THE LAKERS NEEDED FIREPOWER; SO PATRICK FOSTER, CHRIS WALSH TOOK OFFENSE

by Lem Satterfield

(See video interviews and highlights below)

Before graduating last year, former Boys' Latin attackmen Travis Reed and Brett Weiss had used their offensive skills to lead their Lakers to a Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association A Conference title in 2006, as well as last year's title-game berth.

But their exit left longtime coach Bob Shriver looking for firepower.

And judging from Thursday's 14-9 victory over visiting Baltimore County power Dulaney, Shriver may have found what he was looking for in sophomore Patrick Foster and junior Chris Walsh.

Foster scored five times and had two assists, and Walsh had five assists for the Lakers, who, nevertheless, required an offensive spark from North Carolina-bound senior defender, Charlie McComas, to overcome an early 1-0 deficit.

But after McComas stormed up the field to tie the game at 1-1 with his lone goal of the game, the Lakers' trailed only once more, at 2-1, before the underclassmen duo set the tone.

Foster-to-Walsh worked twice, initially, tying the game at 2. And then, they teamed up again, making it, 3-2, Lakers, heading into the second quarter.

Those occasions were two of the four times Walsh would find Foster during the course of the afternoon.

"Christian's  got very good eyes, and he'll find the open guy -- especially when their [Dulaney] off-ball guys are watching him, and they're moving around. Christian will find the guy," said Shriver, whose Lakers (7-1) are ranked seventh in the DigitalSports-Maryland State Lacrosse Coaches' Association Top 20 ahead of the 14th-ranked Lions (1-1).

"Patrick was the beneficiary of the off-ball stuff. He moved really well without the ball, and he got fed for most of his goals," said Shriver, whose Lakers will play host to 13th-ranked DeMatha of Hyattsville of the Washington Catholic Athletic Conference on Saturday, followed by third-ranked, unbeaten Calvert Hall in their MIAA A Conferenc opener on April 4.

"I don't think [Foster] scored any goals dodging," Shriver said. "All of his goals were assisted, which means that he was doing a great job off of the ball."

But Dulaney didn't go away quietly.

Paced by midfielders Jay Mann (two goals, three assists), Brad Ruzicka (three, one), Notre Dame-bound All-American Eric Keppeler (three goals) and sophomore attack-middie Kenny Naylor (two goals), the Lions twice nearly overcame their two seperate deficits.

The Lions tied the game at 3-3, midway through the second quarter, and, later, scored three straight goals to come within, 8-7, heading into the fourth quarter.

"This really meant a lot to us to come out and play and try to win this game, but we made a few mistakes mentally," said Ruzicka. "At the end, it was 14-9, and it just didn't come out the way we wanted it to."

For on each occasion, the Lakers erupted offensively, including the scoring of six of the eight fourth-quarter goals.

With help from DJ. Rickels (three goals), Wells Stanwick (two goals, one assist) and Eric Smith (one goal), the Lakers scored four consecutive times to go up, 7-3, at halftime, and, three straight, for an 11-7 lead with 7:35 to play.

Walsh had the assists on the Lakers' ninth, 10th and 11th goals, with the ninth and 10th going to Foster.

"I just came out, ready to play I guess and moved off-ball well. Christian fed me the ball really well," said Foster, a 6-foot-3 player. "We just work off of each other -- he feeds me, I score; I feed him, he scores. Today, he didn't have any goals. But last game, he had like five goals."

Thursday's game was not unlike that of a year ago, when the Lions led for nearly three quarters before succumbing to a ferocious rally by the Lakers, who were coming off of a 17-0, MIAA A Conference title-winning effort.

In that game, then-junior John Davis keyed the Lakers' winning of 15-of-23 faceoffs, including 11 of the last 12 as they overcame a 5-3 third-quarter deficit with nine unaswered goals in a 13-6 victory.

On Thursday, Davis combined with Justin Radebaugh and RG Keenan for an advantage of 17-8 in the overall draws.

"Playing the best competition brings out the best in you, and this shows that we can play with anybody. We played hard with them for about three and a half quarters, but we couldn't put it away in the end," said Mann, whose teammate, Alex Williamson, recorded 13 saves.

"I think we just started getting real tired, offensively and defensively, and they just did a great job. B.L.'s a great team, and they did a good job putting us away," Mann said.

"But we need to rebound, come back from this, and just step our own game. We can play with anybody," Mann said. "We're just going to put it all on the line, work our tails off in practice, and in the games, and hopefully, it will work out for us and we'll win a state championship this year."


Boys' Latin 14, Dulaney 9



Dulaney      (1-1)         2          1          4          2                    9                                   

Boys' Latin  (7-1)        3          4          1           6                  14


Goals: D- Ruzicka 3, Mann 2, Naylor 2, Tignall,  Roe.  B- Foster 5, Rickels 3, Stanwick 2, Sanders, Smith, McComas, Thibeault. Assists: D- Mann 3, Keppeler 3, Ruzicka. B- Walsh 5, Foster 2, Feild, Stanwick. Saves: D- Williamson 13. B- Scharff 10.

Half: 7-3, B