The smoke screen has been lifted at Severna Park.
"I can't make claims about us being young and inexperienced anymore," said Falcons boys lacrosse coach Ed Ulrich. "After a couple years, you have to pay the piper."
Ulrich also said what most of the other coaches in the county already suspected -- "We're loaded."
Severna Park is widely regarded as the county's top public school entry this season, and for good reason. The Falcons graduated only a couple of players from a team that won nine games and barely missed the playoffs. And most of the guys who return are exceptional.
"I'm scared to death of Ed, because Severna Park has all kinds of speed and scoring punch," said Broadneck coach Clay White. "But we haven't beaten Annapolis in the last two years, and until we get that off our backs, they are the team to beat. Isee it being Severna Park and Annapolis Nos. 1 and 2, with us trailing. But I think everyone is improved."
The coaches agree that the new post-season format is improved. The state has increased the number of teams making the playoffs in the 4A-3A and 2A-1A classificationsfrom eight to 16, with a regional tournament and state final four.
"Anne Arundel County lacrosse is on the upswing," White said. "It should be exciting."
Among the county's private schools, Rob White returns as coach at Severn after a one-year absence, and his Admiralsare expected to make a strong run at the Maryland Scholastic Association A Conference title. St. Mary's was the MSA A Conference runner-up last year.
The following is a look at the 1992 season, which begins today:
Public schools
Anyone trying to find a weakness on the Severna Park team eventually should tire.
The attack is led by senior Mike Crawford (17 goals, 33 assists), but he's not the only threat, not with seniors Bob Evans and Scott deGraffenreid also on the field.
The midfield is deep and experienced, too. And defensively,the Falcons boast seniors Jay Gibbs, Nick Panagopoulos, Jason Campbell and Justin Perry, and junior keeper Matt Pugh.
As if they needed more help, junior midfielder David Livingston "arrived on our doorstep from Arundel," Ulrich said. He led the Wildcats in scoring last season.
The veteran coach is comfortable with the notion that his Falcons are the team to beat this year.
"I don't mind being the front-runner as long as I have the horses to keep us in front," he said."I don't want to be one if there's no real reason. But there's a reason."
There's a reason members of the Broadneck team expect to make the playoffs -- the Bruins have done so five of the last six seasons, and this group is rich in talent.
Leading scorers Steve Bruso (25 goals, 14 assists) and Mike Strohman (21, six) are back to anchor the midfield, the team's strongest position. They join fellow seniorsJohn Hanna (12, two) and Mike Fellona (nine goals).
Senior attackman Greg Jackson (14, 10) also returns, another reason White expects improvement in his offense from last season. "Hopefully, we've matured and grown up in that area," he said.
The only potential snag is a young defensive unit that White called "a question mark." But he also said that with junior Sam Peterson starting in the nets and sophomore Matt Lyttle serving as a backup, "we may be the strongest we've ever been in goal."
Annapolis coach Dan Hart has come up with a newslogan for his team -- "Hitting for the Cycle."
"In 1989 we went to the state quarterfinals, in 1990 we went all the way to the finalsand lost, in 1991 we went to the semis and lost to North County, so this year we want to knock it out of the ballpark by winning the whole thing," said Hart, who has gone 31-13 in his three years at Annapolis.
Hart's club is led by senior offensive spark plugs Dan Flynn (37 goals, 14 assists) -- a first-team All-County selection -- and JonSongey (25, 10), and junior Mike Fraioli (11, four).
The defense returns Brendan Bellotte, Jim Reed, Craig Harrison and Jack Copus. Senior Tony Knight, who Hart calls "battle-tested," has earned the starting job in goal.
The entire team will be battle-tested after opening against Broadneck, North County, Arundel, Severna Park and Southern. "If we can go 4-1, or even 3-2, after our first five games, I think we'll be in pretty good shape for the rest of the year," Hart said.
Class 4A-3A state runner-up North County returns just four starters -- midfielders Andy Ross (13 goals, 10 assists) and Shawn Moyer and attackmen Greg Sabo (15, 15) and Andy Mocharsky (five, 11) -- and Coach Paul Shea knows county rivals are licking their chops.
In addition, eight of the last 10 teams coached by Shea and assistant Jon Appelt have made the playoffs, six have reached the final four, and four have been state finalists.
"Moyer, Sabo and Ross have played on two state finalist teams, so they're the leaders, but I don't expect them to carry the weight of the team on their shoulders and try to do it all," said Shea, whose last two teams -- including Andover two seasons ago -- are a combined 22-4.
"We've been on top a lot, so you know teams are looking to knock us off."
For South River, whichreturns eight starters from last year's 8-4 squad, offense isn't going to be a problem. The Seahawks have their full attack unit back: Matt Czoka (22 goals, 37 assists), Kevin Collison (12, 10) and Adam Cizek (seven, one), plus midfielders Chris Messineo (11, 17) and Jake Cameron (three, nine).
Defenders Trevor Perkins and Chris Asher alsoare back, and they'll help protect first-time starting keeper Jon Jacquet.
"There's a lot more talent out there this year, and our kids are going to have to work hard to stay with it," said 15th-year coach Greg Carroll. "It just depends on how far they want to go."
