By Tom Peace
TopLaxRecruits.com, Posted 3/23/13
BALTIMORE – Justin Guterding had three goals and an assist and Garden City (NY) held off Loyola Blakefield (MD), 6-5, today in a special high school game played at the Seventh annual Konica Minolta Face-Off Classic at M&T Bank Stadium.
Garden City, the No. 2 ranked team by TopLaxRecruits.com, improved to 2-0 while Loyola Blakefield fell to 2-2.
“We are very excited for our kids, playing in this incredible atmosphere at M&T Bank Stadium,” said Garden City coach Steve Finnell. “The kids have been talking about it for a while and I think walking out there will be an experience they will remember forever.”
he Trojans seized the lead when Guterding (Duke) scored twice in the final seconds the first quarter, giving his club a 3-1 lead. Loyola responded on EMO as sophomore Ryan Conrad (UVA) fed Devin McNamara (Villanova) midway through the second quarter.
Guterding dished off to senior Lucas Clay for a 4-2 lead midway through the quarter and then longpole Eddie Blatz (Georgetown) made it 5-2 Trojans with 4:25 left in the half.
The Dons got closer late in the half when Tyler Llewellyn (Dickinson) made it 5-3, but, Cody George (Dartmouth) dodged from X to give the Trojans a 6-3 halftime edge.
The second half featured strong defense from both teams. Loyola garnered the lone goals late in the third quarter by Llewellyn and McNamara.
“We scouted them and watched film on them (Loyola) but you never know how athletic people are until you see them live,” Finnell said. “They have some very good athletes and holding them to five goals is impressive and (goalie) Danny Dolan did a nice job in the cage (12 saves).
“When you play the MIAA teams like Loyola everyone can shoot the lights out and I thought our defense really held up.”
Garden City sophomore face-off specialist James Sullivan was strong at the X for the Trojans. Acie Newton was solid in the cage for Loyola.