Curley lacrosse, three-time defending Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association B Conference champions, likes this part of the regular season.

There are two weeks left before the playoffs, the warm weather has arrived with May around the corner, a signal for the Friars to put polish on the product.

On Tuesday at upstart Concordia Prep, Curley took hold late in the first quarter and never let go, churning out a team effort that featured a balanced offense and smothering defense for a handy 15-4 conference win.

The Friars (7-4) improve to 3-1 in the MIAA B, while Concordia Prep, in its first season in the B after winning last year’s C crown, drops to 6-3 and 3-2. Brandon Mejia (three goals, three assists) Ryan Kenney (two goals, four assists) and Cooper Granados (two goals, two assists) led an attack that had nine players score. Goalie Ryan Cosey made four of his eight saves in the first quarter to help the Friars settle in.

“It’s definitely time for us to lock in. We’re continuing to practice hard and come out hard in games and I know we’ll be ready [for the playoffs],” said Mejia, one of four starters back from last year’s title team.

One of the bigger advantages Curley had on the host Saints was overall team depth, and the plan was to wear down the home team on Tuesday. Mission accomplished.

The scrappy Saints stood their ground for most of the first quarter before the Friars took hold with a three-goal spurt that took less than two minutes of play.

Good ball movement proved vital. Leading 1-0, Granados made a sharp cut to goal and took a feed from Joseph Ryan (two goals, one assist) to pad the lead late in the first quarter. Granados scored again 27 seconds later — with Kenney providing the assist — and then Bailen Boutz made it 4-0.

The Saints would follow with goals from Avery Wilder and Caleb Cruikshank to cut the lead to 4-2, but the visitors pushed the lead to 7-3 at the half and responded to coach Chris Ogle’s halftime challenge.

“I thought we were sloppy at the start and they outworked us for some ground balls, so we kind of challenged the guys at half to pick it up, particularly on the defensive end. They responded well, I think their only goal came with an extra man,” he said.

Having lost 15 seniors from last year’s team, the Friars know the challenge of making it four straight titles is a big one. But Mejia has been impressed with how well the younger players have adapted, and he knows the Friars can bank on a common trait they’ve always embraced.

“It’s going to take a lot of grit from our guys, a lot of hustle. I think we can outwork any team in our conference. We’ve proven it before, so I can’t see why we can’t do it again,” he said.

The Saints played hard and had good moments of play despite being overmatched by the champions. Colton Seifert scored two goals and goalie Logan Towney made eight saves.

Coach Stephen Berger and the Saints got a first-hand look at where they want to get to. They understand it will take time, and Berger sees strides being made.

“This isn’t a one-year deal. This is an effort we’ve been putting in for five, six years and our goal is to continue to make these guys better each day. Whether it’s on the field or off the field, we’re building a program,” he said. “We’re fortunate to be playing in the B Conference now and to be playing teams like Curley. It’s some humble pie, but, at the same time, we know what we need to do, so we’ll continue to prepare and hopefully see them again.”

Both teams continue conference play later in the week with Curley hosting St. Vincent Pallotti at 4:30 p.m. Thursday and Concordia Prep staying home against Park on Friday at 4 p.m.

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Curley — 4-3-3-5 — 15

Concordia Prep — 1-2-1-0 — 4

Goals: AC — Mejia 3, Granados 2, Ryan 2, Kenney 2, Boutz, Goles, Albright, M. Kammer, Lambert, D. Kammer; CP — Av. Wilder, Cruikshank, Seifert 2

Assists: AC — Mejia 3, Kenney 4, Granados 2, Ryan, Duvall; CP — An. Wilder, Hauf

Saves: AC — Cosey 8, Yeagy 1; CP — Towney 9, Lublinsky 1