HARD DAY'S WORK: Dulaney's faceoff specialist, Mike Roe (above) won a key draw that led to an assist on the Lions' 14th goal by Kevin Tignall in Wednesday's come-from-behind, 15-12, Class 4A-3A South Regional championship win over visiting Baltimore County rival Catonsville.
THE MANN: Dulaney's Jay Mann (No. 30, above) had two assists and scored his third goal with 20 seconds left in Wednesday's 15-12 victory over Catonsville in the Class 4A-3A South Regional championship game.
by Lem Satterfield
(See video highlights and interviews below)
Spencer Martin had high aspirations for this, his senior year as a member of the Dulaney boys lacrosse team.
But only a couple of weeks into the season, those hopes were nearly dashed.
"I broke my arm when we played St. Mary's Ryken and Broadneck in a tournament at thebeginning of the season. And I missed all the way up to the Friends' game, which was my first game back," said Martin, referring to the a contest that was the Lions' ninth of the year.
During Wednesday's Class 4A-3A South Regional title game opposite visiting Baltimore County rival Catonsville, Martin wore a Dulaney uniform for only the ninth time.
And the attackman wore it well.
Martin scored three times and assisted on four assists for a game-high seven points against the Comets, pacing the Lions to a come-from-behind, 15-12 victory that earns a berth into this weekend's Class 4A-3A state semifinals against Wootton (16-1) of Montgomery County.
Wootton went 18-1 and finished as last year's Class 4A-3A state runner-up to Severna Park of Anne Arundel County, this, following a semifinal win over the Lions that made the Patriots the first lacrosse team from Montgomery County, boys or girls, to reach a state title game.
"They beat us last year in the state semifinals, so, we'd like to get to that state championship game, which is always Dulaneys' goal," said second-year Lions' coach Jake Reed of the Patriots, who have out-scored their rivals by an average of 12-to-3 during their present unbeaten run of 16 consecutive games.
"We didn't overlook them last year, but I think they out-worked us," Reed said. "So we've got to make sure that they don't out-work us this year."
Martin was coming off of Tuesday's three-goal, eight-assist effort in a 21-1 semifinal win over Aberdeen of Harford County.
And against the Comets, Martin was consistent from the beginning of the game to the end, in helping Lions to turn a 5-3, first-quarter deficit into a lead of 10-5, late in the third quarter.
Martin had assists on the Lions' first, sixth and 12th goals, the latter, by Kevin Tignall (three goals), for a lead of, 12-6, with 10:29 to play.
Martin also made the feed on the game's final score by Jay Mann (three goals, two assists) with 20 seconds remaining, this after the Comets had out-scored the Lions, 7-2, to make it a two-goal game with 2:36 on the clock.
Cody Lehrer and Brad Ruzicka scored twice each, faceoff specialist Mike Roe had a goal and an assist, Alex Peddicord scored once, and Kenny Naylor had an assist for the Lions.
"It's not just me, it's the whole team. We've all be playing very well in the playoffs," said Martin, who scored the Lions' second, fourth and ninth goals, the last two, during the critical run of seven unanswered scores by Dulaney.
"Cody and Tignall, we've been playing together for a while. I see them well," Martin said. "They know what's coming when I come around, and I know what's coming when they come around. We know each other pretty well, and we play well together."
The win was the Lions' third over a Comets' squad many considered to be the best in their program's history, having returned eight starters from a team that had gone 13-4 and reached last year's Class 3A-2A Regional final before losing to eventual state runner-up Fallston of Harford County.
On Wednesday, Ben Cohee (one goal, five assists), Nikko Gurnsey (three, one), Matt Reymann (three goals), and, with two goals each, Skippy Clary and Micah Powell, led the Comets, who were at 1-3, following a 9-5 loss to the visiting Lions on April 4.
But when the teams met again, on May 6 for the Baltimore County championship game, the Comets had won nine consecutive games, and appeared to be at their peak.
The Lions, however, were successful, yet again, winning that one, 9-6.
