Poly High boys lacrosse coach Phil Thompson was caught off guard by a water bucket dumping after Monday’s victory in the Baltimore City championship game.

He might have to get used to it. The Engineers won their second straight title with a 17-3 rout of City at Douglass.

Sophomore attack Bowen Valery finished with five goals and three assists for Poly (14-1 overall), and Darryl Spence added four goals. Ben Caplan scored twice for City (9-4).

The Engineers built a 14-2 halftime lead, leading to a running clock for the entire second half. Ra-is Booth had three goals and an assist.

A year after holding off their longtime rival in last year’s city final (6-5 at Dunbar), Poly put together its complete effort of the season Monday to claim its third title since 2014.

“I spent the weekend looking at the first game, looking at some of the mistakes we made and how we could capitalize and put the game away early,” said Thompson. “I’ve told them since last week if we take care of the ball and finish on goal, the game would be over by halftime.”

“We knew we beat City the last time, but it’s a different game, it’s the championship game,” said Bowen. “We put our all in.”

The 6-foot-4 Valery had his hat trick secured inside the first two minutes of the second quarter as the Engineers accounted for the first six goals. With position on a smaller City defender, Valery slid inside and deposited his fourth goal.

It was 13-1 after Valery won a ground ball then bounced a shot between the legs of City goalie Douglas Rodas. Less than a minute later, Valery connected with Booth, completing a run of eight unanswered scores.

Senior attack Tavon McGee and Steven Hinnant each posted a goal and an assist for Poly, which defeated the Knights, 16-6, during the regular season.

“They executed and we didn’t, it’s as simple as that,” said Ryan. “They overmatched us.”

It’s on to the state postseason for Poly, whose only blemish came against Winters Mill. The Engineers will play either Woodlawn or Mervo in the Class 3A North Region I semifinals Friday.

Thompson has been impressed with his rebuilt defense after graduating the entire unit last year. The Engineers will lose only four starters from this year’s roster.

“When all of us were freshman and sophomores, we had a group of guys that brought us up. These past two years have led up to this where we have created a higher level team,” said Poly senior midfielder Harrison Yezzi. “That’s the same tradition we want to keep on going, motivating the young players so we can build a legacy.”

BALTIMORE CITY CHAMPIONSHIP

at Douglass

POLY 17, CITY 3

City 1 1 0 1 - 3

Poly 5 9 3 0 - 17

Goals: City - Caplan 2, Lane; Poly - Valery 5, Spence 4, Booth 3, Stanley 2, Hinnant, McGee, Moore

Assists: City - Kozer; Poly - Bowen 3, Booth, Hinnant, McGee, Spence

Saves: City - Rodas 8; Poly - Harburger 6, Drummond 3