MaxPreps Xcellent National 25 Boys Lacrosse Rankings

It was only Round 1, but Chaminade was pleased to strike first.

The host Flyers got a goal by junior Ryan Lukacovic with 2:07 remaining to earn a 6-5 victory over St. Anthony's in the first meeting of the perennial Catholic High School Athletic Association powers. The Flyers (4-0, 2-0) jumped out to a 5-1 lead after the first quarter until the Friars (3-1, 2-1) staged a classic second-half comeback.

St. Anthony's has won the last three CHSAA titles by beating Chaminade in the finals. The teams meet again at St. Anthony's on May 10.

Brian Dunne, Brian Porter and Joseph Reilly also scored for the Flyers.

Brian Sherlock led the Friars' comeback with three goals and an assist and Sean McDonagh had the game-tying goal.

"They all mean something," St. Anthony's coach Keith Wieczorek said. "You prepare just as hard for each one but we'll see them again down the road. Tip your hat, they deserved the win today and they got it."

Checking for Cancer on tap Saturday at Haverford School

The fourth-annual Checking for Cancer Lacrosse Invitational will be held Saturday at Haverford School (Pa.). The event, considered the top boys invite of the year, promotes awareness and early detection education for three primary men's diseases: Prostate, Colorectal and Testicular Cancers. It was created by Haverford coach John Nostrant and his former Washington College linemate and close friend, Georgetown Prep (Md.) coach Kevin Giblin. Nostrant is a prostate cancer survivor and Giblin is a colon cancer survivor.

The tourney features seven of the teams ranked in our MaxPreps Xcellent 25 (see schedule below) and showcases two top matchups between No. 1 Conestoga (Pa.) and No. 6 Garden City (N.Y.) and No. 4 Haverford School and No. 12 Lawrenceville School (N.J.).

On the business side, CFC has raised more than $80,000 in just three years, with all event profits earmarked for cancer research and for those organizations in need of special support. For more information, visit the Checking for Cancer website at www.checkingforcancer.org.

Also of note, two-time defending Class B New York state champion Jamesville-DeWitt (N.Y.) had its 45-game win streak snapped by Niskayuna (N.Y.) on Saturday, 17-10.

Checking for Cancer schedule:
9 a.m.: No. 21 La Salle (Pa.) vs St. Augustine Prep (N.J.), Sabol Field
11 a.m.: No. 22 Episcopal Academy (Pa.) vs Radnor (Pa.) – Class of '75 Field
11 a.m.: No. 1 Conestoga (Pa.) vs No. 6 Garden City (N.Y.) – Sabol Field
1 p.m.: No. 4 Haverford School (Pa.) vs No. 12 Lawrenceville School (N.J.) – Sabol Field
1 p.m.: Wilton (Conn.) vs Penn Charter (Pa.) – Class of '75 Field
3 p.m.: Salesianum School (Del.) vs Chatham (N.J.) – Class of '75 Field
3 p.m.: No. 18 Georgetown Prep (Md.) vs Delbarton (N.J.) – Sabol Field

MaxPreps Xcellent 25 National Boys Lacrosse Rankings

1. (No. 1 last week) Conestoga (Berwyn, Pa.), 5-0
The Pioneers downed Boys' Latin, 7-6, on an overtime goal by defenseman Jaime Ikeda, who picked up the face-off groundball and ended it 11 seconds into the extra frame. Conestoga has won three one-goal games this year over ranked teams. They have Central League games Tuesday (Lower Merion) and Thursday (at Springfield-Delco) and then meet Garden City Saturday at Checking for Cancer.

2. (2) Calvert Hall (Baltimore), 6-1
The Cardinals routed The Hill School (Pa.), 14-5, behind three goals and two assists from Patrick Kelly. They travel to Boys' Latin (Md.) Tuesday for their MIAA opener and play at McDonogh (Md.) Friday before next Tuesday's bout with Gilman at home.

3. (8) Chaminade (Mineola, N.Y.), 3-0
The Flyers scored the first-round victory in their perennial three-round bout with St. Anthony's by winning 6-5 on Ryan Lukacovic's game-winner. They host No. 19 Yorktown Tuesday and have a tough road game Saturday at Fairfield Prep (Conn.), a team they beat 7-6 last year.

4. (6) Haverford School (Haverford, Pa.), 7-1
The Fords claimed a key 11-9 win Thursday over Gilman as Henry Blynn had three goals and four assists and Will McNamara scored three goals and the Fords jumped to a 6-1 lead. Then they toppled St. Augustine Prep (N.J.), 11-6, as Gavin McBride and Zach Rego each had two goals and two assists. They Host Germantown Academy (Pa.) Tuesday in the Inter-ac league and travel to La Salle Thursday and meet Lawrenceville School Saturday at their Checking for Cancer tourney.

5. (5) Deerfield Academy (Mass.), 3-0
The Big Green defeated Berksire School (Mass.), 8-6, and then Westminster School (Conn.), 6-4. They host California power Torrey Pines on Wednesday.

6. (11) Garden City (N.Y.), 6-0
The Trojans toppled two undefeated teams last week, Elmont (17-2) and Long Beach (13-8), and have time off until facing No. 1 Conestoga at Checking for Cancer.

7. (7) Salisbury School (Conn.), 1-0
The Crimson Knights toppled Berkshire School (Mass.), 11-7 in their opener. They host Trinity-Pawling (N.Y.) on Wednesday.

8. (4) Gilman (Baltimore), 4-1
The Greyhounds suffered an 11-9 loss to Haverford School Thursday despite four goals by Maxx Greene. They host McDonogh in an MIAA opener Tuesday and host Archbishop Spalding Friday.

