Mt. Hebron is ready for a growth spurt. Beaten, 7-1, by Fallston in a season opening game Sept. 5, the Vikings know they need to get better.

Fallston scored two minutes before the intermission to take a 2-1 lead, but owned the second half.

"To have them score that second goal right before half was a shame," Mt. Hebron coach Jeannette Ireland said. "They shouldn't have scored. That was a killer."

"That was a huge momentum (boost) for us coming into halftime," Fallston coach Alice Puckett admitted.

Mt. Hebron had the initial center pass of the second half, carried the ball upfield, but lost possession without getting a shot off and the Vikings' defense had to go back to work for long periods of time.

Fallston "hit really fast and they cut us off. ... Even if we tried to hit the ball out to the side, somebody was there. It seems like the ball kept coming back in" the circle, Mt. Hebron defender Rachel Smith said. "They were strong top to bottom."

"Fallston was relentless," Ireland said. The Harford County team returns five starters from a squad that won last year's Class 3A state championship.

Mt. Hebron's defense held the Cougars off as long as possible, but each possession added up.

"They wore us out mentally," Ireland said.

"We got hot and we started putting the ball in the cage. It's hard when you are down by four goals," Puckett said.

"Our attitudes dropped after they kept scoring," Smith said.

Hiliary Fields scored Mt. Hebron's only goal.

Fallston outshot Mt. Hebron, 30-8.

"Even those years when we had tremendous teams to be that on at the beginning of the season. Wow!" Ireland said of Fallston.

Though the final score was lopsided, there were positives for Mt. Hebron.

"I think we learned a lot, but we have a long way to go," Ireland said. "Fallston's quick passing and their relentless pressure in the circle, we need to have that as well. ... I think we are going to be OK. We're just going to have to learn quickly."

Tie-breaker method changes

The Maryland Public Secondary Schools Athletic Association changed the tie-breaker procedure for regular season games this year, adding one set of five penalty strokes. One of the first teams bitten was one of the strongest proponents of the change.

"I knew that would happen," said Glenelg coach Ginger Kincaid after her team lost to Towson, 3-2 in strokes, on Sept. 8. The game was tied, 1-1, through regulation and two sudden-victory overtimes.

In years past regular-season games remained a tie if there was no resolution in the overtime periods.

Because one team needs to advance, penalty strokes have been used as a tie breaker during post season play, but teams (and officials) were often unfamiliar with how they should be administered. State field hockey committee members, Kincaid among them, proposed that strokes be used during the regular season as a way to prepare for that playoff pressure.

Alyssa Parker redirected a rebound off the goalie's pads for Glenelg's goal in regulation.

"Towson had some pretty nice strokers," Kincaid said.

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