In Friday’s cold and rain, both the Gilman and Severn lacrosse teams showed dogged determination in an epic game that each desperately needed to make a move in the Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association A Conference standings.

The host Greyhounds rallied from a five-goal, fourth-quarter deficit to take a lead in the final seconds of regulation, leaving just enough time for the Admirals to valiantly respond to force overtime.

After a number of gutsy defensive stands forced a second four-minute overtime, Gilman senior standout Jay Rodgers put himself at the right place at the right time. He took a pass from Griffin Graham and promptly finished his fifth goal of the game, coming with 1:48 left to give the No. 11 Greyhounds a thrilling 15-14 home win over the No. 12 Admirals.

Gilman (3-8) evens its record in the MIAA at 2-2, while Severn (4-6) drops to 1-3 in the conference.

Dominated in the second half by the Admirals and down 13-8 with under six minutes to play, the Greyhounds dug in and dug out to secure a character win that could prove a jumpstart.

“We weren’t going to give up, that’s not the type of team we are,” Rodgers said. “We all believed and knew we weren’t going to quit, so it was a good team win. I was lucky enough to have the goal at the end, but it was a complete team win.”

Tied at 6 at the half, Severn scored five straight goals in the third quarter — including three straight from Kevin Gattie — to take an 11-6 lead. When the Greyhounds found momentum with two straight goals to cut the lead to 11-8, Tanner Huber gave the visitors momentum back with a goal coming with nine seconds left in the third quarter.

Severn first-year coach Keegan Wilkinson applauded both teams’ performances and was confident his group will learn from the setback. Huber had a five-goal, one-assist effort and Nick Todd had three goals and two assists with Wilkins turning back six Gilman shots.

“Unbelievable game. I’m really proud of my guys — they showed a tremendous amount of fight. Gilman scores three late to go up and then you see a senior like Tanner Huber come down and tie the game back up with [five seconds] left,” Wilkinson said. “Gilman fought really, really hard … We made a couple mental mistakes at the end of the game, and that falls directly on me as the head coach, so we’ll better in late-game situations.”

Severn 1 5 6 2 0 0 — 14

Gilman 2 4 2 6 0 1 — 15

Goals: S — Huber 5, Todd 3, K. Gattie 3, Collier 2, Queen; G — Rodgers 5, Cootauco 3, Cranston 2, Graham 2, Malfa, Eiswert, White

Assists: S — Todd 2, Huber, Coger, Long; G — Graham 3, White 2, Kim, Ward, Harrington

Saves: S — Wilkins 6; G — Parks 9

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