By Jon Buzby
MaxPreps.com
The 12th annual Maryland High School Lacrosse Showdown took place at Homewood Field on the campus of Johns Hopkins University Saturday.
This annual tournament benefits the Aikens Children Fund, started in memory of former Loyola lacrosse coach Diane Geppi-Aikens, who passed away in June 2003 following a six-year battle with brain cancer.
Proceeds from the tournament go toward the college educations of Geppi-Aikens’ four children.
The second girls game of the Lacrosse Showdown saw No. 3 John Carroll soundly beat the No. 1-ranked, 11-time defending state-champion Mt. Hebron Vikings, 18-9.
The young Vikings, starting just one senior, came into the tournament with three lopsided victories over Oakland Mills, River Hill and Marriotts Ridge, but were not able to keep up offensively with the Patriots, who started eight seniors.
The Vikings made it look easy early on, sailing to a 4-0 lead on goals by Monica Zabel, Jessica Giles, Ashley Burns and Marta Chell.
But the Patriots quickly rebounded as James Madison-bound Casey Ancarrow got them on the board with just over 12 minutes to play in the first half and then scored again almost immediately to pull her team within two. The Patriots tied the game 67 seconds later with 2 more goals and then took a 7-5 lead into the half.
Senior Grace Gaeng scored 5 of her game-high 6 goals in the second half to put the Vikings away. Patriots’ goalie Lauren McGehee made several great saves down the stretch to preserve the win as John Carroll became the first Maryland-based team to beat Mt. Hebron in ten years, when St. Mary’s-Annapolis defeated them in April of 1998.
“I am very proud of the leadership and work ethic of our team. We prepared hard to take on such a dominant team as Mt. Hebron,” John Carroll coach Krystin Porcella said. “Each player did her part for the good of the team and the result was success."
“We're young this year. We knew going in it would be very tough to get possession [of the ball]," Viking coach Brooke Kuhl-McClelland told the Washington Post.
Next up for the 7-0 Patriots is No. 9 Mt. De Salles Academy Wednesday while the Vikings will face Hammond on Tuesday.
Seahawks Remain Perfect
Also in the girls’ bracket, the South River Seahawks opened up the tournament by squaring off against the Century Knights.
The No. 4 (laxpower.com rankings) Seahawks brought a 5-0 record into the weekend and scored another victory with a 10-7 win over the Knights, ranked No. 10 in Maryland.
With the loss, Century’s record dropped to 4-2. They will face North Carroll this coming week while South River will play No. 5 Broadneck on Tuesday.
Overtime Victory for Glenelg
In the closest game of the tournament, the Glenelg boys remained a perfect 3-0 by edging Archbishop Spalding, 9-8, in two overtimes.
Chris Gotschall capped a 3-goal performance by scoring the game-winning goal with 30 seconds left in the second overtime to give the No. 9 Gladiators their third win in as many tries this season.
"I thought I could take him with a question mark, and I was able to get it between the goalie's legs," Gotschall told the Baltimore Sun. "It's just exciting to get the win."
Ryan Dougherty added 3 goals for Glenelg. Andrew Scally and Matt Burke scored 3 goals each for Spalding.
Spalding took a brief 8-6 lead in the fourth quarter but Gotschall’s second goal followed by Curtis Adams’ score with 22 seconds remaining forced the overtime.
Spalding had a major opportunity to win the game in the first overtime when Matt Burke received the ball all alone in front of the net but was denied by Gladiator goalie Jon Selfridge (12 saves).
"Our kids could have easily folded to go down two goals with five minutes left, and they never stopped playing," Glenelg coach Josh Hatmaker told the Baltimore Sun.
While the Cavaliers from Spalding were unable to rebound from a lopsided 17-5 loss to undefeated St. Mary’s Annapolis (10-0) the day before, they’ll try to not look past St. Paul’s (2-5) on Tuesday, leading up to a showdown with No. 3 Boys' Latin (8-2) on Friday.
The Gladiators will try to stretch their perfect record to 5-0 with games against River Hill (1-2) and Atholton (0-1) this coming week.
DeMatha Over Severna Park in Finale
In the tournament finale for the boys, the DeMatha Stags handed defending state champion Severna Park its first loss of the season, 9-5.
Shane Ryznar scored twice and Mike Rogers added a pair of assists for the Stags.
Sean Price tallied 3 goals for the Falcons while Sam Jones contributed a goal and an assist.
The Stags extended their record to 5-3 while the Falcons dropped to 5-1.
Severna Park will look to rebound this week against Annapolis (1-4) and Chesapeake-AA (1-4). Dematha will play at Georgetown Prep (9-2) and hosts No. 5 Paul VI (6-1).
Towson Catholic Undefeated in MIAA C
The Owls of Towson Catholic are off to a flying start with five consecutive victories to start the 2008 campaign.
Following three lopsided victories against non-MIAA C opponents, including a season-opening 18-7 win over MIAA B opponent the Key School, the Owls have won their first two conference games by large margins.
Last week they shutout St. Francis Academy, 23-0, and followed that up with a 12-6 win over Mt. Caramel.
Their powerful offense has scored 69 goals and only given up 15 in their five wins.
They will put their perfect record on the line this coming week with a game at Baltimore Lutheran (2-1) and then a home contest against the Indian Creek School (1-2).
Player of the Week
John Carroll’s senior Grace Gaeng’s week started with a two-goals, two-assist effort against McDonogh Wednesday. She followed that up with a game-high 6 goals to lead the Patriots to a 18-9 win over Mt. Hebron in the Maryland Lacrosse Showdown.
The Maryland-bound midfielder is the sparkplug behind the Patriots’ perfect 7-0 start, scoring 19 goals and dishing out 9 assists thus far. In addition to her six-goal outburst against John Carroll, she also scored 6 (with an assist) against North Harford.
“Grace provides energy and hustle to our team. She gives 100 percent whether it is going for a ground ball, chasing down an attacker or driving to goal," Carroll coach Krystin Porcella said. "Grace possesses quickness that allows her to be a tremendous threat to go to goal and make something happen for her team.”
Email your player of the week nominations to MaxPreps Maryland correspondent Jon Buzby at JonBuzby@hotmail.com.
