There was a modicum of fear among some late-arriving Liberty soccer fans.

Some were still trickling through the gates at Tuscarora High in Frederick when they saw a team dressed in blue and yellow give up a corner kick and subsequent goal. But upon closer inspection, both the Lions and Northern Garrett, Liberty’s opponent in Thursday night’s Class 1A state semifinal, sport the same colors.

Turns out it was Liberty, dressed in road white uniforms, getting the goal — Erin Martin to be exact — in the seventh minute.

It was just the beginning of a dominant offensive night and a 6-1 win that puts the Lions in next week’s 1A state championship game.

“Emotions are high,” Liberty coach Danni Prietz said. “We worked hard at practice all week and game planned for this team. Knowing that Liberty hasn’t been there since [1996] and to finally make it to a state final with this team, it’s amazing.”

Liberty will face the winner of Saturday’s Brunswick-Mardela semifinal at a day and time to be announced.

“We’re excited to win this game and go to states,” Liberty senior Aver Asom said. “We haven’t been to states in a while, so it’s going to be a great game. … We were locked in on this game. We just wanted to win. I’m at a loss for words right now.”

With emotions running high from the moment the team took the field, Martin’s early goal played a huge role in settling the Lions and getting them focused on getting the job done.

Playoffs have a tendency to create stars. Liberty might have found its next one Thursday in junior Adrienne Petroski. Coming in with seven goals all season, Petroski scored twice in the first half, helping Liberty take a 3-1 lead at the break. She completed the hat trick in the second half.

“I prepared myself all day. I was looking forward to a good game against a good opponent,” Petroski said. “We knew that the surface was different so we had to play faster and work through their zone [defense].”

Crofton 2, Perry Hall 1: “Don’t let them score. Don’t let them score.”

It was the only thought drumming in Kaelyn Richardson’s head. Perry Hall had threatened the Crofton goalkeeper from the first minute, when they lobbed a shot into her chest. But in the second half, after Crofton’s second goal, an even transfer of attacks devolved into a Gators hailstorm.

The Cardinals only led 2-1. The keeper tried her hardest to preserve the shutout, until one shot just grazed her fingertips stretched to the sky in the 58th minute of Friday’s 4A state semifinal at Henry A. Wise High.

Richardson would not be released from the constant siege until 18 seconds remained. Gators sophomore Autumn Rorie thundered toward her, shot loaded on her foot, with all the desperation of tying the game and saving her season propelling her forward. The Crofton goalkeeper couldn’t chance waiting for her in the net.

She launched herself out, throwing her body over Rorie and the ball for the stop.

After that, she booted the kick into safe territory, at last. Cardinals senior Alex Sarrach actually settled it there and launched what she’d hoped could be a buzzer-beating goal (but wasn’t). Nonetheless, she and the rest of the Cardinals turned heel, screaming as they embraced their goalie.

“When it’s a game this big, that participation makes it that much more surreal,” Richardson said. “It makes me feel exhilarated.”

Crofton (14-3-1) advances to its first 4A state final to face Walt Whitman or Leonardtown at Loyola Maryland next week, with a date to be determined after Saturday’s play.

— Katherine Fominykh

Boys soccer

Liberty 3, Harford Tech 0: Friday night’s Class 1A state semifinal between the Lions and Cobras promised fireworks. The Lions were looking to right the wrongs of last year when they lost to eventual champion Harford Tech in the same round.

This, though, was a different year, a different game — and a different result.

The Lions scored an emphatic victory over the Cobras to stamp their ticket to the Class 1A state final, where they’ll meet the winner of Saturday’s Mountain Ridge-Brunswick semifinal at a date and time to be announced.

The first 20 minutes of Friday’s game were very nip and tuck. Liberty had a free kick saved, while Harford Tech had a couple corners swiped away by Lions goalie Jaxon Vanderhoof, part of his 11-save night.

Finally, Lions forward and captain Lucas Britos set up to take a free kick. Britos passed the ball into the penalty box perfectly, leaving it on a silver platter for fellow captain Austen Veach to sneak in behind the defense and slot home the first goal.

With a little over a minute left in the first half, Liberty was awarded another free kick. Britos delivered another great ball into the box, which was initially blocked off by Cobras goalkeeper Brandon Strieb but picked up and blasted off the ricochet by Veach.

In the 67th minute, Britos cut through the defense, finishing off an amazing run with a shot into the bottom left corner to put his Lions up 3-0.

— Antonio Chaurand, For Baltimore Sun Media

Richard Montgomery 4, Perry Hall 3 (PKs): First, it took Richard Montgomery goalkeeper Solomon Snowdy to guess right. Then the senior had to fully extend to his left, reaching high to swat away the well-placed penalty kick taken by his counterpart, Perry Hall goalie Mohamed Nyass.

That is what separated Perry Hall from going from last year’s four-win season to reaching the Class 4A state title game.

After 100 scoreless minutes of play Friday night, Richard Montgomery outlasted the No. 15 Gators in penalties, needing six rounds to advance with a 4-3 win at Dr. Henry A. Wise High School.

Perry Hall, which reached the Baltimore County championship game and won the North region title, closes with a 14-3-2 record.

“We’ve gotten progressively better as the years went on and I don’t know how you take a picture of heart. But if you could, that’s it,” said Perry Hall coach Pete Eibner, pointing to the team’s distraught bench after the gutsy performance.

In reaching the title game, Richard Montgomery (13-3) will take on the winner of the Walt Whitman-Montgomery Blair semifinal that takes place at 2:30 p.m. Saturday at Laurel High.

