The No. 3 Boys’ Latin lacrosse team did what was expected Friday, putting together a solid performance to pull away from visiting Hereford, 11-3.
But the No. 9 Bulls, playing their season opener, also walked off the field with plenty of positives to build on this season.
Sophomore attackman Brendan Grimes led the Lakers with three goals and two assists, while senior Matt Brandau (two goals, one assist) and sophomore Cameron Spencer (one goal, two assists) also chipped in on offense as the Lakers improved to 4-0 on the season.
After the Bulls got an early goal from Gavin Schattall (two goals) to enjoy an early advantage, the Lakers answered with eight straight to take hold of the game.
Grimes, who got the game tied at 1 with 1:28 to play in the first quarter, and Brandau each scored two goals to help the Lakers to a 4-1 halftime lead that sent them on their way.
“We had a huge snow storm this week and were cooped up in our homes, and I think we did a really good job today of coming out and fed off our fundamentals and really took it to them,” Grimes said. “We knew we couldn’t overlook this game. We had to treat this game very carefully and I think we did a good job of that.”
The Lakers have lofty goals in the Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association A Conference this season and are priming for league play with a demanding early-season schedule. So far, so good.
After opening with a 9-6 home win over Pennsylvania power Haverford on March 7, the Lakers headed south and got two wins against quality Florida opponents before taking care of business back home Friday.
The Bulls, who are considered one of the area’s top public schools, have their own big plans and coach Sal Picataggi said Friday was a good start under the circumstances.
“We’re at Boys’ Latin, first game of the year with nothing really under our belt, so I wanted to make sure my guys knew there were a ton of positives that happened here today,” he said.
While the Lakers already had three games in, his Bulls had their originally scheduled opener postponed and little practice time this week with school closed for a couple of days because of the weather.
After the game, he told his players they played a great game and showed plenty to build on with 19 games left in the regular season.
Varsity Highlights
He singled out the strong play from senior goalie John Talbott (12 saves) and a promising showing from freshman Connor Dunay on faceoffs. The Bulls created scoring chances with some good movement on attack — another plus — but had a poor shooting performance.
Goals: H — Schattall 2, Nozemack;
BL — Grimes 3, M. Brandau 2, Crouse, Scott, Spencer, Davis, Booth, Caplin.
Assists: H — Nozemack;
BL — Grimes 2, Spencer 2, M. Brandau.
Saves: H — Talbott 10; BL, C Brandau 5, Ja. Morton 2, JT Morton 1.
Half: BL, 4-1