MaxPreps Xcellent 25 National Boys Lacrosse Rankings

The Landon School (Bethesda, Md.) has won 28 Interstate Athletic Conference championships. This season's crown will be remembered as one of the most difficult and gratifying in recent memory.

The Bears (13-6) earned the title on Saturday as senior Matt Potolicchio had three goals and an assist and senior Charlie Schnider added two goals to power the Bears to a 7-4 victory over top-seeded and host Bullis School (Potomac, Md.).

The IAC championship was the Bears' third in five years and moved them into this week's MaxPreps Xcellent 25 National Boys Lacrosse Ranking at No. 25. It came in a season in which Landon started out at 3-5 but finished with 10 wins in its final 11 games. The victory also avenged a 7-6 loss to Bullis on April 5.

The day began when 2011 alum and captain Patrick Keena gave an emotional speech in the locker room. Landon then went out and seized a 4-0 lead midway through the second half and got standout goaltending from senior Alex Joyce (10 saves) along with solid defense to hold Bullis (14-4) scoreless in all but four man-up situations.

Senior Hank Brown had a standout two-way game for Landon at midfield. Other keys were senior defensemen Sellers Garrett, Mark Strabo and Alex Povich, who helped the Bears hold Bullis without a goal in 6-on-6 play.

Senior Kylor Bellistri led Bullis with three goals and senior Matt Opsahl also scored an EMO goal. Bullis was playing in its first IAC title game after going undefeated in the regular season.

"It was a topsy-turvy, up-and-down roller-coaster season," said Landon assistant coach J.R. Bordley. "We achieved our goal for winning the league title. Our seniors carried us."

Northwestern tops Poly for Baltimore City title

Lamont Marable scored seven goals - including the game-winner in overtime - and William Gatling added three goals and three assists as Northwestern defeated Poly, 13-12 for the second Baltimore City Championship. Maurice Smith was a standout in goal with 17 saves.

Last year Northwestern (11-1) fell to Poly, 8-5, in the title game.

"We thought after last year we had unfinished business," said Northwestern coach Lloyd Carter. "We were hoping we'd get to see them in the rematch. We had a second opportunity and took advantage."

Poly was led by Malik Embree, who had four goals and an assist.

Games to Watch This Week

Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Conference semifinals:

Boys' Latin vs. No. 4 Calvert Hall (Md.), Tuesday at Towson University.
No. 15 Loyola Blakefield (Md.) vs. No. 11 Gilman (Md.), Tuesday at Towson U.
No. 17 Irondequoit (N.Y.) at No. 13 Fairport (N.Y.), Thursday

MaxPreps Xcellent 25 National Boys Lacrosse Rankings

1. (No. 1 last week) Garden City (N.Y.), 16-0
The top-seeded Trojans opened their Section 8 Class B playoffs in Nassau County by defeating Levittown-Division, 11-3, on Friday. They meet No. 9 seed South Side in the quarterfinals on Friday at 6:30 at Hofstra University.

2. (2) Haverford School (Pa.), 19-1
The Fords clinched their fourth straight Inter-Ac League championship and are the top seed for the Inter-Ac Invitational. They host ninth-seeded Shipley School on Tuesday in the quarterfinals.

3. (3) Salisbury School (Conn.), 10-0
The Crimson Knights downed Taft (Conn.), 10-3, and play a key game Wednesday at previously-ranked Deerfield Academy (Mass.).

4. (4) Calvert Hall (Baltimore), 14-2
The Cardinals, the top seed in the MIAA tournament, play fourth-seeded Boys' Latin in the semifinals at Towson University. Calvert Hall defeated BL, 12-5, in the regular season. The Cardinals have won their last seven games, and closed the regular season with a 16-3 rout of St. Paul's.

5. (5) Gonzaga (Washington, D.C.), 19-1
The Purple Eagles take a 13-game win streak and the top seed into the WCAC playoffs. They opened Monday against DeMatha (Md.), a team they defeated, 10-4, early in the year.

6. (6) West Islip (N.Y.), 15-1
The Lions closed the season with 13 straight wins and earned the top seed in Class A for Section 11 (Suffolk County). They received a first-round bye and open vs. the winner of West Babylon and Northport on Tuesday, May 22.

7. (7) Bridgewater-Raritan (Bridgewater, N.J.), 14-0
The Panthers defeated previously-undefeated Somerville (N.J.), 12-4, in a Somerset County semifinal. The Panthers advance to meet Ridge in the finals on Thursday.

8. (8) Chaminade (Mineola, N.Y.), 13-1
The Flyers completed a regular season sweep of St. Anthony's on Thursday by claiming an 11-8 victory as Matt Graham tallied three goals, while Dan O'Connell and Paul Urbank each had two. The two rivals will meet for the Long Island and CHSAA state Class AAA championship on Thursday, May 24 at Hofstra University.

