The crowd at McDonogh went almost silent while midfielder Danny O'Connell lay on the ground for several minutes during the second quarter on Sunday. O'Connell had taken a helmet-to-helmet hit that left him dazed and bleeding.
McDonogh's bench remained quiet for a few moments, and then the players started yelling and getting fired up. The officials then called a three-minute, non-releasable penalty on Gonzaga, and McDonogh used that to turn the game around with three quick extra-man goals en route to a 13-11 victory over Gonzaga.
McDonogh (3-1) scored those three goals in just 2:46. That sparked a six-goal run that gave the Eagles an 8-3 lead early in the third quarter. Gonzaga (5-1) — also the Eagles and one of the top teams in the national rankings — never drew closer than two again.
"[The penalty] pumped us up a lot," said McDonogh's Robert Clark, who finished with three goals and two assists. "We didn't want to see him get hit like [that]. We just kept the pedal to the metal."
McDonogh, also high in the national polls and No. 2 locally, had just tied the game at 3-3 on a Jack Kemp goal midway through the second period. Gonzaga midfielder Nick McAvoy then checked O'Connell in the helmet in a loose-ball situation that left the junior midfielder down. He was helped off the field, treated on the sidelines for several minutes and taken to the hospital for stitches below an eye.
McAvoy was sent off for three minutes, and McDonogh took the lead on a Jack Parr goal with 5:22 left. Robby Black assisted on that goal, and he made it 5-3 on a shot with 4:12 remaining. Blake Gray added a third extra-man goal 36 seconds later.
Clark assisted on the last two goals to put McDonogh up, 6-3.
"We responded really well there," McDonogh coach Andy Hilgartner said. "We just kept focused on what we had to do."
The Eagles found help from different places on offense, with seven players scoring goals. Parr (three goals), Gray (two goals) and Connor Young (two goals) led the way as McDonogh scored five goals apiece in the second and third quarters, repeatedly stopping Gonzaga from rallying.
McDonogh goalie Jacob Stover helped his team stay in front with 10 saves, several of which came early as Gonzaga controlled the ball for most of the first quarter-and-a-half. In fact, Washington school won the game's first five faceoffs before McDonogh began doing better on the draws and gaining possession faster.
Hilgartner said he thought the McDonogh defense helped out Stover with a strong effort. Gonzaga found its scoring chances, but McDonogh repeatedly made the visitors work for them
The defense needed to step up after a bit of a slow start. Gonzaga won the opening faceoff and scored just 12 seconds into the game. In addition, the Eagles wound up scoring three goals in the first 15:29 but then didn't score for nearly 10 minutes after that as McDonogh went on its six-goal run.
Timmy Monahan led Gonzaga with four goals while Luke McCaleb — Hilgartner's nephew — added three goals and two assists. The closest Gonzaga came after McDonogh's 6-0 run was when Monahan cut the lead to 13-11 on an extra-man goal with two seconds remaining.
"I thought our guys played hard," Gonzaga coach Casey O'Neill said. "The losses…[they] sting. We just came up a little short."
McDonogh 13, Gonzaga 11
Goals: G- Monahan 4, McCaleb 3, Stanton 2, Offutt, Slater; M- Clark 3, Parr 3, Young 2, Gray 2, Kemp, Black, Wittfelt. Assists: G-McCaleb 2, Myers 2, Slater, Offutt, Rock; M- Clark 2, Black 2, Morrill 2. Saves: G- Christopher 4; M-Stover 10. Half: M, 7-3.