Saints stay in playoff race
Victory over Lakers is first for St. Mary’s since 2011
Only time will tell just how big the No. 6 St. Mary’s boys lacrosse team’s victory was over No. 1 Boys’ Latin on Tuesday.
When the Saints defeated Calvert Hall on April 10, they followed with two straight losses. Now, after Tuesday’s 12-10 victory over the Lakers, the Saints remain very much alive for a spot in the Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association A Conference playoffs.
Bennett Johnson scored four goals, two during the decisive third quarter, and Tim Troutner stopped 16 shots as the Saints built a four-goal lead early in the fourth quarter and fought through some tense moments to record their first victory over the Lakers since 2011.
St. Mary’s improved to 6-5 overall and is tied with three other teams at 3-2 in the A Conference. The top six will qualify for the postseason.
“That’s one win in a long season, and we need to get ourselves ready for the playoffs,” said St. Mary’s coach Ben Rubeor, who recorded his first career win over Boys’ Latin.
“That’s what this whole year has been about, just getting ourselves ready to play at the end of the season. I think we’re getting closer.”
Johnson scored two of his goals during a first half that featured five ties and no more than a one-goal margin for each team. He added two more in the third, including a goal with 9 minutes, 12 seconds left that broke a 6-6 tie and put the Saints up for good.
“That’s our first win against them during my high school career, and it felt great to get after them,” said Johnson, a senior. “We have three days of practice the rest of the this week and we need to get ready and focus on the next game.”
Timmy Hardy scored two first-half goals and appeared to put the Saints in control when he split a double team and scored into an empty next with six minutes left in the game. He also added an assist on Johnson’s last goal.
Boys’ Latin got within three on a goal from Michael Ubriaco with 5:35 left in the game. St. Mary’s decided to ask for a stick check on Ubriaco, but to no avail. As the officials were checking Ubriaco’s stick, the Lakers’ coaching staff noticed St. Mary’s Alex Woodall adjusting his. Boys’ Latin asked for a stick check on Woodall, who was ruled for having an illegal stick and assessed a three-minute, non-releasable penalty. With the Lakers a man up for three minutes, the Saints killed the penalty, thanks to key ground balls from Hunter Smith and Tommy Miller.
Devin Shewell scored for Boys’ Latin with 47 seconds left, and again the Lakers asked for a stick check on Woodall. Remarkably, Woodall’s replacement stick was also illegal, which gave the Lakers another man-up situation and resulted in an ejection for Woodall. Logan Wisnauskas hit the post with 30 seconds left, Anthony Wyler sent a shot wide while being defended by Austin Torggler and Troutner preserved the win with a stop on Shewell in the final seconds.
“We knew their extra man was good and they have a bunch of threats around the cage,” Rubeor said. “I thought we did a nice job of knocking down some passes and getting some sticks in the lanes. Our defense stepped up, and that’s what we needed.”
Troutner finished with 16 saves, including three in the fourth quarter to help the Saints maintain the lead.
“It feels amazing,” Troutner said. “I don’t think I really came up that big, but my defense gave me the right shots and I could make the easy saves, which helped out.”
Shewell had three goals and Wyler and Patrick Spencer each added two goals for Boys’ Latin, which is among the teams at 3-2 in the A Conference.