Boys lacrosse
Eagles back on track with win over Washington power
McDonogh coach Andy Hilgartner called his top-ranked Eagles boys lacrosse team “a work in progress.” For a supposedly incomplete team, they sure delivered a complete performance Sunday at John McDonogh Stadium.
McDonogh broke an early tie with a 7-0 run and beat Washington-area perennial powerhouse Bullis School, 10-4.
The top-ranked Eagles (5-1) effectively shook off Wednesday’s 12-9 loss to Culver Academy (Ind.) and beat the only team that handed them a loss in 2016.
Gable Braun won 13 of 16 faceoffs for McDonogh, which showed it could score in settled and unsettled situations.
Both teams were poised and accurate early. Three shots, two by the Eagles and one by the Bulldogs (6-1), resulted in a 2-1 McDonogh lead. The first missed shot was nearly four minutes into the first quarter.
The teams traded back-to-back goals before McDonogh scored twice in 10 seconds to start a 7-0 run that spanned both halves. Liam Powderly got his second assist of the game on a give-and-go with Jack Parr before scoring his first of two goals with 5:14 left in the first half.
Both teams’ defenses tightened up and Bullis’ rides caused several turnovers, but the Bulldogs failed to make anything of them. Bullis goalie Chris Del Rosario, “the best uncommitted goalie,” according to coach Jeff Bellistri, turned away four shots during a four-minute possession by McDonogh to end the first half. He finished with 11 saves.
The second half was more McDonogh as Dane Swanson scored two unassisted goals near the beginning of the third and fourth quarters. Frustration showed on the part of Bullis after losing yet another faceoff, and resulted in a two-man down penalty and two more McDonogh goals by Parr and Powderly for an 8-2 lead with 9:46 left to go.
Parr finished the run with a shot that hit off the crossbar into the goal for a 9-2 lead with 8:15 left. Alex Trippi, Bullis’ all-time leading scorer, assisted on the last two Bulldogs’ goals, but was held to one first-half goal by McDonogh defender Chris Smith.
Riley Mitchell scored the final McDonogh goal between the final two Bullis scores, running straight at the net with 6:51 left.
Parr finished with a game-high four goals and Powderly had two goals and two assists for McDonogh.
Hilgartner said of his team’s performance that “we took some ill-advised shots,” but played better with an uptempo pace.