The noisy banter that comes from Archbishop Spalding boys lacrosse starts during warmups and doesn’t end until the final horn these days.
In Tuesday’s regular-season finale at Mount Saint Joseph, the Cavaliers were understandably a little more boisterous with an opportunity to claim second place and earn a first-round bye in the Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association A Conference playoffs. They made good on the chance with a start-to-finish performance in a 14-4 win over the Gaels.
In registering their seventh straight win, the Cavaliers (13-4) close with an 8-2 conference mark, joining No. 1 and top-seeded Boys’ Latin with a direct path to Tuesday’s semifinals.
The quarterfinal round takes place Friday. No. 3 seed McDonogh hosts No. 6 seed Loyola Blakefield, with the Cavaliers taking on the winner. No. 4 seed Calvert Hall hosts No. 5 seed Gilman with Boys’ Latin facing the winner.
Tuesday, 10 Cavaliers recorded at least one point with Gordon Bennett’s four goals and Brady Mollot’s one goal and four assists leading the attack. Faceoff specialist Ryan Criswell did his part getting the offense the ball and goalie Jacob Neuman made seven saves.
Talent aside, first-year Spalding coach Evan Hockel is quick to say it all starts with the team’s noisy support for each other.
“Honestly, I think it’s the strength of our team,” he said. “We’ve got some great players, but the strength of our team is we have cohesion and we play for one another. It’s exciting to coach it.”
Bennett took a feed from Mollot and made it 1-0 on the Cavaliers’ opening possession and off they went again. Consecutive goals from Bennett, Ethan Ostrowski and Alec Howard early in the second quarter put the visitors up 6-2 and they pulled away from there.
The Cavaliers won the ground ball battle and Neuman had the needed support defensively led by long pole Robby Hooper and defenseman Greyson Dunn.
“We always just attack the game early, get up on teams and build a comfortable lead and I felt like we’ve done that,” Criswell said. “We always try to come out firing and that’s what has really got us on this win streak.”
Under Hockel, in his first season as coach after previously serving as an assistant, the Cavaliers have made a huge leap. After not qualifying for the playoffs last season, they not only took the next step with a playoff berth, but earned a week off before the semifinals begin Tuesday at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in Annapolis.
“It feels good,” Hockel said. “The boys have worked hard all year long and so, obviously, we’ve got another game to play and we’re super excited about that. That’s what we’re focused on right now. We’re certainly proud of their effort throughout the whole season.”
Mount Saint Joseph got two goals from Joey Fantinato and eight saves from goalie Charlie Weisman. The Gaels (5-9) finish the season with a 2-8 conference mark.
Coach Tyler Reid praised his senior group and sees better days ahead for the program.
“Our guys compete and they battle and we’re right there making some really good strides as a program,” he said. “Our junior varsity team just made the playoffs for the very first time as a program, so it’s pretty cool to see the growth throughout and those are the next guys that are going to be up here at the varsity level. Playing against the best teams in the country week in and week out — it’s not easy, but at the same time our guys love it and want to compete at that level.”
Arch. Spalding — 3-4-1-6 — 14
Mount St. Joseph — 2-1-1-0 — 4
Goals: AS — Bennett 4, Klessinger 2, Howard 2, Mollot, Wilbur, Matassa, Newell; Ostrowski, Coffman; MSJ — Fantinato 2, Craney, Superczynski
Assists: AS — Mollot 4, Wilbur, Matassa, Moss 2, Howard; MSJ — Craney
Saves: AS — Neuman ;7, Wardell 1; MSJ — Weisman 8
