Glenelg Country boys lacrosse got six goals from Wyatt Naylor and overcame a sluggish start to beat Friends School, 14-10, in a Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association B Conference tilt Friday.
"Today was senior day and we were really focused with this positioning in our conference," said Dragons coach Al Hernandez. "We're No. 2 and that's huge for us going into a game against John Carroll. This earns us a bye in the playoffs so we definitely came into this knowing we needed to do this. This is a big win for us."
The Quakers jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first three minutes of the first quarter, but Glenelg Country answered and outscored them 6-4 the rest of the first half to cut the deficit to one at half.
At 9-9 early in the fourth, the Dragons scored five straight goals, including four straight by Naylor, to pull away.
"At halftime we really talked about our adjustment with their zone," Hernandez said. "We know we have a guy (Naylor) who is able to put multiple goals in rather quickly, especially when he's shooting well, and he was able to do that. He's given us that spark throughout the year and he delivered right on cue."
Hernandez said the slow start was a result of a lack of communication on defense, but once they fixed it they started to dominate possession with Sean Escalante and Reid Chaconas taking the face-offs. The pair combined to win all five draws in the third quarter, which saw the Dragons outscore Friends 3-1, and 16 of 28 total.
"To have Reid Chaconas and Sean Escalante take all of our draws all year long, they realized it was senior day and they weren't satisfied with the first quarter," Hernandez said. "They stepped up and their performance at the dot was tremendous."
Glenelg Country trailed most of the first half, but tied the game just before the break on a great individual play by Chaconas (two goals, two assists). He stick-checked an attackman, scooped up the loose ball and took it 60 yards to goal and scored to tie the game at 6 despite being a man down.
Chaconas tied the game at 7 with a goal to start the second half and Glenelg Country dominated the rest of the way, outscoring the Quakers 8-3 in the final 24 minutes of play.
One of the biggest reasons the Dragons got back in the game, though, was because of numerous penalties on Friends. Glenelg Country scored three goals in the second half on the extra-man offense and took 10 shots to the Quakers' five in the final period.
"We took stupid penalties and we were in the box the whole second half. You can't win a game like that. We gave it to them," said Quakers coach Tom Marechek. "We gave up easy shots in front of the crease (to Naylor), we doubled behind the goal. Our defense didn't play smart and we started not shooting well. That's probably the biggest keys."
Hernandez said that while Friends was committing several penalties, it was key for his extra-man unit to capitalize, something it hasn't been doing very well this season. He said the guys are starting to get a rhythm just in time because "you want it working best at the end of the season heading into the playoffs."
Aside from the penalties, Glenelg Country was notably unselfish during its fourth-quarter run. Each of Naylor's final four goals were assisted and by four different players – Escalante (one assist), Mikey Welsh (two goals, two assists), Riley Schmidt (two goals, one assist) and Cameron Martin (two goals, one assist).
"We've looked at the scorebook at the end of a lot of games and stressed humility – sharing the ball and selfless play," Hernandez said. "... I'm very proud of that. The boys have really distributed the ball well."
Marechek, who was head coach at Glenelg Country for 15 years before spending the last five seasons leading Friends, also noted that Dragons goalie BJ Borowski played very well and frustrated shooters, especially in the second half. But ultimately, he said, his team lost the ground ball battle and took too many penalties in the second half to win the game.
"I told the guys on the bus this was a huge game," he said. "... This is not a good loss. We played terrible defense in the second half and they were man-up most of the time."
The Dragons finish their MIAA B Conference schedule at first-place John Carroll on Tuesday before the postseason begins, while Friends hosts Saint Peter's and Paul.
Glenelg Country (6-1 MIAA B, 8-5 overall) – 14, Friends (4-3 MIAA B, 6-5) – 10
Goals: GCS – Wyatt Naylor 6, Mikey Welsh 2, Riley Schmidt 2, Cameron Martin 2, Reid Chaconas 2; F – Skyler Kessenich 3, Patrick Linehan 2, Will Mortimer 2, Dakota Allis, Will Katzen, Tyler Badie
Assists: GCS – Chaconas 2, M. Welsh 2, Naylor, Sean Escalante, Schmidt, Martin; F – Linehan, Kessenich, Jonah Haas
Saves: GCS – BJ Borowski 9; F – Dawson Bordick 8
Halftime: 7-6, Friends