Boys' Latin and Calvert Hall had a lacrosse shootout on Tuesday afternoon, and the host Cardinals were the team left standing — barely.
Timmy Kelly led No. 6 Calvert Hall with four goals and two assists while teammate Jason Brown added four goals and one assist, but the Cardinals needed to hold off a furious late comeback from No. 2 Boys' Latin to escape with a 15-14 victory in a Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association A Conference opener for both teams.
Boys' Latin (8-2, 0-1), which went unbeaten and won the conference title last year, gave longtime coach Bob Shriver his 500th win last week but the Lakers never led in this contest. Except for a brief first-quarter tie, Calvert Hall (8-1, 1-0) led the entire game, fueled by an offense that the Lakers simply couldn't stop.
"We got a ton of chances and, fortunately, we were able bury a couple," Kelly said. "Getting out ahead early also was huge. We just kept going and pushing on [offense]."
The Lakers cut the lead to one five times but never pulled even. Devin Shewell sparked their offense with five goals, and Patrick Spencer (two goals, four assists) and Luke Shilling (three goals, one assist) also pitched in.
Boys' Latin scored four extra-man goals, something that really kept the Lakers in the game, but Calvert Hall goalie Joe McSorley made 15 saves and repeatedly frustrated the Lakers.
Calvert Hall often found good scoring chances and beat Boys' Latin goalie Liam Frerichs (four saves) several times on high, hard shots. The Cardinals converted some turnovers into goals and made quick passes that often sprung Kelly, Brown or someone else for a good shot.
"We just gave too much away," Shriver said. "Bad shots are turnovers. But we showed a lot of spunk … and kept fighting back."
Calvert Hall's strong performance on offense kept forcing the Lakers to battle from behind the entire game. The Cardinals took a 4-2 lead after one and were up, 9-7, at halftime. They appeared in command when Kelly scored with 45.8 seconds left in the third quarter and followed it with another goal in the first minute of the fourth period for a 15-11 lead.
But the Cardinals didn't score again and made some questionable passes which helped the Lakers rally in the closing minutes. Shewell scored with 2:10 left and did it again 22 seconds later, cutting the Calvert Hall lead to 15-13.
The Lakers won the ensuing faceoff, and Shilling made it 15-14 by scoring off a loose ball in front with one minute left. Boys' Latin got the ball back, and Logan Wisnauskas fired a bullet wide left with 23 seconds left.
Boys' Latin had one final chance, but Davy Lizana's long heave from midfield sailed just wide of the goal as the clock ran out.
Calvert Hall coach Bryan Kelly said beating Boys' Latin is big because his team is loaded with underclassmen. He added that his defense is a work in progress and that he was happy the Cardinals held it together late and pulled out the victory.
"We're a just a very young team," Kelly said. "It was a good team effort. It's a great win. We [just] made some dumb passes later in the game. It opened the door for them."
Calvert Hall 15, Boys' Latin 14
Goals: B—Shewell 5, Shilling 3, Spencer 2, Wyler 2, Wisnauskas, Mullaly; C- T. Kelly 4, J. Brown 4, Ciccarone 2, Pearce, J. Kelly, Kinnear, Bugliosi, Mintzer. Assists: B-Spencer 4, Wisnauskas 2, Shilling; C-Glab 2, T. Kelly 2, Bugliosi 2, Peters, Fanshaw, Kinnear, J. Brown. Saves: B- Frerichs 4; C- McSorley 15. Halftime: C, 9-7.