John Carroll boys lacrosse beats Fallston, 10-4, as new-look Patriots put together a complete performance
Thursday night was an early glance at a new era of John Carroll boys lacrosse.
First-year coach Gunnar Waldt called the 10-4 road win over rival Fallston their first masterpiece. Where his group has been spotty, chugging up the rollercoaster some quarters and sliding back down others through three prior games, Waldt walked away from this win elated by the full 60 minutes of advantageous lacrosse.
“I think it’s just about being patient,” Waldt said. “As long as we’re patient, we get deep into the shot clock, we can do some really good things. It’s not settling for an OK shot, it’s trying to get the best shot. We can do some damage here.”
His Patriots (2-2) seemed in command from start to finish. A three-goal first quarter and three more in the second built their lead on the backs of Ty Rizzuto and Jaden Riley. From there, the defense strapped in and kept the home team at an arm’s length.
Patriot goals came in bunches early and later via responsive punches. When Fallston snuck up within three late in the third on an Ian Swartzendruber goal, John Carroll built it back to four with Rizzuto’s third goal before the quarter closed. Nick Nikola paced the Cougars with two goals in the loss.
John Carroll got a game-defining performance between the pipes from sophomore goalie Buster Barger. “He played a stellar game,” Fallston coach Pat Mull said after dropping the season opener. “We got some shots we liked and he made some really good saves.”
Time and again Barger negated Cougar shots on net, turning possessions around and keeping the home team at bay. He finished with 15 saves, the type of net-protecting performance that can suck the life out of an otherwise potent group of attackers. Or in Mull’s words: “It wears on you and you start pressing.”
John Carroll under this new regime is a team that translated its sideline barking, counting opponent’s passes aloud, and Rick Flair “Woo’s” into a forceful two-way attack on the field. Waldt said the goal of his program is to be mentally and physically tougher than foes.
That and an ability to stay even keeled, something they worked on all preseason and through the start of the season. Waldt said it was halftime of the Good Council game where their ability to stay unruffled took center stage. Where he realized his team could check that box.
The Patriots opened with a 5-1 lead in hostile territory. But a 9-0 run turned the tide. “No panic,” Waldt said. “Coaches weren’t panicking. Kids weren’t panicking. And we started to crawl back.”
Despite that loss, Waldt noticed a solidarity in his group that he expects to be beneficial as the season wears on. Certainly something that kept their foot on the gas against Fallston, particularly with fourth quarter goals from Rizzo and Jackson Harcarick that sealed the win.
“It’s been a lot of fun,” Waldt said. “We’ve got an incredible senior class that wants to compete and wants to win. They know they can win, they just gotta continue to believe in the coaching system, the schemes that we’re putting in and just do the little things right.”
In the loss, Fallston spent much of the night shedding early season mistakes. The reigning Class 1A state champs opened against a notoriously tough opponent, fell behind early losing a slew of ground balls and struggling to pin one past Barger.
“We weren’t good enough,” Mull said. “We got beat in a lot of areas. We got get to the drawing board and figure out some things. We’ll be fine. I’m convinced of that.”
Fallston was in this spot last year. It was an overtime loss on the same field against the same team. It went on to win the state championship two months later. Mull, although dejected by the season-opening woes, has full confidence in his group.
“There’s a lot of returning leadership and a lot of talent,” he said. “It’s up to me and the coaching staff to find the right pieces to the puzzle, figure out who needs to go where and what’s the best rotation of guys to get out there and give us the most success.”
John Carroll – 3 3 2 2 – 10
Fallston – 1 1 2 0 – 4
Goals: JC — Rizzuto 3, Riley 3, Boltz 2, Sobieralski, Harcarick; F — Nikola 2, King, Swartzendruber. Saves: JC — Barger 15; F — Mills 9.