9. (12) Loyola Blakefield (Towson, Md.), 8-1
The Dons routed Middletown (Md.), 15-7. They host St. Paul's Tuesday in their MIAA opener and then host Boys' Latin Friday in another big MIAA game.

10. (3) St. Anthony's (Melville, N.Y.), 2-1
The Friars rebounded from their heartbreaking loss to Chaminade Saturday by edging Delbarton (N.J.) as Sean McDonagh had three goals and four assists and broke an 8-8 tie with 6 minutes to play. St. Anthony's hosts 10-0 La Costa Canyon (Calif.) Friday and then plays at Malvern Prep (Pa.) Saturday in Evanfest, a benefit for a former Malvern player that died of bone cancer.

11. (23) Irondequoit (Rochester, N.Y.), 5-0
Gunnar Miller had two goals as the Eagles defeated Duxbury (Mass.), 4-3. The Eagles were shut out after scoring late in the second period, but Eric Fischer made 10 saves and the Irondequoit defense allowed just one gal in the second half. The Eagles are off this week.

12. (13) Lawrenceville School (N.J.), 5-0
The Big Red routed Princeton High (N.J.) Thursday, 14-2, as Steffen Gratch had three goals and five assists, giving him 100 career goals (three years at Hun School). They play at New Canaan (Conn.) Wednesday and face Haverford School Saturday at Checking for Cancer.

13. (14) Smithtown West (N.Y.), 5-0
The Bulls have two big games this week. They play at Ward Melville Wednesday and host Yorktown Saturday.

14. (15) Bridgewater-Raritan (Bridgewater, N.J.), 3-0
The Panthers have looked strong in three early wins, and host Rutgers Prep today while gearing for a big game Wednesday against Moorestown - the team they beat last year in the Tournament of Champions quarterfinals.

15. (17) Darien (Conn.), 1-0
The Blue Wave blanked Fairfield-Ludlowe (Conn.), 13-0, and toppled Staples-Westport (Conn.), 13-3, to open their season. They have a key grudge match Thursday at Wilton, the team that whipped them in the state semifinals last year, 11-3.

16. (18) Gonzaga (Washington, D.C.), 9-1
The Purple Eagles routed St. Joseph's Prep 12-5 and edged Boys' Latin (Md.) 14-13, as Tom Corboy scored four goals, including the game-winner, to help the Purple Eagles rally from a 12-10 deficit. They host Upstate New York power Hamburg (4-0) on Thursday.

17. (19) Georgetown Prep (North Bethesda, Md.), 9-2
The Hoyas toppled Louisville-Xavier (Ky.) 14-3 Saturday to complete a three-win week. They have a key game Wednesday when they host DC IAC top rival Landon School before Saturday's date with Delbarton (N.J.) at Checking for Cancer.

18. (20) Manhasset (N.Y.), 3-1
The Indians toppled Cold Spring Harbor (N.Y.), 8-5, and gear for a Saturday home date with John Jay-Cross River.

19. (NR) Yorktown (Yorktown Heights, N.Y.), 4-0
The Cornhuskers downed Fallston (Md.) 11-8, as Frank Fusco had three goals and Conor Gately added two goals and four assists. They gear for a key game at Chaminade Tuesday.

20. (NR) Niskayuna (N.Y.), 3-0
The Silver Warriors stunned host Jamesville-DeWitt (N.Y.) and broke its 45-game win streak Saturday in a 17-10 victory. Luke Goldstock led Niskayuna with five goals while Matt Sexton and Tanner McIvor added three goals each as the Silver Warriors broke open a 3-3 game with four straight goals and never looked back. Niskayuna plays at Burnt Hills (N.Y.) Tuesday.

21. (16) La Salle College (Wyndmoor, Pa.), 3-1
The Explorers got beat handily by Gilman, 9-3 on Tuesday, and look to rebound Thursday when they host Haverford School. They also face St. Augustine Prep (N.J.) Saturday at Checking for Cancer.

22. (22) Episcopal Academy (Newtown Square, Pa.), 7-1
The Churchmen won two games last week against strong competition, dumping Germantown Academy (Pa.) 11-7 in their Inter-Ac League opener and whipping St. Joseph's Prep (Pa.), 14-4, as Tyler Odell pumped in seven goals. They have a major test Thursday at Malvern Prep in the Inter-Ac and meet Radnor Saturday at Checking for Cancer.

23. (10) Duxbury (Mass.), 2-1
The Green Dragons dropped a 4-3 decision to Irondequoit Saturday despite two goals by Sam Sweet and 11 saves from goalie Henry Buonagurio. Duxbury hosts Hanover (Mass.) Monday and Billerica (Mass.) Wednesday before traveling to Jamesville-DeWitt (N.Y.) Saturday.

24. (24) West Islip (West Islip, N.Y.), 3-1
The Lions routed Half Hollow Hills East 11-4 and host 5-0 Sachem North on Wednesday and North Babylon on Thursday.

25. (NR) West Genesee (Camillus, N.Y.), 3-0
The Wildcats toppled Fayetteville-Manlius (N.Y.), 7-5, as Ryan Tinklepaugh scored two goals, including the game-winner with 2:42 to play. Ryan St. Croix also scored two. The win was No. 743 for West Genesee's 37-year coach, Mike Messere. Messere stands four victories behind former Ward Melville and Mt. Sinai coach Joe Cuozzo, who owns the state record (and unofficially the national mark) with 747.

Dropped out: Landon (Bethesda, Md.), 4-5; Boys' Latin (Baltimore), 7-3 5; Jamesville-DeWitt (DeWitt, N.Y.), 1-1.

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.