Every player on that team has been beaten in state championship games by their Dulaney High counterparts. It's something that happened each of the past three years. And they had been eagerly awaiting this year's confrontation with the perennial Baltimore County power.

All of their pent-up emotions exploded with 1:44 elapsed in the second four-minute overtime period of the hot humid day that should have wilted even the best-conditioned athletes.

"This is awesome, absolutely awesome," said Ben Hunt who emerged as the Falcons' hero of the 10-9 Class 4A-3A state semifinal triumph.

"I've been thinking about this game all season: Everytime I've run sprints, every time I've touched the field, I've worked so hard waiting for the rematch against Dulaney," Hunt said between gasps for air.

"This was our game of the year," said the emotional Hunt, who led the now 15-4 Falcons with four goals. "This was what we worked for and trained for."

With Dulaney out of the way, Severna Park will meet the winner of tomorrow night's game between Walter Johnson and Westminster in the state final. The semifinal game between those teams was postponed because of the death Friday night of one of the Walter Johnson players in a car accident.

Not until Hunt's shoulder-high, rifled, on-the-run shot past Dulaney goalie Justin Woodford to give the Falcons their long-awaited triumph and their berth in next week's state championship game, did the heat, exhaustion and emotion get the better of the tall, thin junior.

The game-winning shot came after a series of too many scares for the Severna Park players and fans. The last of the heart-stopping moments in that series was a point-blank shot at the Falcons' goal that was blocked away by the often-tested Mike Gvozden in the goal.

The ball caromed off Gvozden's chest and was picked up on the move by defensive midfielder Drew Mueller, who turned on the run and found Hunt breaking toward the enemy net.

"I knew I was going to be shooting it right from the time I saw the ball coming to me. There were no defenders sliding toward me," the sopping wet Hunt said between his short, panting breaths. "I put everything I had into the shot."

Not only did Hunt use his physical prowess to execute his final shot, but he was able to use his head to make the most of the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

"He had stopped most of my shots on the run, though I did get one by him," Hunt related, "but I hit him in the side, I hit a couple of pipes, I hit him in the leg once.

"I already hit him in the chest and the stomach a few times, too. I knew by then he was a little bit weaker up high; so I put it to the top right of the net and finished him off," Hunt said as he replayed the ever-so-meaningful goal.

The game that was so satisfying for the Severna Park faithful took some strange turns. Dulaney jumped to a 2-0 lead, but the lead didn't last long. Within four minutes the score was even. And the Falcons took charge with three more goals.

Shortly into the second quarter Severna Park had a 6-3 lead, but Dulaney is a defending champion and was not about to cave in. The Lions, led by Ryan Hoff who scored six goals, battled back to get to 6-5 at the half and then tied the game with the first goal of the third quarter.

Dulaney seemed to have solved the Severna Park zone defense and time after time Gvozden was face-to-face with opponents who slipped into a gaping hole in front of the net. Fortunately, the Severna Park goalie, who stopped 17 shots, was up to the task as Dulany peppered him with shots.

That ignited a stretch during which Severna Park regained the lead at 7-6, then fell behind 8-7, then regained the lead at 9-8 as the third quarter ticked away. With both teams playing more cautious, the lone score of the fourth quarter came when Dulaney's Will Englehart tied the game at 9-9 with 3:00 left in regulation.

That's when it got tough for both teams. Shots that appeared sure things missed. Passes were thrown away. Both teams made mistakes that took the wind from their sails. But in the end it was Severna Park's conditioning that made the difference as Hunt was able to go on a full-speed breakaway to get the winning goal.

"I keep telling our team that we're the best conditioned team in the state of Maryland and I thoroughly believe that," said Severna Park's excited first-year coach Jim Beardmore.

"Our conditioning paid off today and we were able to run one down there at the end," Beardmore said. "This was a heavyweight slugfest."

Beardmore is the third coach in as many years to take Severna Park into the state tournament, but he assured he is as emotional about getting this team to where it is today as if he had been coaching all along.

"Winning this game, finally beating Dulaney, getting this team to the state championship, affects me a great deal even though this is my first year of coaching here," Beardmore said. "I feel strongly connected to Severna Park High School.

"Even though I wasn't officially a part of the program the past few years I've always been a Severna Park resident," Beardmore said.

"I'm really proud of these boys and how they came together, especially because they went through some adversity they had to go through last year. Just to have them come back and get to where we are, is a beautiful thing," the excitable coach continued.

"We knew we were coming here," Beardmore added. "Getting to this game has been our goal since Day 1. Now we can get to where we want to be."

Severna Park (15-4) 5 1 3 0 0 1 _10 Dulaney (14-3) 3 2 3 1 0 0 _9 GOALS: SP-BHunt 4, Lusby 3, Commett, Oster, Ruppert; DU-Hoff 6, Englehart 2, McIntyre. ASSISTS: SP-Lusby 2, Taglienti, Hill, HartmanMueller; DU-Barthelme 3, Hoff, Horsman. SHOTS: SP 49; DU 39. SAVES: SP-Gvozden 17; DU-Woodford 12. PENALTIES: SP-3 for 2:00; DU-5 for 3:00. FACEOFFS: SP-9; DU-14.