Michael Chanenchuk (#4), of the North, scored three goals to lead his team to a 13-12 victory over the South in the Under Armour All-American boys lacrosse game at Towson University on Saturday.
Steven Rastivo, of the North, tallied nine saves including a clutch deflection with 25 seconds left to help his team hold on for the win. The Penn State University signee was named the game's MVP.
by Aaron Grayagray@digitalsports.com(See video interviews below)Steven Rastivo may have had the final save to preserve his team's one-goal victory but after the game, as he looked across the field at the other talented players, he knew there would be plenty of showdowns to come in the future.
"It's just an honor playing with these guys because they're the best of the best," said Rastivo, a Ward Melville (NY) graduate, who will play at Penn State University next year. "I know I'm probably going to have a lot of great rivalries with them in college."
Rastivo finished with nine saves but none was more important than his deflection of a low shot from Joe Cummings with 25 seconds left to help the North squad hold on for a 13-12 victory over the South in the Under Armour All-American boys lacrosse game in front of 3,236 fans at Towson University's Johnny Unitas Stadium on Saturday.
On the girls' side, the North also pulled out a thrilling
13-12 win.
Trailing by a goal, the South called a timeout with less than a minute left to plan out a possible equalizer. Rastivo, the game's MVP, knew it would come down to one possession and one shot.
"They got a few good ones on me in the fourth quarter so I knew I had to come up big," said Rastivo, who jumped for joy after he turned the shot away and his team called a timeout. "I just saw the ball come out of his stick and I got low for it."
The South jumped out to an early lead and took a 7-4 advantage into halftime. The North opened the second half on fire, scoring four straight goals including a tally off a fast break from Michael Chanenchuk (St. Anthony's, NY/Princeton) to stake a 8-7 lead with 2:46 left in the third quarter.
Chanenchuk, along with Joe Resetarits (Hamburg, NY/Albany), each tallied a hat trick for the North and paced their team in scoring.
After the North's surge in the third, the scoring went back and forth until Conrad Ridgway (LaSalle College, PA/Penn State) tallied his only goal of the game when fired a shot past Rastivo from 15 yards out to tie the game, 12-12, with 2:37 left.
Following another timeout, Tim Rommel (Henninger, NY/Rutgers) avoided a stiff check and scored a far-post goal from 12 yards out to give the North the lead for good with a mere 57 clicks left on the clock.
"It was a track meet for a little while, which was exciting," said South coach Scott "Booker" Corrigan, who has led
McDonogh to the final four of the
MIAA A Conference tournament the last three years.
"We were able to jumpstart our transition game in the first quarter and in the second half. Both goalies played unbelievable."
Andrew Wascavage (St. Mary's Ryken, MD/Towson) made himself right at home in the crease of his future college. The South goalkeeper tallied 10 saves in the second half while Steven Burke (Bullis School, MD/Johns Hopkins) finished with five. Rob Fortunato (Montclair Academy, NJ/Virginia) finished with 10 saves in the first half for the North.
The highlight of the evening for South long-pole defender Mark Staines (
Severn, MD/North Carolina) was finding the net. He scored early in the first quarter to open a 3-0 lead for his team.
"Peter Borror kind of hooked me up with that one," said Staines, who also played a little midfield for the Admirals this past season and is no stranger to scoring goals.
"The whole experience was awesome. We practiced together and got to know one another. I'm looking forward to playing against them in college."
The South team featured players from nine different states, including Florida, California and Arizona. Corrigan said it wasn't difficult getting the players on the same page.
"One thing we wanted to do was have fun in practice and allow the guys to get to know each other," he said. "They did a great job of coming together as a group and I was thrilled by some of the guys from Florida and California and those other states. I just really liked our team. The kids had a great time and they proved why they were selected to take part in this event."
Colby Wilson (Western Reserve Academy, OH/Georgetown), Jake Bernhardt (Lake Brantley, FL/Maryland) and Roy Lang (Saint Ignatius, CA/Cornell) each tallied two goals to lead a balanced offensive attack for the South. Cummings (
Loyola Blakefield, MD/Maryland) and Hunter Rogers (Brophy College Prep, AZ/Johns Hopkins) had a goal and an assist each.
North coach Skip Flannigan has an extensive coaching resume that includes stops with high school, college and at the international level.
"This was exactly what you think it would be -- every player was spectacular," he said. "To pull out the victory was great. This is win No. 280 for me and it was a wonderful way of putting the cherry on the sundae."
Robert Rotanz (Fairfield Prep, CT/Duke) tallied two goals for the North while Rommel and Francis McDonough (Garden City, NY/Georgetown) added a goal and an assist each. Michael Shakespeare (Governor's Academy, MA/Maryland) finished with two assists.
North 2 2 5 4 - 13
South 5 2 1 4 - 12
GOALS: N - Resetarits 3, Chanenchuk 3, Rotanz 2, McDonough, Rommel, Bocklet, Grimm, Cohen; S - Wilson 2, Bernhardt 2, Lang 2, Rogers, Cummings, Capretta, Ridgway, Layne, Staines. ASSISTS: N - Shakespeare 2, McDonough, Palasek, Rommel; S - Cummings, Rogers. SAVES: N - Fortunato 10, Rastivo 9; S - Wascavage 10, Burke 5. SHOTS: N - 40; S - 53. GROUND BALLS: N - 35; S - 60. FACEOFFS: N - 10; S - 19.