After one day of boys lacrosse in the first Faceoff Classic at Severna Park High, it's the private schools 2, public schools 0, but barely.
Senior Marshall Feldman's fourth goal of the game with 2: 25 left in the third overtime lifted No. 7-ranked Severn over Severna Park, 8-7.
The host Falcons (0-1) had a 4-1 lead early in the game and were up 5-4 at the half before their neighbor Admirals (1-0) rallied in the second half of the second game.
In the first game, Annapolis (0-1) jumped out to a 3-0 lead on No. 6 St. Mary's before the Saints marched to a 10-4 victory with a strong second half. Junior attack Justin Mullen paced the Saints (3-0) with three goals and one assist.
The teams switch off today, with Severn playing Annapolis at 3: 15 p.m. followed by St. Mary's and Severna Park at 5: 15.
Severn's first-year coach Jamie McNealey moved Feldman from attack to midfield in the third overtime and it paid off big-time.
"We were clearing the ball, so coach put me on midfield. I took a pass and saw open space with one man in front of me and I just went to the goal," said Feldman whose left-handed shot whizzed by Falcons goalie Steve Smith.
Smith, who coach Mike Bellotte calls "the most underrated goalie in Anne Arundel County," made two spectacular saves on point-blank shots in the first four-minute overtime. He finished with 15 saves, and his counterpart, Andrew Larkin, was equally brilliant with 16 saves.
"What killed us was right before halftime when they scored two fast-break goals," said Bellotte. "But I thought overall we controlled the tempo of the game and I'm very pleased with our showing."
Falcons junior mids Starke Mueller and Paul Gillette scored two goals each and Gillette added an assist.
St. Mary's was coming off an emotional MIAA A Conference win over No. 2 Gilman on Thursday and it took a wake-up call from fired-up Annapolis to get them going in the third period.
"They out-executed us in the third quarter," said Annapolis coach John German, whose Panthers trailed 6-4 at the break and were held scoreless in the second half.
"This was no moral victory for us. We came here to win."
Junior attack Brett McConnaughhay led Annapolis with two goals.
Besides Mullen's hat trick, the Saints got two goals each from juniors Joe Thompson and Matt White.
Pub Date: 3/27/99