In the third quarter Tuesday, Gilman lacrosse had to lean on everybody to gain an edge over visiting Archbishop Spalding.
The No. 10 Greyhounds killed off three penalties with goalie Zach Parks at his best with two of his 11 saves. Sophomore faceoff specialist Joe Kim started winning more consistently at the circle. And with more possession of the ball, the Gilman attack found a breakthrough with a patient approach.
Gilman produced three unanswered goals in the pivotal quarter to break a halftime tie and took charge in the fourth quarter for a comfortable 11-4 win over the No. 12 Cavaliers in Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association A Conference play.
After a 25-7 victory over John Carroll in Friday’s opener, the Greyhounds showed another way to win Tuesday with a grind-it-out performance that puts them at 7-2 overall in 2-0 in league play. Spalding, coming off an emotional 8-7 overtime win against No. 6 Loyola Blakefield on Friday, fell to 6-4 and 1-2.
Whether it’s winning big or pulling away in a tight game, junior attackman Jay Rodgers, whose four-goal performance keyed the offense, said the Greyhounds have the belief factor on their side this year.
“We’re really coming together this year,” he said. “Our culture is at another level and we’re really playing together right now, unselfish, celebrating each other, and it’s really fun.”
After producing the overtime winner Friday, Spalding junior attackmen Joey Matassa carried the momentum over with three first-half goals that gave the Cavaliers a 3-1 lead with 6:29 left.
But the Spalding attack wouldn’t be heard from against until midway through the fourth quarter. The Greyhounds got goals from George Guyton and Rodgers 30 seconds apart shortly after Matassa’s third goal to tie the game entering the second half.
Then the Greyhounds did all the big and little things needed to take control. Rodgers scored a nifty behind-the shoulder goal in front of the net to give Gilman its first lead two minutes into the third quarter.
After Parks made big stops on shots from Connor Wilbur and Jack Newell — each coming on separate man-advantage opportunities for the Cavaliers — Clayton Baddley and Mike Maloney scored in the final 1:36 of the third quarter to give the Greyhounds a 6-3 lead entering the fourth.
“We went down a man a couple times in the third quarter and the defense stepped up and gave me really good looks and that’s my job. When they give me the good looks, I got to have those saves,” Parks said.
After James Meyer made it 7-3 on the Greyhounds’ opening possession of the fourth quarter, the Cavaliers ended a run of 35 minutes, 52 seconds without a goal when Alec Howard cut the lead to 7-4 with 6:27 left in the game. But Rodgers didn’t allow a change in momentum, answering 29 seconds later with his fourth goal of the game to make it 9-4 with 5:08 left.
In addition to Matassa’s strong early work, the Cavaliers got a seven-save performance from goalie Jacob Neuman.
“We weren’t ready to play in the second half and they took it to us, so credit to them,” Spalding first-year coach Evan Hockel said.
Both teams return to league play Friday with Gilman traveling to Mount Saint Joseph at 4 p.m. and Spalding hosting No. 7 St. Mary’s at 7 p.m.
Spalding — 1-2-0-1 — 4
Gilman — 1-2-3-5 — 11
Goals: S — Matassa 3, Howard; G — Rodgers 4, Maloney 3, Graham, Guyton, Baddley
Assists: S — Duffy, Mollot, Newell; G — Wilkerson, Graham 2, Baddley 2
Saves: S — Neuman 7; G — Parks 11