The No. 2 Boys’ Latin lacrosse team (ranked eighth nationally by Inside Lacrosse), found itself down after three quarters while hosting No. 3 Calvert Hall on Friday. A sloppy third quarter saw them sink into a four-goal deficit, but the Lakers rallied on the backs of their seniors to force overtime.
Connor Sydnor scooped up a rebound in overtime and buried the opportunity from close range to seal an 11-10 win in an instant classic, setting off a raucous celebration.
“I think we played a little selfish and a little undisciplined, in the third quarter especially. Guys were trying to have a three-goal shot, when it’s impossible to do,” Lakers coach Brian Farrell said. “I think our seniors calmed us down. Connor Schoenwetter, who was hurt, he was in the huddle, calming us down.”
Sydnor scored twice, as did seniors Spencer Ford and Colin Kenney, while junior Matthew Higgins found the back of the net four times, including twice in the fourth. Senior George Insley scored once, assisted on the game-tying goal with 2:47 to play and fired the initial shot that Sydnor polished off for the overtime winner.
Defensively, senior goalie Will Ohnmacht made 11 saves, including nine in the first half, keeping the Lakers in the game while they struggled to ignite the offense.
For Calvert Hall, senior Owen Scott scored three times and added two assists, while junior Will Schoonmaker, senior Preston Huffman and junior Jackson Mitchell all scored twice. Senior Sisto Averno added a goal for the Cardinals and senior goalie Alex Swartz racked up nine saves in net.
In overtime, the importance of the faceoff can’t be overstated. And while pregame analysis might have favored Calvert Hall’s Ben Cuomo, a junior committed to Yale, Lakers senior Parker Hoffman gave Cuomo everything he could handle all game.
“Parker was excellent. I thought he kept a calm head the whole game,” Farrell said. “And a shoutout to Nick Chan on the wings who did an excellent job when we didn’t win it, crashing the faceoff, picking up ground balls, making plays between the lines.”
Hoffman didn’t win the draw cleanly, but he kept possession in doubt until Chan raced in to scoop the ground ball. In the winning sequence, Higgins took the ball behind the net, where he had been so dangerous all game. He drew his defender away before sending it back to Insley, who posted up his defender on the left side and was able to get loose and rip a shot over his defender’s right shoulder. Although Swartz bodied the save, the velocity on the close-range shot made it impossible to handle cleanly, and Sydnor was able to grab the rebound on a hop and convert, sending the Lakers fans home happy.
