Cavs maintain their composure

Spalding bounces back from three-goal deficit to topple Admirals

A team’s ability to bounce back after a difficult loss is vital in the demanding Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association A Conference lacrosse league, especially as the season hits the stretch run.

For Archbishop Spalding, which lost to defending league champion Boys’ Latin on

Friday, its bid to get back on track Tuesday didn’t start out that well against neighborhood rival and surging Severn.

But the No. 4 Cavaliers, down three goals after the first quarter, didn’t panic. Instead, they made adjustments, dug in and made sure to return to the winning side.

Behind a three-goal, two-assist performance from senior midfielder Michael Weisshaar and a buckle-down defensive effort that kept the host team from scoring for more than 20 minutes, Spalding claimed a resilient 10-6 win over the No. 3 Admirals.

Spalding (9-3) improved to 4-2 in league play, while Severn (9-3, 5-2) saw its fivegame winning streak end.

“We told our guys the best thing about Friday’s loss is we have a game on Tuesday,” Spalding coach Brian Phipps said. “In this league, you’re not guaranteed a win, so you’ve got Tuesdays and Fridays . ... Our guys look forward to that, accept the challenges and they came out eager to play a crosstown rival. We said we wanted to be the best team in [Anne Arundel County] and this is one of the things we had to do, so hopefully we can keep it going.”

The Admirals came out fast and efficient, getting goals from four players to take a 4-1 lead late in the first quarter.

But the Cavaliers weren’t fazed. Instead, they made some defensive adjustments and used the second quarter to chip away at the lead. With a minute to go in the first half and trailing 4-3, the Cavaliers got the ball to Weisshaar on the right side. He made a quick burst to the middle and ripped a shot by Severn goalie Will Perez (nine saves) for his first goal of the game, tying the score at 4 going into halftime.

“That was big,” Weisshaar said. “To go into the third quarter kind of like 0-0 basically ... we gained confidence off of that and just looked forward.”