HoCo Soccer Streak Ends

We saw this on the Sun's Varsity Letters high school sports blog.

This is the first time in 30 years a Howard County boys team will not play for a state championship.

Wow.

The last time we missed?

The year was 1977 when Wilde Lake fell in the state semifinal round, where Marriotts Ridge was eliminated this year by J.M. Bennett, 1-0 to end a 30-year run of state championship appearances.

In those 30 years, Howard County won a whopping 41 state titles and also had eight runner-up finishes. Oakland Mills sets the bar with 12 crowns, River Hill's title last year gave the Hawks eight with Centennial right behind at seven.

When was the county's first state crown?

Wilde Lake claimed it with a penalty-kick win against Sherwood in the fall of 1976. We happen to know because a certain member of the Columbia Talk played on that squad.