With little to no advanced scouting, Archbishop Curley junior attacker Caleb Haire said his Friars arrived at Annapolis Area Christian School with a general plan of attack for an Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association B Conference lacrosse showdown.
Considering Curley left Anne Arundel County with a resounding 18-4 victory, maybe just winging it should be the way to go the rest of the season.
“There wasn’t a real game plan,” said Haire, who exploded for seven goals in the win. “We couldn’t get any game film. We just came together as a team. We were able to exploit their defense and see their weaknesses real fast.”
Real fast indeed as Lee Rock opened the scoring 33 seconds into the match on a running shot from the right of the goal. Haire and Denzel Evans (three goals) each added a pair of first quarter goals for a 5-0 lead.
Haire scored on a counterattack and again after scooping a loose ball near the goal. Evans capitalized on a fastbreak and then finished after weaving through multiple defenders with under a minute left in the quarter.
Varsity Highlights
“We’re a young team and we made a lot of mistakes early and throughout the game and they capitalized on it,” Annapolis Area Christian coach Luther Fleming said. “We’re rebuilding. In a couple of years, we’ll be competitive again, but now we’re young.”
Curley’s advantage grew to 10-2 at the break behind two goals from Evans and one each from James Zingo (two goals, two assists), Haire and Rock. Zingo’s score came as he took the faceoff right to the goal and finished for a 7-1 lead with 10:12 remaining in the half.
“It was a great team win,” said Curley coach Chris Ogle, whose squad improved to 5-3 overall, 5-0 in the MIAA B Conference. “We got some guys in who don’t normally get playing time, so it’s great to get a contribution from everybody.”
Brian Hilary put the Eagles on the scoreboard less than two minutes into the second quarter off a pass from Jack Rife. Lucas Williams netted the final goal off the half for Annapolis Area as he stole an errant pass deep inside Curley territory.
The Friars’ defense stifled the Eagles’ offense in the third quarter while adding four goals, including one from Haire, for 14-2 lead.
“We’re going to keep working and we’re going to keep grinding and hopefully, we’ll be in the championship this year,” said Haire, who added three goals in the fourth quarter on short-range shots set up by drives and dishes by his teammates.
Cole Parker and Williams added fourth quarter goals for the Eagles (2-3, 1-3 MIAA B).