For much of Friday's Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association A Conference lacrosse quarterfinal, Loyola Blakefield junior goalie Jake Stout was right where he needed to be in turning back shots from Calvert Hall's formidable attack.
And on the one occasion he was caught out of the cage — the final seconds of a one-goal game — he was impressively quick to recover.
After scrambling out of the net to try to track a free ball, Stout got back just in time to make his 13th and final save off a shot from JT Bugliosi with two seconds left. With the save, the No. 5 Dons claimed a 9-8 win over the No.4 and host Cardinals to advance to the semifinal round.
Loyola Blakefield (9-6) will next face top-seeded and No. 1 McDonogh (16-1) at 5 p.m. Monday at Johns Hopkins' Homewood Field. The Eagles beat Loyola Blakefield, 13-11, on April 19.
Stout said he was excited to get his first playoff win for the Dons. He certainly made it exciting.
"I like to make it interesting. I just knew I had to get one more [save]," he said.
In Tuesday's regular-season finale, Calvert Hall (14-5) beat Loyola, 12-7, to earn the right to host Friday's game.
But this time, it was the Dons who controlled play, gained the lead and never let go.
Senior Cole Williams led the attack with three goals and two assists.
He scored consecutive goals less than one minute apart late in the first quarter to give the Dons a 5-2 lead. Winning the ground balls and getting a strong performance from Stout helped them maintain the lead throughout. When Williams scored his third goal with 2:16 left in the fourth quarter, it appeared Loyola was well on its way with a 9-6 advantage.
But the Cardinals, who got three goals and an assist from Bugliosi, made a significant push. Omari DeBerry scored his second goal of the fourth quarter with two minutes to play and then Jacob Kelly (two goals, one assist) scored with 23 seconds left to cut the deficit to 9-8. The Cardinals gained possession and the ball found Bugliosi on the left side, but Stout was able to slide over to make the final save.
Dons coach Ben Rubeor praised Stout's work, along with an attack that executed some key adjustments from Tuesday's game.
"I thought the players made plays when they had to and this is a players' game," he said. "So we made a few adjustments, but, at the end of the day, all the credit goes to the players for coming through in the big moments."
Rubeor added he won't take much time to savor the win — a couple hours — with the next game against McDonogh a big one. The Eagles went 9-0 in league play this season to earn the top seed and a bye in Friday's opening round.
"McDonogh has been the best team in the league and they are the top seed for a reason," Rubeor said. "We have a huge challenge and we're going to be fighting uphill against a team that has been playing really good lacrosse."
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