Stephens: The King of All Leagues

By Mitch Stephens

MaxPreps.com

WHAT THE SUN is to the Sahara Desert. … What oil is to Texas. … What silicon is to Hollywood. …

Lacrosse is to Maryland.

It’s a natural association, especially at the high school ranks.

“There’s no question that (lacrosse) is the No. 1 spring sport in Maryland,” said Calvert Hall (Baltimore) athletic director Lou Eckerl, also the school’s baseball coach.

More specifically, Baltimore's most affluent region is flooded with sticks, scoops and dingers.

And nobody – nobody! – scoops and dings like those in the Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association (MIAA), which sports the top two teams, three of the top four and five of the top 20 in the MaxPreps national rankings.

Heading into today’s regular-season MIAA finales, those teams include: No. 1 Gilman (Baltimore), No. 2 Calvert Hall (Baltimore), No. 4 Loyola (Towson), No. 9 McDonogh (Owing Mills), No. 18 St. Mary’s (Annapolis) and No. 19 Boys Latin (Baltimore).

That kind of league supremacy is unprecedented for any sport in the country and helps elevate the standing of the game among Free State followers.

“I can say with confidence that it’s the biggest sport in Maryland period,” Calvert Hall coach Brian Kelly said. “In terms of fan support and coverage in our leagues and if you look at the number of kids who gain college scholarship you’d be hard pressed to find anything bigger.”

Just how big?

“It’s crazy big,” said former Baltimore Sun prep writer Lem Satterfield, now a senior content editor at digitalsports.com: “It’s maniacal.”

Just how maniacal?

* Last month, close to 5,000 fans showed for a regular-season contest between Calvert Hall and Gilman.

“For big league games we normally get about 3,000,” Kelly said. “For championship (playoff) games we go between 10 and 15,000.”

* Rosters in the MIAA range from the mid-30s to more than 40.

“The depth on these teams is ridiculous,” Satterfield said. “That’s what sets it apart.”

* Kelly says that more than 90 percent of his roster will play lacrosse in college.

Many will play at nearby schools, especially perennial NCAA powers John Hopkins, Maryland, Georgetown, Loyola, UMBC, Navy and Towson.  

The King

Kelly and Gilman coach Brooks Matthews each played at the respective schools they now coach before moving on to the University of North Carolina, where they played together and won a national championship in 1991.

“Success breeds success to a certain extent,” Matthews said. “From a young age everyone around here plays. The more you play the more the level rises.”

Lacrosse has been rising for sometime now.

The game was traced back to the 15th century and was played days-at-a-time on mile-long fields by Native Americans to settle inter-tribal disputes (see History of Lacrosse).

Though lacrosse is just catching on in many pockets of the country, Boys Latin Alumni Director and MIAA historian Mac Kennedy said the Baltimore region has played the sport close to 100 years.

“Lacrosse around here is king,” Kennedy said.

It shows in rich and rampant youth and rec leagues that feed into the private schools, many that begin at the elementary level.

Said Gilman athletic director Tim Holley, a 1977 graduate of Gilman: “The game is synonymous with our city and state. People around here have a passion for it. It’s like ice hockey in New England or water polo or volleyball in California or football in Texas.”

Holley, an African American whose parents are both educators, was raised in Baltimore and attended college and worked in Philadelphia.  

“In Philadelphia, you see hoops attached to every home,” he said. “When you first drive into Baltimore you see the same thing. But as you drive into these neighborhoods you see lawns with lacrosse goals and lacrosse sticks.”

Spreading The Game

Like Holley, Satterfield never picked up a lacrosse stick as a youth. But when he joined the Sun he had to learn the game quickly.  

“The game is deep in family history, mystique and tradition,” Satterfield said.

Though wealth and affluence is unquestionably tied to the game – most of the MIAA schools carry an annual tuition of more than $20,000 – what Satterfield respects most about those running lacrosse is their enthusiasm to share knowledge of the sport.

St. Paul’s Boys (Brooklandville) coach Rick Brocato has spent a considerable time teaching the game in Colorado. Not coincidently, the popularity and quality of the game there has risen significantly.

