There were some familiar faces in the winners circle following this year's Maryland State Cup Championship and two of those teams had a distinct county flavor.

The SAC United Premier '90-91 boys, with 12 county players, won their fourth state crown and the Laurel Wildcats girls U-18 team, with six county representatives, won their third May 30.

Both teams now advance to regional play next month in Barbourville, W.Va.

SAC United Premier wins, 3-0

The SAC United Premier team's most recent State Cup tournament run ended similar to the first one seven years ago -- with lots of smiles and a championship trophy.

Courtesy of a 3-0 victory over the Freestate Blazers, the United captured the Maryland State Cup Championship in the U-18 boys division. It's the fourth time the team has won the state crown.

"We wanted it pretty bad since it was our last year," said Jake Pace, who scored the first goal in the title match. "We usually are pretty low key, but we were all really hyped up for the final. I thought we definitely came ready to play."

Last year, the team lost the championship game in penalty kicks against the Baltimore Bays. This year, an opportunistic offense and stingy defense led to the comfortable victory.

Pace took a pass from Phil Martinelli and headed home the only goal of the first half. In the second half, Matt Seinfeld scored off a feed from Garret Nickles and Jason McCarron converted a penalty kick for the final margin. McCarron, Nickles, Roston Moore and Tommy Schaeffler all held down the defense in front of goalie Paul Killian to keep the Blazers off the scoreboard.

The United survived a semifinal scare against Severna Park. In a game that was tied after regulation, Moore converted the game-winner in the first extra period.

"That was a little bit of a wake-up call for us," Pace said. "We had some lapses in that game, but we did a good job of regrouping and getting ready for the final."

The United now advance to the Region 1 Championship July 2-7 in West Virginia. The previous three times the team has made it this far, it has failed to get out of its regional bracket.

Laurel Wildcats win in OT

The Laurel Wildcats' 5-1 victory over the Freestate Sharks looks like a ho-hum blowout, until someone points out that the Wildcats needed overtime to win.

"We definitely dominated the entire game but we couldn't manage to put the ball in the net," said Dana Palmiotto, one of six Wildcats who live in Howard County.

"We were tied, 1-1, the whole game. When the second half was over we were in shock," Megan Gibbons said.

The Sharks were a good team and had a lot of desire to win, Palmiotto said.

But once the extra period began, the Wildcats scored and momentum quickly swung in their favor. By game's end Gigi Mangione had two goals and Gibbons, Taylor Goss and Krissia Vasquez had one each. Gibbons also had an assist.

"We're a fit team and I think that made the difference," Palmiotto said.

In addition to individual fitness and skill drills, Laurel practices four times a week.

"Everyone on my team works hard," Gibbons said.

The team always points toward winning the State Cup, now that that has been accomplished for the third time, the Wildcats will focus their effort on getting their first regional title.

"We set our standards high," Palmiotto said.

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