"You've got to give Catonsville all of the credit in the world. They're a great team, and you've got to just take your hat off to them, but we just played our butts off, and we're glad we were able to beat them three times," said Mann, whose midfield running mate, senior Eric Keppeler, an All-American, has been injured throughout most of the sesaon.
"We never took them lightly, but it was kind of nerve-wracking, because they played their butts off and they came back," Mann said. "But then, we really dug in, and we were able to take care of business in the end."
On Tuesday, the Comets had to outlast C. Milton Wright of Harford County, 14-13, winning a game that had been tied at 8-8, at halftime.
"That's [beating a team three times in a year] really hard, especially against a team like Catonsville. You've got to give them all of the credit in the world. They had a tough game yesterday, we had a little bit of a breather, but they came out and they played really, really hard, we played really hard, but it was a game of runs," said Reed, a Dulaney graduate whose alma mater has won seven Class 4A-3A state titles.
"They went up on us, we came back, went up on them. Our defense did a great job in the third quarter, and then they came roaring back in the fourth, and we kind of stepped it up a notch and we were able to win by [three,] said Reed, who stood on the Dulaney field with the scoreboard still reading, 15-12, in favor of his Lions.
"But it was a great lacrosse game with two teams really, really working hard," said Reed, reditng the defensive work of senior defender Patch Ronald on the Comets' play-making Cohee, junior defender Mackey Scanlan on Reymann, and the defense, in general, against Clary, a dangerous faceoff midfielder.
"Patch did a really good job on Cohee. He didn't really let him get to the goal, but I don't know how many assists [Cohee] had. Mackey did a great job on their lefty shooter, and we were trying to slide early on Skippy Clary," said Reed, who got 10 saves from keeper Alex Williamson.
"A couple of times, we weren't in the right spots, especially unsettled," Reed said. "They were very good, unsettled. So we've got to work on that."
The Lions led, 1-0, following a goal by Ruzicka off of a pass from Martin at 9:09 of the first quarter.
But the Comets were up, 2-1, on consecutive scores by Gurnsey and Cohee, the latter, off of a feed from senior defender Matt Everhart.
Martin's unassisted goal tied the game at 2.
But after a big save from the Comets' sophomore Nick Gallina (five saves) while his team was down a man, Catonsville responded for a lead of 4-2 three minutes prior to the second quarter with Powell converting off of passes from Cohee each time.
"Early on in the game, we had some mental lapses, and we weren't really working together," said Ronald. "The middies weren't cooperating well with the close defenseman. But later on, we started talking."
Roe, for example, played well, down the stretch, winning a faceoff and taking it into the Comets' defense, where he found Tignall, who faked high and shot low to make it, 14-11, Lions, with three minutes to play.
"They were on a roll. They had a couple, if not, three or four goals in a row. And they had the momentum, and we needed a faceoff, and I got it. It just seemed like we really needed possession back, and we needed control of the game," said Roe, a senior.
"I felt the most comfortable with the ball in my stick at that moment. I had a short pole on me, and I knew that I could kind of manipulate the play. I did just that, and beat my man, and their crease guy slid, and Tignall was wide-open on the crease," Roe said.
"But I was just looking at the clock. I was thinking, 'this can't go any slower.' I was so tired. This was a great game, and they're a great team. Playing them three times in a row and beating them three times in a row is quite a feat," Roe said. "They had a great season, and we're just hoping to get into states and win it this year."
Class 4A-3A South Region boys
Dulaney 15, Catonsville 12
Catonsville 5 0 1 6 12
Dulaney 3 4 4 4 15
Goals: D- Martin 3, Mann 3, Tignall 3, Lehrer 2, Ruzicka 2, Roe, Peddicord. C- Reymann 3, Gurnsey 3, Clary 2, Powell 2, Sommer, Cohee. Assists: D- Martin 4, Mann 2, Roe, Naylor. C- Cohee 5, Gurnsey, Everhart.
Half: 7-5, D