“They sincerely want to expand the game,” Satterfield said. “They don’t want it to be exclusive. They want the game to thrive.”

Even at the expense of a MIAA kid’s college scholarship.

“You look at the top Division I rosters and they’re getting kids all over the country – Ohio, Texas, California,” Kelly said. “It’s harder to get scholarships now than ever.”

No one claims MIAA players are being overlooked.

In fact, most coaches agree this is the league’s finest year, which is a mouthful.

Since 2002, a MIAA team has finished first among the laxpower.com national rankings three times, Boys Latin (2006), McDonough (2005) and St. Paul’s (2003).

Other highly-rated MIAA teams in that span include Loyola (No. 2 2007), Calvert Hall (No. 6 in 2003) and Boys Latin (No. 3 in 2002).

Maryland dominates the girls national lacrosse rankings as well, with the MIAA’s sister league, the Interscholastic Athletic Association of Maryland (IAAM) holding down six of the top 20 MaxPreps spots including No. 1 Carroll (Bel Air) and No. 3 McDonogh. A seventh Maryland squad, No. 4 Severna Park (15-0) is a freelance squad.

“(This season) is no aberration,” Kennedy said about the MIAA’s dominance.

Its always been balanced – no team has repeated as league champion since 1995 when Gilman took its second straight crown – but never has it been this strong either, Kelly said.

“You could be the best team in the country and came away with two losses in a single week,” Kelly said.  

But that hasn’t happened to Gilman.

Best MIAA Team Ever?

The Greyhounds finished their regular season 17-0 and 10-0 in league play Tuesday with a 13-4 win over St. Paul’s Boys.

Behind a gifted junior class, quickness, depth and arguably the league’s top middie Jack Doyle, Gilman enters next week playoffs trying to become just the fourth MIAA team ever to go undefeated, the last being Boys Latin in 2006.

Most consider the Boys Latin team of 1997 as the best ever, but if the Greyhounds run the table, they’ll certainly be in the discussion.

Getting through the league tournament won’t be a breeze.

“No question, (Gilman) deserves to be No. 1 (in the country),” Kelly said. “They’re very athletic, they have great skills and are well-coached. From goalie to attack they don’t have a deficiency. They are definitely the most complete team.”

What Kennedy likes about the Greyhounds is their relentlessness.

“They never let teams breathe,” he said. “They constantly run. They constantly pressure. They’re like bees around honey.”

That pressure eventually causes foes to wilt.

Against Boys Latin, Gilman trailed 4-2 at halftime before winning 14-8. The following game the Greyhounds were tied 5-5 at halftime with Loyola before scoring 10 of the game’s 12 goals.

“I’m pleased because these guys play hard every game,” Matthews said. “We have a lot of athletic and talented kids but they play unselfish and really move the ball.”

Among the seniors, defender Joey Ehrmann is most intriguing. The 6-foot-3, 210-pounder has signed a letter of intent to play football at Wake Forest and keys the backline. He’s the son of former Baltimore Colt Joe Ehrmann.

The younger Ehrmann helped hold Loyola senior Steele Stanwick, the Baltimore Sun’s 2007 Player of the Year, to just one goal and one assist in Gilman’s 17-7 win last month.

“He’s a fantastic athlete and player,” Matthews said of Ehrmann. “He could definitely play in college.”

Of his 18 seniors, Matthews said at least nine will play in college including attacker Evan Redwood (Amherst) and goalie Matt Holman.

“Whether these guys are recruited or not, they all have ability to play at the next level,” Matthews said. “For some it’s a matter of they want to do it. It’s a major commitment.”

But it won’t be a major adjustment, considering the pledge Gilman and all MIAA players and coaches make to the game.

“Coaches in this league could probably all coach in college,” Satterfield said.

For now they more than relish their role as coach in the MIAA. Though game day can bring a lot of heat.

“Every Tuesday and Friday in the MIAA is brutal,” Kelly said. “The games are so intense. It takes so much preparation. But it’s worth it. It’s so worth it.”

E-mail Mitch Stephens at mstephens@maxpreps.com