If Northeast is going anywhere beyond its 3-9 season of a year ago, Coach Kevin Buckley says his four-year starting goalkeeper, Steve Gorski (.714 save percentage), will have to be the key.
"I think he's just about one of the best around," said Buckley, whose defense also returns three-year veteran Bob Armbuster, Jason Stacy, George Sank and Mike Sheffield.
The midfielders are seniors Dave Fronckowski and Charles Hoffman and juniors Steve Louck, Pat Rucker and faceoff specialist Alan Grunder.
"Our offense is going to have to start from our defensive end," Buckley said. "Seven of our games were really close last year, so we know we need to get the ball in the net."
Arundel,which narrowly missed the 4A-3A playoffs last season, will count heavily on its defense.
"Hopefully, it will wind up generating a lot of offense for us," said Wildcats 16th-year coach Clint Gosnell.
Justin Frye and John Sporer are among the Wildcats hoping to fill the void left by Livingston's departure.
And speaking of departures, Meade must rebound from the loss of goalie Fred Powell, who moved on to Catonsville Community College.
On offense, senior attackmen Carlos Acaron (team-leading 22 goals) and Mike Hertz (18 goals, 18 assists) will lead the Mustangs into a stacked 4A field.
"Our main drawback is that we don't have the depth that other teams have," said Meade coach Lou Norbeck. "Some teams cut their teams in half, but if you cut at Meade, you bleed."
Coach Jon Braun's Southern team returns 11 players, including seven starters and the entire defensive and attack units, so he has plenty of reason to be excited.
But the first-year coach also has reason to be cautious, since one key player already has been injured, and beyond the first 13 or so athletes, the reserves have little varsity experience.
"We're a 2A school, but to make our playoffs we've got to be competitive with the larger schools," Braun said. "We played close with everyone last year, but this yearwe've got to step up even more. We've got to beat some of the big boys."
Chesapeake has a couple of big-time players in senior attackmen Dean Coccia and Ron McKenzie and junior Dave Wheelock. But the defense was hit hard by graduation.
"We've got three pretty good attackmen and a good offensive midfielder in Steve Kopp, but we're just not doing the job on defense," said Cougars coach Bob Connor, whose team went 6-8 last year.
Senior keeper Dan Scott will have to get off to a fast start and hope the defense catches up.
Old Mill coach Bruce Lawton thinks his defense -- led by seniors John Bliss and JoshLong -- could rate among the best in the county, but there's a flip side.
"Offensively, we need some work," he said.
Two starting attackmen are back in senior Mark Zaetz and sophomore Mike Majoros, but the midfield lost "some key people," Lawton said. Senior keeper Scott Wolfe, who split time with the departed Brian Shaver last year, will see the bulk of the action this spring.
"Our goal is the playoffs, to have a good enough record and to earn enough points," said Lawton, whose team went 4-10 last year. "It'll be tough, because the 4A League in our county is very competitive. But that's our goal."
Talk of the playoffs can't be heard in Glen Burnie, which is coming offa 2-10 season and the loss of seven starters. Instead, Gophers coachTony Werner speaks of laying the groundwork for a better 1993.
He's looking to junior goalie Phil Lawall to anchor a defense that consists of players up from the junior varsity, with the exception of senior Manny Perez. Midfielder Mike Kubik is the only other senior on the roster.
Private schools
With 15 seniors on its roster and veteran coach Rob White back at the helm, Severn appears the favorite among the county's private schools.
The Admirals, who went 4-6 last year in the rugged Maryland Scholastic Association A Conference, are loaded and looking to earn one of the four coveted playoff berths.
"We have pretty good balance up and down the field, where in the past, we usually had to depend on one facet of the game," said White, anArmy reservist who missed last season after being called to active duty.
"For us to be competitive, we have to have a balance between our attack and midfield, as well at goalie."
Jason Wade (44 goals,28 assists) returns at attack, along with T. D. Albright, Jason Hurst and Dudley Dixon.
The midfield is led by third-year starter Milford Marchant, a senior coming off a 27-goal, 19-assist season. He's joined by seniors Jason Moran, Duncan Slidell and Todd Muendell.
The Admirals' defense includes one of the state's best goalies in senior Court Durling.
St. Mary's lost a ton of talent to graduation andwill be hard-pressed to return to the playoffs, let alone the conference championship.
The Saints, who dropped a 9-8 heart-breaker to St. Paul's in last year's A Conference final, will try to operate without four blue-chippers who are at Division I programs.
Senior midfielders Eamon McCormick and Kevin Reichardt are the Saints' lone returnees on offense, but Coach Jim Moorhead isn't conceding the season just yet.
"I stopped looking too far ahead," he said. "I'll lose my mind if I sit down and try and figure how we're going to do this season. Right now, I'm just looking at our first game March 27, when weplay Mount St. Joe."
Archbishop Spalding second-year coach Terry Mangan is hoping his defense will bring the Cavaliers some respect inthe MSA BB Conference.
The Cavaliers return leading scorer Dan Wolfe (17 goals, five assists) and a veteran group of long stickmen.
"Our team goal is to win the conference, but with such great parity it will be tough," Mangan said. "We should be in every game. If we can win a couple and steal a couple, we should be in good shape.
"We'll hit some peaks and valleys this season, but as soon as we as we stop believing in ourselves, we're finished."