McDonogh coach Andy Hilgartner said his team was still looking for that signature road win in another topsy-turvy season in the Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association A Conference.
The moment came Friday at No. 5 Calvert Hall... barely.
No. 3 McDonogh took control early and then held off a furious late rally by the host Cardinals for a 10-8 victory. The Eagles (12-4 overall, 6-2 conference) are in a four-way tie for first place in the MIAA.
"It was really hard and that's what we expected," Hilgartner said. "To get that win on the road in the MIAA is always hard and we've gotten a couple. A win against a team like Calvert Hall is always special because they're such a great program."
Robert Clark led McDonogh with five goals, while Connor Young added three. McDonogh goalie Jacob Stover (10 saves) came up with several huge stops, including a number from point-blank range.
Ethan Mintzer led the Cardinals with three goals.
With a logjam in the middle of the standings, Calvert Hall (11-5, 4-4) will have to beat Loyola Tuesday to be in position for one of six playoff spots.
Trailing 7-2 at the half, Calvert Hall roared back in the third quarter and cut into the margin on a pair of goals by Mintzer and another by Timmy Kelly with 6:08 remaining. Blake Gray finally ended the run with an unassisted goal just under two minutes later for an 8-5 McDonogh lead.
Clark provided a 9-5 lead with 10:09 to go in the game, but Calvert Hall would not go quietly. Austin Glab pulled the Cardinals to within three again with just over six minutes remaining. The tempo picked up as both teams began to rely on counter-attacks.
Mintzer cut the lead to 9-7 with 3:18 to go and 10 seconds later, Jason Brown pulled Calvert Hall to within a goal. McDonogh's BJ Farrare stripped Kelly with just under 30 seconds on the clock and Clark sealed the victory on a goal with 15 seconds remaining.
McDonogh closes out the season against archrival Gilman Tuesday.
"We know we needed to win the next two games to get a good seed in the playoffs," Clark said. "Hopefully, we go in against Gilman and tear it up like we did today."
The Cardinals won the groundball battle 31-21.
"We played hard and I was proud," Calvert Hall coach Bryan Kelly said. "We had a horrible first quarter. I don't care about the score. I thought we competed. We played really hard against a really good team. "
The Eagles were helped by an impressive first half where they dominated all facets.
Clark scored twice while Young and Jackson Morrill added goals in the first four minutes to help McDonogh open a 4-0 lead. Jack Kinnear finally got the Cardinals on the board with an assisted goal with 4:20 remaining. Young, however, answered for McDonogh just over a minute later, forcing Calvert Hall to call its second timeout, trailing 5-1.
After the Cardinals forced a turnover, a goal by JT Bugliosi pulled them to within three. Young scored his third goal in the final minute and McDonogh led 6-2 at the end of the first quarter. The Eagles continued to dominate and Clark scored a man-advantage goal with 9:24 to go in the half to increase the margin.
McDonogh's Chris Wilson won eight of 11 face-offs in the first half.