Baltimore Private coach Zack Burke got his team fired up at halftime during its semifinal meeting with Baltimore Public. After trailing 3-0 at the break, Baltimore Private came back and pulled out a 7-4 win.
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by Aaron Gray
agray@digitalsports.com

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Sometimes, all it takes is a passionate speech from the coach to spark a team to success. Or a punch in the mouth, perhaps.

It happened Sunday at the Adidas National Lacrosse Classic semifinals when the Baltimore Private team found itself in a 3-0 hole at the break against Baltimore Public. The game had some added incentive since most of the players on the field -- at this national tournament -- had spent many summers playing club ball together and have had some exciting meetings during the spring high school seasons.

"I guess our guys just took them lightly and if you do that in a tournament like this, they're going to jump on you," said Baltimore Private coach Zack Burke, whose team rallied back for a 7-4 victory and advanced to the finals at the Soccerplex in Germantown, Md.

"It wasn't so much a speech. I think they just came out and punched us in the mouth. My guys weren't fired up until that happened. Sometimes, that is all it takes."

Burke, the All-DigitalSports Boys Lacrosse Coach of the Year for the Baltimore-metro area, carefully watched Baltimore Public's 10-5 victory over Princeton, NY in the quarterfinals and awaited the match up. To throw some fuel on the fire, Glenelg coach Josh Hatmaker, the Baltimore Public coach, led his team past Burke's Archbishop Spalding squad last spring in an MIAA meeting.

"Coming in, we knew it was going to be a big rivalry," said Andrew Scalley, who scored two goals for Baltimore Private and helped lift the team in the second half.

"It was private schools versus public and we wanted to show what we had. Everything was on the line because we want to go to Florida. In the second half, we started to play together and we put some goals in the back of the net."

The trip to Orlando, Fl. barely eluded Baltimore Private, as it later fell to Rochester, NY in the championship, 9-8. One more victory would have secured a trip down south to represent the U.S. against Canada for the historic Brogden Cup on Dec. 5-8 to determine the best region of high school lacrosse players in North America.

As old local rivalries were rekindled over the weekend, new long-distance ones were sparked.

Washington DC Private squeaked by a tough Chicago team in overtime, 6-5, in a quarterfinal game. Bob Degen, the Chicago coach, was happy with his team's performance and was glad the spectators got to see some of the talent coming out of the middle of the country.

"We may not get to see this kind of quality play in the Midwest but at the same time, we got the opportunity to show that we have some great athletes," Degen said. "The sport is growing by leaps and bounds in the Midwest and everyone had a great time here this weekend."

Maryland, New York and Colorado are some of the known hotbeds for upcoming lacrosse talents but inviting 16 different regional teams from across the country was a testament to the sport's growth. College coaches crawled the sidelines looking for the next upcoming star and out-of-town parents were there to ask questions.

"For college recruiting purposes, this was great," said Degan, a Long Island native. "When I got to Chicago four years ago, I found out there's great athletes, however, we just need to raise their lacrosse IQ. Things like this will raise their knowledge of the game."

Washington DC Private coach Scott Conklin admitted that the torch hasn't been passed yet but that the rest of the country is catching up.

"This (tournament) is a perfect example of where the sport is going," said Conklin, who coaches at Episcopal in Northern Virginia. "Kids from all over the country come here to compete against the best. These guys from Denver, Orlando and California are hanging in there. You can tell they have great athletes and their stick skills are coming around."

"They understand the game much better than four or five years ago. It's not going to be long before lacrosse is nation-wide and there's going to be 10 to 12 hotbeds."

Andrew Cordia, of Washington DC Private, said he was a little surprised how talented the Chicago side was but it just taught him and his teammates that every team at the tournament could play. He scored the tying goal and game-winner in the quarterfinal victory.

"It was a tight game," the rising senior at Episcopal said. "They shut us out the entire first half. I was surprised Chicago could come out like that."

On the final score, Cordia admitted a little luck played a part.

"I really wasn't trying to go to the cage," he said. "I sort of ducked out of a double team and ended up on the crease. But it was nice. It always feels good to be in overtime and hit the game-winner."