McDonogh boys lacrosse came into the season as the three-time defending Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association A Conference champions. Then upstart Spalding arrived, becoming the country’s top-ranked team by the middle of it.
All the while, Calvert Hall quietly and efficiently went about its day-to-day business.
And when the season was finished, in the wee hours Friday night at Towson University’s Johnny Unitas Stadium, the the No. 2 Cardinals were loudly and deservedly celebrating an epic 10-9 win over No. 1 Spalding in the mighty conference’s first overtime championship game.
A picture-perfect play got it done — Jackson Mitchell working a swift give-and-go with Peyton Forte and then scoring from the left side to complete a terrific comeback. The goal came with 2:32 left in the four-minute overtime.
Calvert Hall, which upended the defending champion Eagles in Tuesday’s semifinal and had plenty left for Friday’s overtime against the country’s best, finished with a 15-2 mark, the program’s sixth conference crown and its first since 2019.
“We called a timeout, trust in your teammates, move the ball around,” Mitchell said. “I threw it over to Peyton, knew he was going to beat his guy and I just flipped backside and he found me. All credit to him for passing it to me and then the ball went in the net. Game over. I don’t think I can ask for anything else.”
Plenty of resiliency came from the Cardinals before Mitchell’s heroics.
First came a huge takeaway by Jermaine Anderson on defense to give the Cardinals the ball with 20 seconds left in the fourth quarter. Then, Forte, who finished with four goals and the winning assist, capped a three-goal, fourth-quarter rally by tying the game with 13 seconds left.
A stop on defense came in overtime after the Cavaliers won the opening faceoff and sent a shot wide of Calvert Hall goalie Brady Stangle, who finished with nine saves.
On Friday, Forte finished with four goals and one assist; Mitchell had two goals and one assist; and Stangle made nine saves. No stranger to overtime, the Cardinals won three during their nonconference slate. They avenged an 11-6 loss to Spalding on April 22.
“When we played them last game, I was so upset because I didn’t think we played very well,” Calvert Hall coach Bryan Kelly said. “They’re a great team and I just think our guys really didn’t believe they were good enough at the time. Today, they did.
“We’ve had resiliency all year. This is our fourth overtime game and we said, ‘Guys, we’ve been here and they haven’t.’ So we had that experience and it was beneficial.”
The Cavaliers (18-2) came into the game on an 11-game winning streak ranked No. 1 nationally by USA Lacrosse and Preps Lacrosse.
With the game tied at 5 going into the second half, Spalding had a big third quarter to seemingly take hold with a 9-6 advantage on consecutive goals from Brody Moss, Gordie Bennett and Ethan Ostrowski.
All season, the Cavaliers’ pace, size and depth wore out teams by the fourth quarter, but not Friday. Will Schoonmaker got one goal back with 10:30 to play and then Jaxson Snelbaker made it 9-8 with 5:35 to play.
Spalding had chances to pad the lead and the Cardinals had chances to tie before the final minute with the Cavaliers in possession. In the right corner, Anderson had the clean takeaway with 20 seconds left to give Forte the chance to tie. He scored from a tough angle on the right side and then used more burst and vision to set up Mitchell in overtime.
“It’s been a journey. It’s been a lot of ups and downs and we’ve just been following the standard, dying by the standard,” Mitchell said. “This is what happens when 48 guys follow the same standard.”
Seeking the program’s first conference title in their second title game appearance, the Cavaliers seemed poised to get it done after a sturdy 12-6 semifinal win over Boys’ Latin that avenged their only loss.
Instead, they left the field understandably heartbroken despite another fine team effort. Jack Newell finished with two goals and one assist, Bennett and Grady Swidersky both scored twice and Brady Mollot had one goal and one assist.
“It was a great lacrosse game. Congratulations to Calvert Hall — they made a few more plays than we did tonight,” Spalding coach Evan Hockel said. “I’m heartbroken for the seniors, they really worked hard and had a wonderful four years and I’m really proud of them.”
Stangle, sensational in goal in Tuesday’s win over McDonogh and again on Friday, was at an understandable loss.
“I really have no words right now, I’m just taking it all in. This is a kid’s dream to win and it’s a reality now,” he said.
Calvert Hall — 3-2-1-3-1 — 10
Spalding — 3-2-4-0-0 — 9
Goals: CH — Botek, Forte 4, W. Schoonmaker, Mitchell 2, Hanover, Snelbaker; S — Ostrowski, Bennett 2, Newell 2, Mollot, Swidersky 2, Moss.
Assists: CH — Forte , Mitchell, Hanover, Schwanke, M. Schoonmaker ; S — Matassa 2, Newell, Mollot
Saves: CH — Stangle 9; S — Neuman 6