MaxPreps Xcellent 25 National Boys Lacrosse Rankings

Episcopal Academy had lost the last eight times it met Haverford School, which had won its last 34 games vs. Pennsylvania teams.

But even after falling behind 4-0 in less than 4 minutes of play, the Churchmen stunned Haverford, 15-11, on Thursday to win the Inter-Ac Invitational at Cabrini College. It was the first Inter-Ac Invitational crown for EA (18-5, now ranked No. 16), which fell to the Fords in overtime two years ago. The tourney is in its fourth year.

Episcopal Academy scored five of the last six goals against the Fords (21-2), who entered play ranked No. 2 by MaxPreps. The key was winning possessions, as senior faceoff specialist Jon Garino was named the YBH Audi-Volkswagen MVP by winning 20 of 28 draws.

Tyler Odell and Morgan Westby each scored three goals to lead a balanced attack for the Churchmen, who also won the battle of groundballs by a 27-19 margin. Sam Lawlor added two goals and two assists, Connor Haab had a goal and three assists and Trupert Ortlieb had two goals and an assist while Ian Strain scored twice for EA.

"I have never in my career beaten Haverford, and I have been waiting 17 years for this," said EA goalie Henry Coote (six saves), who was named to the all-tourney team. "I couldn't imagine a better way for it to happen. We knew we were going to be underdogs the entire season.

"We had a great year, and we lost a few games we should have had. But we stuck together and never got down and came all the way back to get this. It's awesome."

"This is special, everything about this game was special," added Garino, who played with four broken ribs sustained in the Lawrenceville game. "The pain is pretty bad, but with the adrenaline flowing it was an afterthought, to be honest."

St. Anthony's wins 4th-straight CHSAA Class AAA title

Dylon Molloy had four goals and two assists and Eric Caliendo posted 17 saves as No. 9 St. Anthony's toppled Chaminade, 8-6, to win the Class AAA Long Island/New York State CHSAA championship at Hofstra. Matthew Graham scored three goals for No. 12 Chaminade (16-2), which had beaten the Friars twice in the regular season.

"If you look over the last 10 to 12 years any one of these games could have gone to a coin toss - regular season or championships," St. Anthony's head coach Keith Wieczorek said. "It's mixed emotions because I feel terrible for them because they're a great program and had an outstanding year but I'm proud of our kids and the effort we put in today."

The win gives the Friars four straight CHSAA championships. Those four victories come on the back of a Chaminade four-peat from 2005-2008.

"It goes in cycles," Wieczorek said. "You get big plays out of kids when you need them and that's sort of what's happened the last four years. It's really a fine, fine line."

South River wins Maryland 4A/3A crown

South River (Edgewater, Md.) defeated Westminster (Md.), 10-8, to win the Maryland Class 4A/3A State Championship at UMBC and cap a 21-0 season.

South River rallied from a 7-0 deficit as goalie Nick Marcelino made 17 saves and the Seahawks tallied 10 of the game's final 11 goals to claim the win.

Junior Ben Chisolm and senior Chris Carr had two goals apiece to lead the comeback as South River handled several long lightning delays to finish a second undefeated season in four years.

The Seahawks opened the second half with four unanswered goals and seized an 8-7 lead on Lavon Chaney's score with just more than 3 minutes left in the third quarter. Michael Strange then tallied a man-up goal to put his team ahead for good.

Salesianum repeats as Delaware state champion

Sophomore Troy Reeder had four goals and an assist and Jason Kelly scored three goals as Salesianum (Wilmington, Del.) blitzed Caesar Rodney (Camden, Del.), 13-2, to win its second-straight Delaware boys state championship at Dover High on Saturday.

Games to Watch

* No. 1 Garden City (N.Y.) vs. Wantagh (N.Y.), Section 8 Class A championship, Tuesday at Hofstra, 8:30 p.m.
* No. 5 West Islip vs. No. 22 Ward Melville, Section 11 Class A championship, Wednesday at Hofstra, 8:30 p.m.

MaxPreps Xcellent 25 National Boys Lacrosse Rankings

1. (No. 1 last week) Garden City (N.Y.), 18-0
The top-seeded Trojans toppled Long Beach in the Nassau County Class B semifinals, 15-7. They meet Wantagh in the championship game Tuesday at Hofstra University at 8:30 p.m.

2. (3) Calvert Hall (Baltimore), 16-2
The Cardinals made a statement victory over Loyola Blakefield in the MIAA A Conference championship game, 17-3. It was their first MIAA crown since 2003.

3. (4) Gonzaga (Washington, D.C.), 20-1
The Purple Eagles claimed their third-straight WCAC championship with the 10-3 win over DeMatha. Gonzaga closed the year with 14 straight wins.

4. (5) West Islip (N.Y.), 17-1
The Lions advanced to the Section 11 Class A title game by downing Sachem North, 10-5, as Jon Reese had three goals and one assist and Tom Moore tallied three goals. They play Ward Melville in the title game on Wednesday at Stony Brook at 5:30 p.m.

5. (6) Bridgewater-Raritan (Bridgewater, N.J.), 18-0
Ray Mastroianni and senior attackman Scott Bieda each had three goals and three assists as the top-seeded Panthers downed fourth-seeded Westfield in the Group IV semifinals, 17-10. The Panthers will play Hunterdon Central in the Group IV final on Wednesday.

6. (10) Fairport (N.Y.), 18-0
The Red Raiders blitzed Hilton, 16-4, in the Section 5 class A semifinals as Pat Vanbortle had four goals, Derek Dejoe had three goals and Kyle Sterzin dished four assists. They meet Penfield for the title on Tuesday.

