HOME COOKING: Archbishop Spalding coach Zack Burke (left), shown with his wife and two young boys, won two big games at the Cavaliers' home field against two-time MIAA A Conference champion Loyola and traditional league power Boys' Latin during a season which ends with his being named Coach of The Year by DigitalSports.
*Team represents Baltimore metro area
All-DigitalSports Boys' Lacrosse Co-Player of the Year
Tyler Fiorito, McDonogh
The 6-foot-1, 200-pound Fiorito anchored the Eagles to the Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association's A Conference semifinals, this while allowing, on average, only slightly more than six goals per game.
With Fiorito in the goal, the Eagles finished at 16-6 on the season, which ended with a 6-4 loss to high-scoring MIAA A Conference runner-up Gilman, a team Fiorito held to its season-low scoring total.
Fiorito, who will play for the U.S. Under-19 Team this summer, made 15 stops in an overtime, 6-5 quarterfinal playoff victorty over St. Mary's, and had 293 saves on the year.
Fiorito was named the winner of the Timothy Wynne Award which is given to the goalie who is considered the state's best.
Playing behind defenders, KC Woods, Tyler Goldberg and Matt Hart, as well as senior midfielder Brian Hess, long pole defender Sam Ford and junior midfielder Curtis Holmes, Fiorito played with a confidence and determination that made him the most feared goalie in the state.
"No one was looking forward to playing McDonogh because of Tyler Fiorito," said Calvert Hall coach Bryan Kelly, whose Cardinals were held to a season-low by Fiorito in their 5-2 victory over the Eagles. "He was that good."
Only once, in a 12-9 loss to Boys' Latin, did Fiorito allow a team to score in double figures. Only twice more did rival squads score as many as nine times against Fiorito. And only once did another team scores as many as eight goals.
The Princeton-bound senior became the first goalie since 1986 to win the overall C Markland Kelly Award, which is annually bestowed by the Maryland State Lacrosse Coaches' Assocation upon the player considered to be the state's best.
All-DigitalSports Boys' Lacrosse Co-Player of the Year
Steele Stanwick, Loyola
Click here for Steele Stanwick on The Only Game In Town
The Virginia-bound attackman scored 39 goals and assisted on 31 others to pace the Dons to their second consecutive Maryland Interscholstic Athletic Association A Conference title.
What makes Stanwick's effort even more incredible is the fact that the senior did so while always drawing the rival team's No. 1 defender, if not a double- or triple-team.
During the second half of the season, Stanwick, who has 231 career points, had to overcome broken and disclocated thumb injury suffered in his right hand.
Yet even with the injury, Stanwick was, nevertheless, able to score the last three goals -- culminating with the game-winner -- in a double-overtime, 10-9, semifinal victory over their rival Calvert Hall Cardinals.
The score of the Dons' victory over the Cardinals was identical to their earlier game, one in hich Stanwick scored three times with two assists.
"Steele is just a special player. Look at his body of work. Back to back championships. I mean, he can just do it all," said Cardinals' coach Bryan Kelly of Stanwick, who scored the game-winners in 6-5 victories over league rivals St. Mary's and McDonogh.
"After we lost to Loyola the second time, I came home, turned on the television and I saw Kobi Bryant, and I thought, 'Steele is like Kobi Bryant,'" Kelly said. "He's LeBron James. He's the kind of guy who, when they need him, he makes it happen. I'm very happy to see him graduate."
All-DigitalSports Boys' Lacrosse Coach of the Year
Zack Burke,
Archbishop Spalding
A former captain as a senior defender on the St. Mary's squad which went unbeaten and won an MIAA A Conference title in 1996, Burke guided the Cavaliers to their first-ever A Conference tournament playoffs during his first season.
The Cavaliers, who joined the A Conference in 2003, posted a 9-8 overall record that included a 5-5 mark in the league. Their .500 record qualified the Cavaliers for the MIAA A Conference playoffs after having won only one conference game a year earlier.
The Cavaliers ended the year ranked ninth in the DigitalSports Top 20 poll, having vanquished traditional league powers Boys' Latin, Severn and Loyola -- the latter of which bounced back to win its second straight league tournament crown.
"None of my seniors had played the game as team -- only as individuals -- until they were hown how to play together. That is the reason I took this job," said Burke, who, a year earlier, had guided the Cavaliers' junior varsity team to a 12-5 record after having gone winless the year before.
