BETTER TO GIVE: Boys' Latin junior attackman Chris Walsh, coming off of a five-assist effort against Dulaney, scored twice with four assists in Saturday's 13-10 victory over visiting DeMatha.
by Lem Satterfield
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Junior attackman Chris Walsh scored twice and assisted on four other goals, Patrick Foster and DJ Rickles each contributed two goals and an assist, and Jack Rice and Eric Smith scored twice to pace Boys' Latin to Saturday's non-league, 13-10 victory over visiting DeMatha.
Walsh, coming off of Thursday's five-assists effort in a victory over Dulaney of Baltimore County, credited midfielders John Davis, RG Keenan and Justin Radebaugh for maintaing possession by winning faceoffs.
"We came out on fire early. I don't think we lost a faceoff before the first four or five times we scored. So that helped to put us out ahead, thankfully," said Walsh, whose Lakers led, 9-3, at halftime after building an 8-0, first-quarter lead.
"We kind of let them crawl back into the game again," Walsh said. "But we actually responded to it and that's a good thing, which allowed us to come out on top."
Sean Sanders, Tom Thibeault and Matt Andes also scored once, with an assist from Mike Kantz as the Lakers (8-1), ranked seventh in the DigitalSports-Maryland State Lacrosse Coaches Association Top 20, were able to maintain a safe distance ahead of the 13th-ranked Stags (4-2).
"They're [Stags] driving a long way, it's Spring Break. I dont' think they [Stags] got their legs under them until it was already 8-0," Lakers' coach Bob Shriver.
"I think we got a little selfish when it was 8-0, which is something that's easy to do," said Shriver. "But give them [Stags] a lot of credit. They hung in there and kept at us."
The Lakers were last year's runners-up in the Maryland Interscholastic
Athletic Association's A Conference, while the Stags were the
runners-up in the Washington Catholic Athletic Conference.
The Lakers prepped for next Friday's MIAA A Conference
opener opposite unbeaten third-ranked Calvert Hall. Meanwhile, the
Stags, on Tuesday, will play host to unbeaten second-ranked St. Mary's
of Annapolis.
The Lakers' Eric Tillman made 11 saves against the Stags, whose top scorers were Sean McKenna with three goals and an assist, and 6-foot-3, left-handed, North Carolina-bound attackman Ryan Kotowski, who scored three times.
The Stags' Shane Ryzner had a goal and an assist, with one goal each from J.P. Pietropaoli, Mike Smail and Mike Rogers. Mike Miller and Ryan Brant split time in the Stags' goal, with Miller making 10 saves, and Brant, nine.
The Stags were coming off of a 14-3 victory that avenged an 8-7 loss of a year ago to Severn of Anne Arundel County, an MIAA A Conference team.
But the Lakers shined, defensively, led by North Carolina-bound Charlie McComas and anchored by Tillman.
"They came out firing, so that was pretty impressive to watch. But we hung in there, stuck together as a team, and we really proved to ourselves that we really can play with the Baltimore area teams," said Kotowski.
"We have St. Mary's on Tuesday," Kotowski said. "So that's another tough Baltimore area team."
Boys' Latin 13, DeMatha 10
Goals: D- Kotowski 3, McKenna 3, Rogers, Pietropaoli, Ryzner, Smail.
B- Walsh 2, Foster 2, Rice 2, Smith 2, Rickels 2, Sanders, Thibeault, Andes.
Assists: D- McKenna, Ryzner.
B- Walsh 4, Foster, Rickels, Kantz.
Saves: D- Miller 10,
Brant 9.
B- Tillman 11.
Half: 9-3, B