Boys' Latin's turnaround season is just one step away from becoming even more special after beating archrival St. Paul's for the third straight time this winter.
The 2-1 victory gives the Lakers (8-3, 6-1 Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association of Maryland B Conference) a berth in the title game with two games remaining in the regular season.
St. Paul's (5-8, 4-3) could earn its way into the final as early as next Wednesday (Jan. 24) if it handles Glenelg Country School and the Lakers top Gilman a day earlier.
If they are the opponents in the championship, fans could be treated to a well-played battle similar to Thursday's encounter that featured hard checking, crisp passing, spectacular goaltending — and only one penalty.
"They (St. Paul's) played a good, clean, disciplined game," BL coach Jim Sandusky said. "And so did we. They (the players) played hockey instead of going after each other."
Both teams came out in a fever pitch in a scoreless first period in which the goalies dominated despite being under severe duress.
St. Paul's sophomore Whit Schweizer stuffed BL sophomore forward Michael Walker to set the tone for the first 15 minutes of heated action.
Laker junior netminder Danny Murphy countered with a chest-high save on Riley Meyer to keep the Crusaders off the scoreboard, and the goalies took turns making saves after that.
In the middle period, though, Schweizer must have felt like a fish in a barrel as the Lakers launched 18 shots and scored twice.
Junior forward Brian Lichtenauer broke through first, converting a blistering feed from senior defenseman Brodie Pavo for a 1-0 advantage 43 seconds into the period.
Junior center Corey Koch went top shelf with a beautifully placed zinger near the end of the period for a 2-0 bulge.
"They have great shooters, and they always seem to get the best of me," Schweizer said humbly after his dazzling 28-save performance.
"Whit kept them in the game," Sandusky said. "We must have had four breakaways that we didn't score on, and a lot of that was because of him."
In between the BL goals, Murphy kept his shutout going when he denied a short-handed breakaway, leading to even more frustration for St. Paul's.
"We whiffed on the puck a few times," St. Paul's coach Eric Smith said. "That's a problem. We really need to work on finishing."
The Crusaders looked like they were really finished after Laker junior defenseman Devon Smith scored an empty-netter with 16 second left.
That is, until the officials correctly noted that BL was offsides, negating the goal and awarding a faceoff in the Laker zone.
From there, Sean Baker's sizzling slap shot beat Murphy to his left to halve the margin and give the Lakers a few anxious moments.
"We went from 3-0 to 2-1 in three seconds," Sandusky said, noting that the call was the right one to make.