"As the JV coach, I saw how much talent Spalding had walking around in its halls. I thought I could make them winners if I could teach them how to play together," Burke said. "They figured it out halfway through the season, and really took their game to the next level as a team. I just wish I could coach them [seniors] for a little bit longer."
Five of the Cavaliers' top six scorers will return for the Cavaliers next season, Burke said.
"I feel great about our team next year. There is not just a buzz at Spalding, but a feeling belief, knowing and doing. For the first time ever, our guys did not want the season to end. They they want more and more and more," Burke said.
"They are all playing club, with some of them even being on two teams. They are all working out and are all believing that every weight they lift, every mile they run, and every ball they throw contributes to their being better players," Burke said. "Many programs take a break at the end of the season, but it seems like the 2009 lacrosse season already has started the day after our last game."
Burke said the Cavaliers have a desire to be the best, and that "we have never had that attitude before. I can't wait to point them in the right direction watch them go."
Among the players who will return for Archbishop Spalding are:
Kevin Cooper, Jr., midfielder (committed to Maryland)
Mike Poiter, Jr., attackman (second-leading scorer this year)
Brian Cooper, Soph., midfielder (27 points)
Matt Burke, Jr., attackman (32 Goals)
Andrew Scalley, Jr., attackman (35 points)
Matt King, Jr., faceoff midfielder
Jared Carrier, Soph., defender (started as a sophomore)
2008 All-DigitalSports Boys' Lacrosse Team
First Team
ATTACKMEN
Joe Cummings, Loyola, Sr.
Davey Emala, Gilman, Jr.
Marcus Holman, Gilman, Jr.
Sean Maguire, Calvert Hall, Sr.
Trey Hilberg, Hereford, Sr.
Matt Lamon, St. Mary's, Sr.
Matt Reymann, Catonsville, Sr.
Steele Stanwick, Loyola, Sr.
MIDFIELDERS
Greg McBride, Gilman, Jr.
Jack Doyle, Gilman, Jr.
Patrick Fanshaw, Calvert Hall, Jr.
Jason McFadden, Calvert Hall, Jr.
Jay Mann, Dulaney, Sr.
Rich May, Archbishop Spalding, Sr.
Peter Smyth, St. Paul's, Sr.
DEFENDERS
Greg Anderson, Urbana, Sr.
Joe Bonanni, St. Mary's, Sr.
Joe Ehrmann, Gilman, Sr.
Chris Lightner, Calvert Hall, Jr.
Charlie McComas, Boys' Latin, Sr.
Mark Staines, Severn, Sr.
KC Woods, McDonogh, Sr.
GOALIES
Tyler Fiorito, McDonogh, Sr.
MJ Leonard, Loyola, Sr.
Jon Selfridge, Glenelg, Sr.
Click here for Jon Selfridge, Glenelg vs. Archbishop Spalding
Second Team
Chad Benford, Walkersville, Sr., attack
Brandon Capaletti, Archbishop Curley, Sr., attack
Harrison Chaires, Centennial, Jr., attack
Ben Cohee, Catonsville, Sr., attack
Chris Gotschall, Glenelg, Sr., attack
Adam Johnston, St. Paul's, Sr., attack
Sam Jones, Severna Park, Sr., attack
Cody Lehrer, Dulaney, Sr., attack
Dave Nesbit, Sr., Cardinal Gibbons, attack
Brendan Oster, Urbana, Sr., attack
Luke Raab, Fallston, Sr., attack
Marc Saxton, Mount Hebron, Sr., attack
Kevin Cooper, Archbishop Spalding, Jr., midfielder
Travis Crane, Eastern Tech, Sr., midfielder
Mark Feild, Boys' Latin, Sr., midfielder
Brian Hess, McDonogh, Sr., midfielder
Curtis Holmes, McDonogh, Jr., midfielder
Dan Incontrera, Marriotts Ridge, Sr., midfielder
Dan Mruk, Westminster, Sr., midfielder
Tyler Brown, Hereford, Sr., defender
Shane Casey, Mount St. Joseph, Sr., defender
Mike McCabe, Glenelg, Sr., defender
Harry Prevas, Gilman, Jr., defender
Tommy Whitlock, Wootton, Sr., defender
Brett Zebeck, John Carroll, Sr., defender
Andrew Gvozden, Severna Park, Sr., goalie
Alex Plavner, Severn, Sr., goalie