Protecting a lead earned during a solid first half, McDonogh boys lacrosse was tested again and again during the second half at No. 1 Boys’ Latin on Tuesday.
Coach Andy Hilgartner continually urged his team time and again to make the next play and prove resilient.
The No. 3 Eagles came through in key moments in claiming a 12-10 win over the Lakers in Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association A Conference play.
It wasn’t until junior midfielder Bogue Hahn scored on an empty net with 35 seconds to play — providing the two-goal cushion — that the two-time defending league champions felt comfortable.
McDonogh (9-3) improved to 5-2 in the MIAA while handing Boys’ Latin (10-2, 6-1) its first league loss. After two straight losses to Calvert Hall and Archbishop Spalding, the Eagles have regained their footing.
On Friday, they handled Loyola Blakefield, 14-4, and then pulled out Tuesday’s tight win.
“We went up three goals against Spalding in the fourth quarter, let that up. We were up four goals against Calvert Hall and let that up. So we’re learning to handle adversity,” said senior midfielder and captain Ben Firlie, who scored two goals and added an assist Tuesday. “We have a young team, so it’s very good for these young boys to learn how to handle pressure. And to come back from those two losses and get this is huge.”
It took a complete effort from the Eagles. Sophomore faceoff specialist Ciaran Sweeney held his own against Lakers standout senior Parker Hoffman. Junior goalie Aidan Seibel made seven stops and got quality support from defensemen Max Allen and Paul McLucas. And the offense was effectively spread out with senior Luke Miller (three goals, one assist), junior Brendan Millon (two goals, two assists) and Hogue (three goals) the key contributors.
For McDonogh, it’s the fourth straight win against the rival Lakers in the past three seasons, including two semifinal playoff wins. Before Tuesday, each had been by one goal.
“We have a very small margin of error right now for the playoffs and where we want to be, so we just talked about the two-game losing streak, the big-picture resilience and then in-game resilience too,” Hilgartner said. “That was our focus today. BL is a great team and we knew they were going to answer. … But our in-game resilience was awesome today and I think that was the difference. We continued to answer and we kept our poise.”
With their lead cut to 8-6, the Eagles made the most of the final 33 seconds of the third quarter. Two faceoff wins by Sweeney turned into goals from Millon and Firlie to push the advantage to 10-6 going into the fourth quarter.
The Lakers opened the fourth quarter with the first three goals — junior Matt Higgins (two goals, four assists) opened the scoring with senior Spencer Ford getting the next two off Higgins’ feeds — to trim the Eagles’ lead to 10-9 with 6:09 to play.
After Hunter Metz gave the Eagles an 11-9 lead, the Lakers cut it to one again when Liam White scored with 4:10 to play.
In closing out the win, the Eagles fended off a one-minute man-down situation with Seibel making two saves on shots from Higgins. The Lakers had possession with 1:06 to play, but an errant pass was scooped up by Hayden Holmes with 49 seconds left. Hahn put the game away with the final goal.
“It’s one of the most special rivalries in the country as far as I’m concerned,” Hilgartner said “We’ve played every year in the playoffs since 2010 except for one year. I don’t know any rivalries that are like that. A lot of heartbreak for both sides and a lot of joy for both sides — it’s special.”
Boys’ Latin, which was the last unbeaten team in league play this season, remains in first place. Calvert Hall, a 7-6 overtime winner against Gilman on Tuesday, is in second place with a 5-1 league mark. The Lakers also got two goals from White and senior goalie Will Ohnmacht made 10 saves.
“Proud of the guys. They battled back, didn’t give up,” Boys’ Latin coach Brian Farrell said. “It was a two-, three-goal game for most of the second half and they could have crumbled and stuck with it.”
McDonogh stays on the road when it travels to Mount Saint Joseph at 4 p.m. Friday. Boys’ Latin has the rest of the week off before hosting No. 5 Gilman at 4:15 p.m. Tuesday.
McDonogh — 4-2-4-2 — 12
Boys’ Latin — 2-1-3-4 — 10
Goals: M — Miller 3, Hahn 3, Millon 2, Metz 2, Firlie 2; BL — Ford 3, Higgins 2, Insley, White 2, Kenney, Arrup
Assists: M — Miller, Millon 2, Firlie; BL — Higgins 4
Saves: M — Seibert 7; BL — Ohnmacht 10