— Glenn Graham

Volleyball

Howard 3, Arundel 1: In the Howard gym there’s a banner that reads “State Champions, Volleyball, 1980.”

The current team walks by it most days and probably doesn’t notice it.

Lately, it’s been getting a little more attention, though. If it were up to setter Imagine Peltier, it would have a twin real soon.

The host Lions made sure they’d still be in the running get it that twin on Friday night when they beat Arundel, 25-20, 25-17, 22-25, 25-20 in the Class 3A state quarterfinals. It will be Howard’s first trip to the state semifinals since that trip in 1980.

The Lions (18-0) will face Montgomery County’s Thomas Wootton on Tuesday at a site to be announced.

“We’ve worked so hard to get here,” said Peltier, who finished with 40 assists, four aces and 10 digs. “I’m just so proud of everyone for all of the work they’ve put in to get us here. This is a great accomplishment for us.”

— Mike Frainie, For Baltimore Sun Media

Thomas Wootton 3, Dulaney 0: Thomas Wootton junior Sara Foster had a match-high nine kills and had four of the Patriots’ 21 aces in a 25-14, 25-16, 25-9 victory over host Dulaney in the Class 3A state quarterfinals.

The loss was the first of the season after 18 straight victories for the Lions. Wootton (15-3) advances to the state semifinals.

Eight Patriots fired off aces with Elly Fang coming off the bench and lead the team with five. Taryn Su and Sofia Sussa added three each and Naima Cho-Khaliq and Emma Li had two apiece.

Despite the loss, the Lions celebrated Baltimore County and regional championships this season.

They defeated Eastern Tech in five sets in the county championship and swept Catonsville in the regional final.

“It’s incredible, this team fought and we are a little team,” Dulaney coach Cary Lyon said.

— Craig J. Clary

Football

Wilde Lake 42, Hammond 6: Wilde Lake eagerly awaited Friday night’s first-round playoff matchup against Hammond. Three weeks ago, the Golden Bears shut out the Wildecats at home, 16-0.

Wilde Lake dominated Friday’s game in all three phases, recording nearly 300 rushing yards, seven sacks, a blocked punt and a punt return for a touchdown. With that formula, the Wildecats exacted revenge against No. 5 seed Hammond.

Wilde Lake (4-6) moves on to the second round of the Class 2A West playoffs and travels next week to top-seed Damascus, which had a first-round bye.

Reevaluating after the regular season, Wilde Lake’s coaching staff decided to make a quarterback change, moving sophomore Jaydin Gore from wide receiver at the beginning of the week.

The young signal-caller embraced the opportunity and efficiently guided Wilde Lake’s offense to a season-high output. He scored two touchdowns, running for a 3-yard score and returning a punt 30 yards to the house to show off his dynamic speed and athleticism.

— Jacob Steinberg

Hereford 27, C. Milton Wright 26: Do you believe in miracles? Yes.

OK, Hereford’s thrilling 27-26 come-from-behind first-round postseason win against visiting C. Milton Wright is not on par with the USA hockey team’s 1980 Olympic upset victory against the invincible Russians. But it certainly defied the odds, and even the internal musings of Bulls coach John Walter.

“I didn’t have a lot of hope myself, [down] 26-8,” Walter said. “I guess miracles happen. Once we got a little momentum, everyone needed to make big plays and couldn’t afford to give up any big plays. They just answered the call.”

Trailing by 18 points late in the third quarter after surrendering 26 straight points to the Mustangs, Hereford (7-3) rallied for 19 unanswered points for the one-point lead before surviving a 42-yard field goal attempt with under a minute left to reach next weekend’s second round against top-seeded Milford Mill (8-1).

Offensively, Hereford’s turnaround began with a three-play, 80-yard drive that began with a 39-yard pass from Griffin Walter to Reed Shilling and ended with a 5-yard touchdown run by Joseph Jennings to trim the deficit to 26-14 with 11:14 left in the game.

The deficit closed to within 26-20 on a 79-yard scoring strike down the CMW sideline from Walter to Ian Smith roughly two minutes later. After another defensive stop and an 11-yard punt out of bounds, Hereford took the lead at 27-26 on a 2-yard run from Jennings with 4:01 left.

The Mustangs moved the ball to the Bulls’ 25 on their ensuing drive but a field goal attempt with 45 seconds left came up well short and wide left. Hereford then ran out the clock for the win.

— James Peters, For Baltimore Sun Media

Liberty 27, South Carroll 7: In the playoffs, coaches can thrive if they have two things: a leader they can throw into the fire and trust to get the job done, and a team so well prepared that, if need be, someone can step up and make big plays.

Liberty coach Larry Luthe had both Friday night.

The Lions looked like a team on a mission as they aimed to avenge a regular-season overtime loss to South Carroll in Friday’s opening round the Class 2A/1A West Region playoffs.

Led by quarterback Chase Miller, Liberty did that and more, defeating South Carroll to advance to the second round.

The fun got started right away as the Lions took the ball and went on a 13-play touchdown drive capped off by a Kevin Poole touchdown run. After a stop by the Lions defense, Miller and the offense went from slow and methodical to the usual quick and explosive style many are used to seeing.

On the drive’s second play, Miller sent the county’s best pass catcher, Tristan West, in motion before hitting him downfield with a bomb for a long touchdown, giving the Lions a quick two-touchdown lead.

— Timothy Dashiell