7. (2) Haverford School (Pa.), 21-2
The top-seeded Fords suffered a 15-11 loss to Episcopal Academy in the Inter-Ac Invitational finals. Haverford School had won 34 straight games against in-state teams and had won the first three invitational titles. They won the Inter-Ac League title, going undefeated, and went 4-0 vs. MIAA teams.

8. (9) Conestoga (Berwyn, Pa.), 19-3
The Pioneers won their fourth-straight District 1 championship by topping Garnet Valley 12-6, as Connor Frisina collected four goals and one assist. They play District 3 fourth-place finisher Hempfield in the first round of the PIAA tournament on Wednesday at Henderson at 6 p.m.

9. (15) St. Anthony's (Melville, N.Y.), 16-3
The Friars won their fourth-straight CHSAA Class AAA championship by upending Chaminade, 8-6, as Dylon Molloy had four goals and two assists. The Friars avenged two regular-season losses to the Flyers.

10. (11) Salisbury School (Conn.), 12-1
The Crimson Knights closed their season with a 13-5 win over Choate (Conn.). Their only loss was an 11-10 overtime defeat to Deerfield Academy (Mass.).

11. (13) Duxbury (Mass.), 19-2
The Dragons closed their regular season with a 6-5 win over New Hampshire power Bishop Guertin, rallying from a 5-3 deficit to win it on a late goal by Jack Sullivan. They enter the Massachusetts state tournament as the No. 1 seed in the East. They have a first-round bye and will play the Newton North-Haverhill winner.

12. (7) Chaminade (Mineola, N.Y.), 16-2
The Flyers again dropped the CHSAA title game to St. Anthony's, 8-6, after winning both regular season games. The same scenario occurred last year.

13. (14) Loyola Blakefield (Towson, Md.), 16-4
A 17-3 loss to Calvert Hall in the MIAA A Conference championship game does not spoil a standout season for the Dons. Loyola Blakefield doubled its win total after going 8-10 last year and also had an impressive 13-7 victory over defending champion Gilman in the MIAA semifinals.

14. (16) Niskayuna (N.Y.), 18-1
The Silver Warriors rallied from a 4-1 deficit and toppled Shenendehowa in the Section 2 Class A Championship game, 17-11. Luke Goldstock led the attack with three goals and five assists and Lucas Maloney had five goals and two assists. Matt Sexton and Tanner MacIvor each added three goals while Evan Quinn stopped 11 shots. They play Minisink Valley Wednesday in a state playoff game.

15. (17) West Genesee (Camillus, N.Y.), 17-1
The Wildcats whipped Baldwinsville in the Class A semifinals in Section III, 11-4. They will look for their 11th-consecutive sectional crown when they face Liverpool on Wednesday in the finals. They dealt Liverpool (17-1) their only loss this year, on May 10, 14-4.

16. (NR) Episcopal Academy (Newtown Square, Pa.), 18-5
The Churchmen rallied from an early 4-0 deficit and stunned Haverford School, 15-11, to win their first Inter-Ac Invitational and snap the Fords' 34-game win streak against Pennsylvania teams.

17. (20) La Salle College (Wyndmoor, Pa.), 17-4
The Explorers got five goals from Matt Rambo and edged St. Joseph's Prep, 8-7, to win the Catholic League championship for the eighth time in nine years. The Explorers also routed Northeast, 19-2, in the District 12 title game and face Great Valley in the first round of the state tournament on Wednesday at 4 p.m. at Plymouth Whitemarsh High.

18. (18) Dublin Jerome (Dublin, Ohio), 20-0
The Celtics advanced to the Division I state semifinals by routing Medina, 15-4. They meet Hudson on Wednesday.

19. (21) Ithaca (N.Y.), 16-1
The top-seeded Little Red defeated Binghamton, 9-6, in the Section 4 Class A championship game as Orazio Ciaschi scored four goals and Charlie Estill and Paolo Ciferri each tallied two. It was their third win this year over the Patriots.

20. (22) Landon (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.

21 (23) Arapahoe (Centennial, Colo.), 19-0
The Warriors claimed their second CHSAA title in four years with an 8-4 victory over Cherry Creek. Bryce Parietti led the Warriors with three goals in the title game.

22 (NR) Ward Melville (East Setauket, N.Y.), 15-3
Jack Bruckner and John Edmonds each had three goals and an assist and Frank Lucatuorto scored three goals as the Patriots toppled Smithtown West, 13-9, in the Section 11 Class A semifinals, 13-9. The Pats will meet top-seeded West Islip in the Section 11 title game Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. at Stony Brook.

23. (12) Darien (Conn.), 16-2
The top-seeded Blue Wave fell to Ridgefield in the Fairfield County Interscholastic Athletic Conference semifinals, 12-11. The Blue Wave meets New Fairfield in the state tournament on Wednesday.

24. (24) Gilman (Baltimore), 12-4
The Greyhounds were eliminated in the semifinals of the MIAA A Conference tournament by Loyola Blakefield (Md.), 13-7. They still boasted wins over No. 17 La Salle and No. 20 Landon School.

25. (25) Deerfield Academy (Mass.), 14-2
The Big Green finished with two huge wins, an 11-10 overtime victory over previously undefeated Salisbury and a 6-5 double overtime triumph over Phillips Exeter (N.H.).

Dropped Out: Governor's Academy (Byfield, Mass.), 16-1; Smithtown West (N.Y.), 16-2

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.