Shortly after the No. 2 Boys' Latin lacrosse team finished a stellar fourth quarter and 13-11 home win over No. 1 Loyola Blakefield, longtime Lakers coach Bob Shriver addressed his team as only he could.
He brought up the mistakes that shouldn't have happened and can't happen again. Then he lauded his players for staying the course and showing the heart that proved to be the difference.
It was a special win for the Lakers, who pushed the front-running Dons into a four-way tie for first place in the Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association A Conference (6-2 in league play) with one last regular-season game Tuesday.
It was a special day for the senior class, which played its final regular-season game at J. Duncan Smith Field. And for Shriver, who is stepping down after 36 years, it was a special way to close out his final regular-season home game.
"The emotions were in the game," Shriver said. "It was knock-down, drag-out [play]. And it was pretty emotional, just from a playing perspective. I told the kids that in my career at BL, that BL and Loyola, I think it's safe to say, we have the best overall won-loss records. So the BL-Loyola games have been like this for as long as I can remember, and this was no different."
On Friday, neither team could build more than a two-goal lead. Loyola (9-3) took a 10-9 lead into the fourth quarter, but the Lakers (14-3) dug in when needed in the fourth quarter. They won the battles for ground balls, got good work from faceoff specialist Jake Glatz and made the most of their key possessions.
Brendan Mullally tied the game early in the fourth quarter, and Devin Shewell and Logan Wisnauskas added goals that gave Boys' Latin a 12-10 lead with 3:57 to play. After Loyola's Ryan Conrad cut the lead to 12-11 with 2:26 to play, the Lakers were quick to answer. Anthony Wyler picked up the ground ball on the ensuing faceoff and scored eight seconds after Conrad's goal to close out the scoring.
Shewell finished with four goals and an assist, Patrick Spencer had three goals and three assists, and goalie Jack Pezzulla made 13 saves.
"It feels incredible," Spencer said. "Everybody always wants to go out with a win on their last home game, and doing it with Coach Shriver going out makes it that much more special. It was awesome."
The Dons, who got three goals and an assist from Conrad, had a chance to wrap up first place Friday, but their second straight loss tied them with the Lakers, St. Paul's and McDonogh. On Tuesday, Loyola will host Calvert Hall, Boys' Latin travels to St. Paul's, and McDonogh welcomes Gilman. Calvert Hall and Gilman are battling for one of the six playoff spots.
Loyola coach Jack Crawford credited the Lakers with making the most of their opportunities, and he said his team was efficient enough throughout the game to come away with a win. The MIAA's top two teams will earn quarterfinal-round byes, which has Crawford already thinking about Tuesday's game against Calvert Hall.
"Our focus, like everybody else, is getting prepared for that one last game so that you can put yourself in the best possible situation going into the playoffs. We're going to turn around and start doing that right now," he said.