that hung around for the whole game. Between their own turnovers and a dazzling 15-save performance by the Hawks' Ryan Healy, the Vikings couldn’t get the upper hand against River Hill’s strong defense.

The frustration was very evident in Mt. Hebron head coach Michael McCarthy’s voice and demeanor after the game.

“We just played poorly,” he said. “We didn’t catch and throw, and we turned the ball over. And they were better.” 

Goals

River Hill (11): Max Williams 3, Matt Gray 2, David Erskine 2, Matt Morton 1, Corey Schwaab 1, Chris Leon 1, Jon Matsunaga 1

Mount Hebron (8): Jake Stevens 5, Cody Gould 2, Paul Walker 1