By Jon Buzby
MaxPreps.com
The Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association-A Conference is considered by many to be the toughest in the nation for high school boys’ lacrosse.
This past week was rivalry week in the tradition-rich affiliation.
Boys Latin Upsets St. Mary’s-Annapolis
Boys Latin, fresh off a 14-6 upset by Archbishop Spalding and a recent nail-biting loss to Calvert Hall, were looking to get back in the win column against St. Mary's-Annapolis.
Patrick Foster had five goals and an assist, and Jack Rice added three goals to guide Boys Latin to a 10-9 win.
Matt Laymon (headed to Towson) scored three goals and had an assist, and Nick Doub added 3 goals for St. Mary's.
Gilman Drops McDonogh to Stay Perfect
The No. 1 (in every poll) Gilman Greyhounds went on a five-goal run in the second half that catapulted them to a 9-4 win over McDonogh.
"I like to think we're a pretty deep team, and I think that takes its toll on a lot of teams," Gilman coach Brooks Matthews told the Baltimore Sun.
"We keep our guys fresh so they're able to continue to move the ball at a high rate of speed and keep running our offense efficiently."
Gilman jumped out to a 4-3 halftime lead and then went on its five-goal run midway into the third quarter until halfway through the fourth quarter.
Midfielder Greg McBride (one goal, two assists) ignited the run by finding Davey Emala in front of the net for the first goal of the stretch with 5:36 left in the third. Thirty seconds later, McBride found Evan Redwood (two goals), who scored to give Gilman a 6-3 lead.
The scoring streak continued when Navy-bound Ty Kimball scored with two minutes left in the quarter, and McBride scored with 21 seconds left to give the Greyhounds an 8-3 lead going into the fourth quarter. Marcus Holman added Gilman's final goal five minutes into the fourth.
"We have a lot of offensive weapons and really anybody can step up for us," Emala, who finished with four goals, told the Baltimore Sun.
"When you have that many people that can score, eventually they're going to fall."
Sam Greenberg, heading to Dickinson in the fall, had two goals for McDonogh (9-3, 1-2). Tyler Frederick added three assists, and Princeton-bound goalie Tyler Fiorito had 21 saves.
Gilman finished the week by defeating Boys Latin (see below), while McDonogh edged Severn, 4-3.
Stanwick Leads Loyola-Blakefield Over Calvert Hall
Loyola's Steele Stanwick, bound for Virginia in the fall, is one of the most versatile players to appear on the high school lacrosse scene in a while.
The senior Don scored three goals and had two assists as Loyola narrowly edged Calvert Hall, 10-9, in a key MIAA-A match-up on Tuesday.
Maryland-bound Joe Cummings had two goals and an assist, his second being the game-winning goal with 3:27 to play, breaking the sixth tie of the game for good.
"I cut in front, found a weak spot in the defense, and I let it fly," Cummings told the Baltimore Sun. "Their defense played great, and I was lucky enough to get it to fall."
The Dons’ defenders played an aggressive man-to-man defense to limit the Cardinal shots on goal. Alex Bernent marked the Cardinals’ Jason McFadden, and high-scoring Patrick Fanshaw (two goals) was kept somewhat in-check by Colin Roemer.
Dons’ goalie M.J. Leonard made two of his 18 saves in the game's final tense moments, leading a defense that held the Cardinals under 11 goals for only the second time this season.
For the Cardinals, Towson-bound Michael Brashears had three goals, Tony Rossi had two goals and an assist and Jason McFadden, heading to Georgetown next year, chipped in a goal and two assists. Defensively, goalie Greg Dutton had eight saves, keeping the Dons below their 12 goals-per-game average.
Loyola is unbeaten (4-0) in league play after opening its conference schedule with a 6-5 win over St. Paul’s. It was the Dons' first win on the Crusaders’ home turf in coach Jack Crawford’s six years. Watching the fans rush the field following the huge win will only help the Dons’ confidence as they look to plow through the MIAA-A conference.
"This win gives us a lot of confidence," Cummings told the Baltimore Sun. "They have a very well-coached team, and it's always great to beat your rival. I've dreamed of scoring the winning goal in this game since I was a kid, and now I got to do it. That's pretty special."
Loyola Edges St. Mary’s-Annapolis
Steele Stanwick's goal with 17.5 seconds remaining gave Loyola a 5-4 victory over St. Mary's-Annapolis.
Stanwick scored twice for the visiting Dons, raising their record to 8-2 on the season. The Saints dropped to 11-3.
J.P. Dalton, heading to Loyola in the fall, led St. Mary's with a pair of goals and Riley Hansen added one. The score was tied at two at halftime.
Loyola will play Gilman (12-0) and Severn (7-6) this week. St. Mary’s faces off against St. Paul’s (5-6) and Friends (4-6).
Gilman Remains Unbeaten
Gilman entered their game against Boys Latin with an unblemished 11-0 record, while Boys’ Latin was coming off one of their biggest wins of the season against St. Mary’s-Annapolis.
For the second game in a row the Greyhounds of Gilman saved their best for the second half, overcoming a 4-2 halftime deficit with a 12-goal onslaught to keep their perfect record intact with a 14-8 win over the Lakers.
"His halftime speeches are what gets everyone going," midfielder Greg McBride told the Baltimore Sun. "It's not that we start slow, it's just at halftime is when everyone gets together.”
With the win, Gilman upped its record to 12-0, 5-0 in the powerful Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association A Conference.
Doyle had three goals and two assists and McBride pitched in with three goals, Davey Emala had two goals and two assists and Marcus Holman had two goals and an assist.
Patrick Foster led the Lakers (10-4, 2-3) with two goals and two assists, and Jack Rice chipped in two goals.
Gilman puts its perfect record on the line this week with games against Loyola-Blakefield (8-2) and Calvert Hall (10-1). Boys’ Latin hopes to get back on the winning track against McDonogh (10-3) and Mount St. Joseph (6-5).
MIAA-A Conference Standings
Gilman 5-0 (12-0)
Loyola 5-0 (8-2)
Calvert Hall 4-1 (11-1)
St. Paul’s 2-2 (8-6)
McDonogh 2-2 (10-3)
Boys Latin 2-3 (10-4)
St. Mary’s 2-3 (11-3)
Archbishop Spalding 2-3 (5-4)
McDonogh 1-2 (9-3)
Severn 1-3 (9-6)
Friends 0-4 (4-5)
Mount St. Joseph 0-4 (6-6)
Player of the Week
Loyola-Blakefield senior attackman Steele Stanwick led his team to two huge wins this past week over St. Mary’s-Annapolis and Calvert Hall.
Against Calvert Hall, Steele Stanwick had three goals and two assists in the Dons' 10-9 victory.
Stanwick followed that up by scoring twice in their 5-4 narrow win over St. Mary’s-Annapolis, including the game-winner with just 17.5 seconds remaining.
Stanwick will take his talents to Virginia in the fall.
Email your player of the week nominations to MaxPreps Maryland correspondent Jon Buzby at JonBuzby@hotmail.com.
