From The Sun's Katherine Dunn:

For the Westminster field hockey players, tonight’s state Class 4A semifinal against Severna Park is certainly a big game, but it has a whole lot more meaning for their coach, Mary Rivera. "It brings back a lot of memories,” she said.

When Rivera played for the Owls, Severna Park was one of their most intense rivals. She played the Falcons twice in the state Class 4A final with the Owls taking the 1996 title and the Falcons returning the favor in 1997.

Between 1984 and 2001, the Owls and the Falcons combined to win 15 of 18 Class 4A titles. The Owls won five, including a share of the 2001 title with Quince Orchard. The Falcons won 10. They met four times in the championship game and split those meetings.

That fueled one of the hottest cross-county rivalries in any sport at the time.

“Going into it, I don’t think we realized, being that young, that the rivalry was that strong,” said Rivera, whose maiden name is Dickensheets.

“After we lost to them (in the state semifinals in 1995), we developed it. We never liked to lose. We always knew they were a great team. Playing against a talented team that wanted to win as much as you wanted to win was nice.”

Although the Owls haven’t been to the state semifinals for five years, they remain one of the most successful programs in tournament history. Only three teams — Severna Park (25), Bethesda-Chevy Chase (21) and Pocomoke (21) — have made more appearances in the tournament than the Owls, who are in for the 19th time.

The Owls have won seven titles, the most recent in 2001. Severna Park has won 16, including three of the last four in Class 3A before moving back up to Class 4A this fall.

Rivera is trying to prepare her team much the way her coaches, Sue Hooper and Brenda Baker, prepared the Owls with tough practices and a little outside motivation.

“They always had someone come back and talk to us, so we got to meet other people who had played Severna Park and that’s how we got to know about [the rivalry]. They talk to us about their experiences in states and what an amazing feeling it is to win and what it feels like to lose.”

Rivera said she wants former teammate Carli Harris, now the head coach at Winters Mill, to talk with the Owls before tonight’s game.

“They listen to me, don’t get me wrong, but it’s different when you hear it from someone else,” said Rivera.

Tonight’s game begins at 7 at South River, where the No. 7 Owls (14-1) will be the underdogs. Still, they have allowed only two goals all season and nipped C. Milton Wright, 2-1 in overtime, for the North region title.

The No. 2 Falcons (14-3) have rebounded to avenge two of their three losses by knocking out No. 1 Broadneck and No. 2 South River last week to win the most competitive region in the state, the Class 4A East.

“I really don’t know much about Severna Park,” said Rivera, “but I expect a very good game. I feel it’s going to be close, more of a 1-0 game.”

That just might ignite the rivalry all over again.