9. (9) Smithtown West (N.Y.), 15-1
The Bulls closed their regular season with seven straight wins and earned the No. 2 seed for the Section 11 Class A playoffs. They have a first-round bye and host the Half Hollow Hills East-Sachem East winner on Tuesday, May 22.

10. (10) Conestoga (Berwyn, Pa.), 15-3
The Pioneers claimed their second straight Central League championship and received the No. 1 seed in the District 1 tournament. They got a first-round bye and play the winner of Springfield-Delco and Upper Dublin on Thursday.

11. (11) Gilman (Baltimore), 12-3
The third-seeded Greyhounds defeated Severn (Md.), 13-7, in the first round of the MIAA tournament as Maxx Greene had five goals and two assists to help his team to an 8-0 halftime lead. and face second-seeded Loyola Blakefield (Md.) in the semifinals Tuesday at Towson.  Loyola Blakefield won the first meeting, 10-5.

12. (12) Summit (N.J.), 15-0
Austin Carbone tallied four goals and Nick Kilkowski and Michael Badgley each had two as the Hilltoppers coasted past Westfield (N.J.), 12-1, in the Union County Tournament final. The title was their fifth straight and eighth overall.

13. (13) Fairport (N.Y.), 14-0
The Red Raiders edged Penn Yan (N.Y.), 5-2, and Churchville-Chili (N.Y.), 11-6, on Saturday. They have two key games this week, vs. 11-2 Pittsford on Tuesday and No. 17 Irondequoit on Thursday.

14. (14) Darien (Conn.), 14-1
The Blue Wave defeated Ridgefield (Conn.), 14-11, in a key FCIAC showdown of undefeated teams. Darien bolted to a 5-0 lead and never allowed Ridgefield to get closer than three goals. Henry West led the Blue Wave with four goals.

15. (18) Loyola Blakefield (Towson, Md.), 15-3
The Dons earned the second seed in the MIAA playoffs and face No. 3 Gilman in the semifinals on Tuesday at Towson. They won the first meeting with the Grehounds, 10-5, on April 24.

16. (16) Duxbury (Mass.), 15-2
The Dragons had key wins last week over Scituate (Mass.), 11-5, and Wellesley (Mass.), 9-3. Duxbury has won eight straight games.

17. (17) Irondequoit (Rochester, N.Y.), 13-1
The Eagles edged Pittsford (N.Y.), 7-6, as Jake Schmidt notched the game-winner with four minutes to play. This was a family affair of two powers as Eagles coach Craig Whipple is the younger brother of Pittsford coach Andrew Whipple. The Eagles play at Fairport on Thursday.

18. (15) St. Anthony's (Melville, N.Y.), 13-3
The Friars bounced back from their 11-8 loss to Chaminade on Thursday by downing Yorktown, 13-12, on Saturday. Sean McDonagh scored the game winner with 8:26 left, giving coach Keith Wieczorek his 200th career win. The Friars will meet Chaminade for the third time for the Long Island and state Class AAA CHSAA championship at Hofstra on May 24.

19. (19) Niskayuna (N.Y.), 13-1
The Silver Warriors defeated Burnt Hills (N.Y.), 14-6, in a Suburban Council game as Justin Picardi scored four goals and Tanner MacIvor had two goals and three assists

20. (20) Dublin Jerome (Dublin, Ohio), 15-0
The Celtics defeated Upper Arlington (Ohio), 10-9, to claim the MLSCA "A" bracket championship on Saturday. They handed Archbishop Moeller a 9-7 defeat in the semifinals.

21. (22) West Genesee (Camillus, N.Y.), 14-1
The Wildcats whipped previously-undefeated Liverpool (N.Y.), 14-4, as Teddy Glesener collected five goals and two assists.

22. (23) Governor's Academy (Byfield, Mass.), 13-0
The Red Dogs increased their win streak to 30 games by edging St. Sebastian (Mass.), 4-3, on Saturday. They play Tuesday at Noble & Greenough (Mass.).

23. (24) La Salle College (Wyndmoor, Pa.), 13-4
The Explorers close their regular season in the Catholic League at Cardinal O'Hara and enter the playoffs as the No. 1 seed. They play a semifinal game on Monday, May 21.

24 (25) Ithaca (N.Y.), 15-1
The Little Red closed their regular season on Senior Night by downing Vestal (N.Y.), 14-8. Ithaca, which has won 10 straight games, seized an 8-2 halftime lead.

25. (NR) Landon School (Bethesda, Md.), 13-6
The Bears capped a brilliant stretch of 10 wins in 11 games as they downed Bullis School (Md.), 7-4, to win the Interstate Athletic Conference championship for the 28th time. Landon is the only school to defeat No. 2 Haverford School this year.

Dropped out:
Yorktown (N.Y.), 12-3

Chris Goldberg, editor and owner of Lacrosse Media, operates Phillylacrosse.com, LILacrosseNews.com and BaltimoreLacrosseNews.com, as well as the new national gear site, LaxGearZone.com. He may be reached at golax@phillylacrosse.com.