Even with its two-best players, the odds were stacked against Glenelg Country School's bid to upset Boys' Latin in a Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association of Maryland B Conference match on Thursday afternoon.
Without star defensemen Bailey Moore and Will Seiferth, who missed the game because of a commitment to their club team, the first-year varsity Dragons (1-2-2) didn't have a chance against the Lakers (4-1) in what turned out to be a 9-1 rout at the Mount Pleasant Ice Arena.
Yet if any team knows what it feels like to be on the receiving end of a drubbing, it's Boys' Latin, which did not win a game in the A Conference last winter.
This season, in the four-team B Conference, BL has already beaten conference rivals Gilman, Glenelg Country School and St. Paul's while gearing up for another showdown with the archrival Crusaders on Friday at the Patterson Park Ice Rink (5 p.m.).
A win in that match would give the Lakers the inside track to a championship game berth next month.
"We got all of our guys in and we played well," Boys' Latin coach Jim Sandusky said after dispatching the Dragons.
Sandusky noted that he was able to change defensive tactics because of Moore's and Seiferth's absence, allowing him to liberally employ his bench in hopes of having fresher legs for the impending tussle against St. Paul's.
He also added that his hand was somewhat forced to make moves because senior defender Brodie Pavo and junior center Corey Koch each had to sit out for 10-minute stretches for not using their mouth guards properly.
Nevertheless, the outcome was never in doubt after the Lakers lit the lamp four times in the opening period, bombarding freshman netminder Elliott Warrington, whose seven saves in the period kept the score close.
He and the Dragons fared better in the middle period, holding the Lakers scoreless for 14:57 until junior forward Aaron Leeds solved the rookie for a 5-0 advantage.
Warrington may have been his best in the final period, recording 13 saves and yielding only two goals before Koch rifled in a pretty shot on a breakaway with two teammates in the penalty box.
Prior to that short-handed goal, the Dragons converted on a power play when sophomore Scott Desten ripped in a rebound past freshman Joey Celentano, who relieved junior starter Danny Murphy at the beginning of the period.
"We're a new varsity program," Glenelg coach Kevin Macaluso said. "Our kids are having a blast just being out there. We went undefeated (as a junior varsity program) last year, and our kids are just learning what it's like to lose. Still, at our home games on Friday nights (at the Laurel Ice Gardens), the place is packed. And that's pretty good for a school that has basketball as its main winter sport."
Scoring summary:
Glenelg goal-Scott Destan
Glenelg assist-N/A
Glenelg saves-Elliott Warrington, 30
Boys' Latin goals-Jack Parriott, 1; Corey Koch, 1; Arron Leeds, 2; Karlo Picinini, 1; Brian Lichtenauer, 2; Brodie Pavo, 1; James Weisman, 1
Boys' Latin assists-Parriott, 1; Koch, 2; Weisman, 1; Colton Haugh, 1; Devon Smith, 1; Bradley Schwartz, 1; Brendan Owens, 1; Lichtenauer, 1; Maxx Lownenstein, 2; Michael Walker, 2
Boys' Latin saves-Danny Murphy, 10; Joey Celentano, 1