No. 9 Loyola Blakefield lacrosse earns final MIAA A playoff spot with 12-8 win over No. 8 St. Paul’s

On an ideal Friday afternoon in Towson, Loyola Blakefield lacrosse played rival St. Paul’s in front of a big home crowd with a chance to wrap up the last of the coveted playoff spots in the Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association A Conference.

The No. 9 Dons took hold early and never let go. Mason Cook ignited the attack with a five goals and one assist and a collective defensive effort led by Peter Laake paved the way for a rewarding 12-8 win over the No. 8 Crusaders.

With one game left in the regular season, Loyola (8-7) secures sixth place with a 5-4 conference record while eliminating St. Paul’s (7-7, 3-6) from contention. The playoff positioning will be finalized after the regular-season finale Tuesday, but six teams have been determined: First place Boys’ Latin, followed by Calvert Hall, McDonogh, Archbishop Spalding, Gilman and Loyola.

The Dons are excited to be included and liked the way they got in with one of the season’s most complete performances Friday.

“Credit to our kids. They were locked in at practice and then executed in the game. I think we have a good group of kids that want to continue to play together,” Dons first-year coach Will Haus said. “We knew we were going against a really, really talented offensive group and we told them it was going to take a little more mental focus, so they locked in and played together as one.”

After surrendering the game’s first goals, the Dons scored three straight and never lost the lead. Luke Rush scored with 2:05 to play before halftime to make it 6-3.

After St. Paul’s junior Luke Baer (two goals) cut the lead to 6-4 early in the third quarter, the Dons scored the next four goals. Cook’s finish with 10:48 to play in the fourth quarter put Loyola in control at 10-4.

Laake and Brady Nicholas helped frustrate the Crusaders’ attack, while starting goalie Jesse D’Alonzo made six stops.

“It was a good team win — we played tough,” Laake said. “Most ground balls were ours, we put the ball in the back of the net and, on defense, we really played together.

“It was one of those games where we knew going in there was a lot going into it because we both had playoff spots on the line, so that definitely was a big motivation. Two days of good practice, a lot of film, so I think we all felt comfortable with the game plan going into it.”

Rush finished with three goals and Ty Bleach added two goals and one assist for Loyola. Grady O’Day had a two-goal, one-assist effort for St. Paul’s, while goalie Gordie Smith made 10 saves.

“Their defense is tremendous. They’re aggressive and in your face and we’re young and made some inexperienced plays in a big game,” St. Paul’s coach Steve Settembrino said. “But our guys fought, they played hard and we’ll grow from this. Credit to Loyola, they’re a heck of a team and congrats to Coach Haus.”

Both teams close out the regular season with homes games Tuesday afternoon. St. Paul’s hosts No. 1 Boys’ Latin at 4:15 and Loyola takes on Calvert Hall at 5.

St. Paul’s — 1-2-1-4 — 8

Loyola — 2-4-3-3 — 12

Goals: SP — Baer 2, Viscarrondo 2, O’Day 2, Iannuonto, Bowman; LB — M. Cook 5, Rush 3, Bleach 2, Mattheu, Hill

Assists: SP — Iannuonto, O’Day, Hedrick; LB — M. Cook, Bleach, Burch

Saves: SP — Smith 10; LB — D’Alonzo 6, S. Cook 1