Anne Arundel 2023 boys lacrosse preview: County will be tougher than ever, but usual suspects remain the teams to beat

The county is rife with returning champions — or teams fully capable of becoming them.

“Severna Park and Broadneck remain king until someone knocks them off,” Crofton coach Collin Snyder said.

That’s not going to be easy for Severna Park to do. The six-time consecutive state champions graduated 95% of its offense, putting the Falcons in an unprecedentedly vulnerable state.

The Falcons do return their goalkeeper, seventh-season coach Dave Earl said, as well as three starters on defense expected to show the way for younger members.

Broadneck, whose own 2022 state title bid fell short in the 4A final, still recognizes Severna Park as the “team to beat,” coach Jeff McGuire said. The coach sees his veteran seniors possessing the size and speed alongside their underclassmen to challenge for the throne. That said, the coach knows his Bruins need to remain consistent and battle in full games to do so.

St. Mary’s charmed 2022 season ended in an upset to McDonogh in the Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association A Conference playoffs. Now, coach Victor Lilly looks for her team to blend experienced seniors with the younger players.

“I see our team strength as our offensive group of players,” Lilly said. “They are a heavy senior group that has matured on the field and are showing the younger players the St Mary’s way, work hard, be prepared and share the ball.”

Severn’s bid to shake up the MIAA playoffs ended prematurely in the 2022 quarterfinals. Unfortunately for everyone else, the Admirals return most of the key pieces from that team, spread evenly from attack in Princeton commit Jacob Todd to faceoff specialist Reid Gills, a Penn State commit, as well as its entire starting defense and goalkeeper. The only aspect that coach Joe Christie sees as a growth area is a younger midfield.

Archbishop Spalding is conversely young with only four starters returning, but fields 98 players. Coach Brian Phipps sees his talent working to become the best in both Anne Arundel and the MIAA A Conference. A heavy nonconference slate should help.

Indian Creek coach Brian McGeeney hopes his talent will make a top-four run in the B Conference once experienced. Key presents a mix of experience in the C Conference, but getting their newer players up to the level of the veterans will decide how things go.

Back in the public side, Southern, the reigning Class 1A champions, return six from last year’s squad, hoping to gel at the right time in May. The Bulldogs are fortunate to contend in difficult Anne Arundel County to prep them for the playoffs.

But of course, the aforementioned teams are the typical rulers of Anne Arundel lacrosse.

“I believe we may see some new teams in the county turn some heads,” Annapolis coach Peter Papaleonti said, “as we are getting into our third year post-[2020] and teams are starting to build back up.”

Glen Burnie doesn’t just want to turn heads. It wants to make history. The Gophers lacrosse team has never finished a season with a winning record. They aim to not only win a playoff game, but make a serious run in regionals. With the faceoff, defense and midfield depth they possess, Glen Burnie may just do it.

Old Mill hopes its relentlessness disturbs teams and South River will look to disrupt that county status quo on any given night. Coaches foresee the Seahawks as another team to watch this spring, balancing talent and experience. South River returns key defensive figures while also deepening its capable offense with skillful athletes from other sports.

“We have the ability to play very disciplined team defense,” Seahawks coach Colin Campbell said, “and be fluid and creative on the offensive end.”

Arundel’s strength lies in the middle, literally. An athletic and close-knit midfield may make up for seniors the Wildcats graduated.

“Our team will win games in the county by playing as a team and never becoming complacent with where we are,” coach Bobby Baur said. “Our team has a lot of athletic potential and will be able to surprise a lot of people in the county.”

Crofton benefits from being the only team returning all 35 members, given that there were no graduations from Crofton High last spring. The team walked through coals experiencing the heat of Anne Arundel at the varsity level and now plans to grow and trend up.

“We have great depth this season in our midfield,” Snyder said. “Hopefully we will be able to push transition opportunities and score non-6v6 goals.”

Annapolis fully stocks its junior varsity and varsity teams for the first time since the pandemic struck. Papaleonti believes his squad’s athleticism will help the team make a serious run, though recognizes his more inexperienced portion still has a lot to learn before playoffs.

“I am hopeful and believe that this could be the season Annapolis can get their name as a top four or five team in the county,” Papaleonti said, “as we try to recreate that winning culture the past Panthers have been able to lay out for us.”

North County fields its youngest team in 20 years, having graduated 15 seniors that brought the Knights a 12-3 season and a state tournament berth last year. Even so, coach Dennis Sullivan’s young Knights loaded their offseason with lacrosse experience and are raring to go. The longtime coach has high expectations and hopes to “recreate the magic of last season.”

Northeast is seeking to improve a little bit each day, new coach Brian Stewart said, and with the roster size it possesses, will actually be able to do that. Chesapeake should as well, especially considering it nearly doubled last year’s turnout from 47 to 80 this spring. Defense is the Cougars’ key, stocked with juniors with a year of varsity under their belts.

Meade is admittedly smaller in numbers, young and inexperienced as well. Coach Aaron Courtney looks to lay seeds for interest in the school for future growth while still having a fun couple months.

Here’s more on each team:

Annapolis

Coach: Peter Papaleonti, third season

Last season: 5-7

Top players: Senior Tommy Kadala (D); juniors Gage Berry (A) and Ronan Keohan (M).

Archbishop Spalding

Coach: Brian Phipps, ninth season

Last season: 12-5

Top players: Seniors Logan Meighan (D) and Ben Ruiz (DM); juniors Jameson Coffman (M), Alec Howard (M) and Ben Duffy (M).

