SEVERN BOYS LAX OPENS MIAA SPRING WITH WIN
Like the warm pre-spring sun that drenched the area Friday afternoon, a sense of normalcy spread across the Severn School lacrosse field as high school spring sports returned to Anne Arundel County private schools.
The Admirals boys lacrosse team hosted Saints Peter & Paul during this unusually warm mid-March Friday that included a decent smattering of at times rowdy fans and honk from the horns of cars on the adjacent street. It harkened back to the pre-coronavirus days — except for the obvious pandemic signs of masks being worn by spectators in the stands and referees and coaches on the field. Players were not required to wear masks during the game.
Severn’s lopsided 19-8 victory against the visiting Sabres marked exactly one year to the day since the Admirals saw their season shut down by the pandemic. Fittingly, Severn beat Saints Peter & Paul, 19-9, on March 11, 2020 to improve to 4-0 to start the season that never finished.
“It’s amazing [playing again],” said Admirals senior Jacob Darrow, who will anchor the team’s defense along with Sean Donegan and PJ Roth. “We didn’t care what the score was. We just wanted to play. We were happy to be out there.”
Jacob Todd helped Severn do just that, staking his squad to leads of 3-0 after one quarter and 8-2 by halftime with three goals and an assist, while five other Admirals found the back of the net in a game during which they dominated ball possession. That translated into 27 shots to their opponent’s 10.
Todd, who added another assist in the second half, said it feels “crazy” to be playing again and that his squad shook off the year-long rust with a stronger second half performance that resulted in 11 goals.
“It’s monumental,” said Severn coach Joe Christie, whose squad will rely on attackers Todd and Paul Baldwin to fuel the offense while sophomore goalkeeper Will Perez Jr. will be charged with keeping the ball out of the net in the rugged Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association A Conference. “A year ago today, we were shut down. We had a lot of emotion, a lot of adrenaline.
“It’s ceremonial to have these kids take this step of starting the season.”
Connor Layden and Trey Dring each added three goals and an assist for Severn, which Christie said will have numerous underclassmen manning pivotal positions this spring, including sophomores Todd and Dring.
“It’s a great feeling being able to play again,” said Severn sophomore Nick Sotiropoulos-Lawrence, who netted a pair of goals. “We all had hoped for it. [Athletic director Julian Domenech] and the administration did a great job of getting back out here.”