Williams, Wisnauskas shine in all-star game
Loyola grad honored with MVP award, finishes with four goals and one assist
The shots and goals came fast and furious in the boys game at the 11th Under Armour All-America Lacrosse Game on Saturday night.
In the end, though, the South found too much offense for the North to stop. Local players Cole Williams, Logan Wisnauskas and Jackson Morrill all pitched in as the South pulled out a 23-16 victory before an announced 4,117 at Johnny Unitas Stadium at Towson University.
The three will be playing at different colleges — Williams at Johns Hopkins, Wisnauskas at Syracuse and Morrill at Yale — but they sparked the South’s offense at different times throughout this game.
Williams (Loyola Blakefield) started fast thanks to a first-quarter hat trick, and he finished with four goals and one assist. Wisnauskas (Boys’ Latin) ended with two goals and one assist, and Morrill (McDonogh) added one goal and three assists.
Williams was named the game’s Most Valuable Player. He played with Kyle Anderson and Forry Smith in an All-Star game in Vail, Colo., recently, and that group stayed together here and knew one another’s tendencies.
“It was pretty good to have some good chemistry with them,” Williams said. “We did well in transition. It helped for sure [as] we just knew where each other would be.”
Both teams also had a local flavor on the sidelines. Boys’ Latin coach Brian Farrell guided the South team, while Loyola Blakefield coach Ben Rubeor ran the North squad.
The South leads the series 7-4 and has won this game six consecutive times — scoring over 20 goals in three of those games.
South’s Forry Smith (Johns Hopkins) also had a hat trick, finishing with three goals and one assist.
The South ended up with a 68-51 edge in shots as it found good scoring chances throughout.
“We had a lot of good players on attack who’ve played with each other,” Morrill said. “We [waited for them] to move the ball ... and had a lot of fun. It was a ton of fun.”
For the North, Jeff Teat led the way with two goals and five assists. His seven points were the second most ever scored in this game, behind eight by Maryland’s Matt Rambo three years ago.
Williams helped the South’s offense start rolling in the first quarter. His hat trick — three goals in just under eight minutes — helped the South take command and eventually pull away.
“[It was] just run and gun,” Morrill said. “It’s an all-star game. Whenever you see something, go for it.”
Two of Williams’ goals came just 36 seconds apart as the South scored three times in 58 seconds en route to a 7-4 lead after one quarter. The South’s seven goals were the most goals scored by a team in the first quarter of this series.
Wisnauskas made it 8-4 14 seconds into the second quarter. In the third quarter, Wisnauskas and Williams each scored a goal that helped the South take five-goal leads. Smith and Nick McEvoy scored six seconds apart in the final minute of the period as the South took a 20-13 lead.
In the final quarter, the South scored just three times, but the 20 goals in the first three quarters proved more than enough.
Goals: N—Smith 3, Walker 3, Loring 2, Perry 2, Teat 2, Cotler, Rooney, Tierney, Willetts; S—Williams 4, Anderson 3, Quigley 3, Smith 3, Magno 2, Petkevich 2, Wisnauskas 2, Maloney, McEvoy, Morrill, Stagnitta. Assists: N—Teat 5, Walker 2, Kraus, Maloney, Smyth; S—Morrill 3, Stagnitta 2, Anderson, Magno, Maloney, Quigley, Smith, Williams, Wisnauskas. Saves: N—Giacalone 8, Kirson 10; S—Trowbridge 6, DeMarco 11. Half: S, 14-11. Shots: N—51; S—68.