McDonogh takes playoff rematch
Eagles fend off Lakers’ rally in 11-10 thriller over Boys’ Latin
Matching the same final score as last year’s playoff game, the McDonogh boys lacrosse team claimed another thrilling 11-10 win against rival Boys’ Latin on Tuesday.
But this regular-season game unfolded differently from the way last year’s highstakes semifinal did. The No. 1 Eagles had complete control on their home field most of the way before fending off a rally from the Lakers in a Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association A Conference classic.
The defending league champions got a five-goal, two-assist performance from sophomore attackman Brendan Millon and dominant work from senior faceoff specialist Zach Hayashi to key the win. McDonogh, which is still without injured standout senior attackman McCabe Millon, improved to 8-0 overall and 2-0 in the MIAA. Boys’ Latin fell to 5-3 and 1-1 in league play.
After seeing their 9-2 advantage cut to one with 8:10 still to play, the Eagles got crucial goals from Bogue Hahn and Brendan Millon, along with some big faceoff wins from Hayashi, who won 17 of 23 in Tuesday’s hot weather.
“Props to BL for not sitting back, taking that 9-2 deficit and shutting down. But we really battled there,” Millon said. “We’ve shown that we can get punched in the face and respond and I’m real happy we were able to tough it out and pull it out in the end.”
Last year’s playoff game was tied after each quarter before Brendan Millon scored in the final second of the fourth quarter to rally the Eagles, who went on to beat St. Mary’s in the title game.
On Wednesday, McDonogh was clicking on all cylinders, including a six-goal run to build a 9-2 advantage.
But the Lakers, behind a balanced attack and 13 saves from senior goalie Dylan Cadigan, chipped away and had their own fivegoal spurt starting midway through the third quarter to pull within 9-8 on Liam White’s third goal of the game.
McDonogh coach Andy Hilgartner told his team to breathe and stay calm. After Hayashi won another faceoff, Hahn dodged a defender and made it 10-8 with 6:57 left.
The Lakers quickly responded with a goal from George Insley, making it 10-9 with 6:19 to play. The Lakers had two possessions with a chance to tie, but the Eagles’ defense didn’t bend. With 45 seconds left, Millon scored off a feed from Andrew Kaster for an 11-9 lead.
Matthew Higgins scored his second goal for the Lakers with seven seconds left, but Hayashi won the ensuing faceoff to secure the win.
“We never lost the lead and that was our biggest thing: If we believe, we’re going to be able to pull it out,” Hayashi said. “It shows how great of a team BL is. Hats off to them. Coming back from that, it’s really impressive and it obviously shows we still obviously have work to do.”
The Eagles take their undefeated mark into Tuesday’s home game against Severn and might have McCabe Millon (foot) back in the lineup to further bolster their attack. The Virginia-bound Millon, a first-team All-Metro selection last year, is rated the
No. 1 prospect in the 2023 class by Inside Lacrosse.
The Eagles will go into next week’s play on a high.
“Great effort,” Hilgartner said. “At times we played maybe as close to our potential as we could play. Credit to Boys’ Latin for showing a lot of character, a lot of heart. With Coach [Brian] Farrell ... and their program history, they weren’t going to go anywhere. But I was really proud of our guys with how they answered, too. With all the momentum [favoring Boys’ Latin] and then we got the two huge goals at the end. We just needed to get that faceoff and Zach did an incredible job today. He’s built for these types of these games.”
While the Lakers didn’t get the result they were looking for, they showed a lot of fight in clawing back. It’s a big takeaway with plenty of league play left.
“You can draw something from every game and learn a lot about your team,” Farrell said. “I think early in the season, we kind of felt sorry for ourselves and sometimes we folded when teams got up on us, and this time we battled back. So you build off that as you go into all these MIAA games.”
BL — White 3, Ford 2, Higgins 2, Insley, Walsh, Owings; M — B. Millon 5, Hahn 2, Green, Firlie, Christmas, Lacorazza BL — Karetsos 2, Owings, Sydnor; M — B. Millon 2, Kasten, Christmas, Firlie Saves: BL — Cadigan 13; M — Scarborough 3 M, 6-2