Arundel

Coach: Bobby Baur, fifth season

Last season: 8-8

Top players: Seniors Mike Williams (D), Evan Davidson (M), Chris Down (M) and Chris McDonald (A); juniors Tyson Miller (D) and Jake Polucha (D); sophomore Jacob Dy (A).

Broadneck

Coach: Jeff McGuire, fourth season

Last season: 16-4, Class 4A state finalist

Top players: Seniors Ryan Della (M), Jackson Shaw (A), Nick White (D), Ryan Salazar (M), Colin Gray (GK) and Jake Chambers (M); juniors Eli Harris (M), Braden McCassie (D), Tyler Hicks (M), Albie Palsa (D) and Graham Hartman (FO).

Chesapeake

Coach: Brian Brown, second season

Last season: 4-10

Top players: Seniors Andrew Beal (M) and Logan Clark (M); juniors Charlie Hall (M), Tyler Jackson (D) and Talan Behler (A).

Crofton

Coach: Collin Snyder, third season

Last season: 3-13

Top players: Seniors Tommy Bell (GK), Connor McGuirk (D), Evan Owenby (A) and Ryan Cantner (A); juniors Thomas Gress (M) and Aiden Roerick (LSM); sophomore Dom Zanolli (M).

Glen Burnie

Coach: Ricky Deitchman, eighth season

Last season: 7-8

Top players: Seniors Joseph Crenshaw (A), Collin Flannery (M), Ethan Hansel (D), Patrick Fraizer (DM) and Ethan Bergman (DM); juniors Omari Payne (M), Nathan Huddy (LSM) and Alejandro Burruca (FO); sophomores Michael Dabrowski (A), Zach McConville (D) and Gavin Leisner (D); freshman Jeremiah Smith (A).

Indian Creek

Coach: Brian McGeeney, first season

Last season: 12-5

Top players: Seniors Benny Carter (M), Will Flint (A) and Daniel Eckroad (D); juniors Ty Spencer (GK), Tyler Stroble (M), Hunter Walls (D) and Jaden Simms (M); freshman Caton Crowder (A).

Key

Coach: Peter Ludlam, sixth season

Last season: 6-5, MIAA C semifinalist

Top players: Seniors Reid Chapman (A), Alex Barranco (D), Edward Bulmer (M), James Madison (M) and Kasper Kelly (A); juniors Jameson MacDonald (D) and Owen Moyer (M).

Meade

Coach: Aaron Courtney, seventh season

Last season: 3-10

Top players: Seniors Tyler Lofton (M), Brian Potts (D) and Falcon Wilmot (GK).

North County

Coach: Dennis Sullivan, 20th season

Last season: 12-3, Class 4A state quarterfinalist

Top players: Seniors Nicholas Mahoney (A), Sonny Batista (D) and Andrew Hyson (D); sophomores Matthew Martel (M), Adam Biggs (M), Marcus Ortiz (A) and JJ Thellman (D).

Northeast

Coach: Brian Stewart, first season

Last season: 7-5, Class 2A region champions

Top players: Seniors Andrew Pangalis (A/M), Devin Wirth (A/M), Caleb Jacobs (A/M), Scott Czyz (A/M), Alex Delmoral (A/M/), Scott Williams (A/M), Jonah Williams (D), Daniel Wright (D), Thomas Everson (LSM/SS) and Darius Keffalas (LSM/SS).

Old Mill

Coach: Patrick March, sixth season

Last season: 7-9, Class 4A East Region I finalist

Top players: Seniors Nicholas Rose (A), Aswin Johnson (D), Drayk Bunn (LSM), Bryan Lepore (M) and Zane Newland (M); juniors Evan Cowling (D), Deven Perry (M) and Waylon Martin (D); sophomores Dylan Budd (D) and Logan Ganoe (A).

Severn

Coach: Joe Christie, seventh season

Last season: 10-8, MIAA A quarterfinalist

Top players: Seniors Jacob Todd (A) and Will Perez (GK); juniors Reid Gills (FO) and Andrew Beard (M).

Severna Park

Coach: Dave Earl, seventh season

Last season: 16-4, Class 3A state champions

Top players: Seniors Evan Stroble (D), Ashby Shepherd (GK), Talan Livingston (D), Kevin Bredeck (M) and Ryan LaRocque (A/M); juniors Nolan Grizzle (A/M) and John Burkhardt (M); sophomore Jack Fish (M).

South River

Coach: Colin Campbell, sixth season

Last season: 10-6

Top players: Seniors Henry Sykes (M), Leo Knott (D), Garret Bates (D) and Jay Jenkins (DM); juniors Caden Travis (A), Chase Baldwin (D), Jack Laye (M) and Nick Sweeney (D); sophomores Trevor Phipps (A), Ben Adams (M) and Conner Campbell (GK).

Southern

Coach: Brendan Brace, 18th season

Last season: 14-5, Class 1A state champions

Top players: Seniors Carter Moon (A), Jeffrey Dieringer (M), Nathan Holaus (M), Charlie Mudd (M), Jackson Seymour (D), Xavier Wilson (GK); juniors Cody Hitchcock (D), Jordan Fanzo (A); sophomore Charlie Haley (A).

St. Mary’s

Coach: Victor Lilly, eighth season

Last season: 16-3, MIAA A Conference finalist

Top players: Seniors Nick Golini (A), Bobby Keane (M), Erik Chick (M), Gavin Burlace (M), Dillon Torggler (D) and Jacob Adams (A); junior Teddy Androus (FO); sophomores Jameson McAndrews (A), Than Souza (A) and Kevin Berzins (D); freshman Connor McAndrew (D).