By Derek Toney
TopLaxRecruits.com, Posted 4/26/15

TOWSON, Md. – After his team’s Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association victory over McDonogh School (MD) Saturday afternoon, Loyola Blakefield coach Jack Crawford was asked what’s been the difference in this season’s squad.

“This is very skilled team,” said Crawford. “The seniors on this team have been through very serious trials.”.

After uneven play the past couple regular seasons in MIAA A Conference play, Loyola has gotten off to an undefeated start, extended with a 13-8 decision over the Eagles.

University of Penn recruit Alex Roesner scored five goals for Loyola, and Johns Hopkins-bound Cole Williams added three goals and an assist. Barrett Sutley finished with a hat trick for McDonogh and Jackson Morrill scored twice.

The Dons (9-1 overall, 6-0 MIAA A, 14th in Epoch Lacrosse Rankings) grabbed command in the second half, moving a full two-game ahead of the pack in the nation’s toughest league. The top six teams in the standings advance to next month’s playoffs.

Loyola, which won the league title in 2013 despite losing its final three regular season matches, won just seven MIAA A regular season games over the prior two seasons.

“We’re playing great lacrosse right now. I think we’re playing as a team and we all think we can win,” said Roesner. “Having a lot of young guys, I don’t think they really realize what’s going on, they’re just coming out here playing hard every day.”

The Dons didn’t trailed after scoring five straight goals, spanning the latter portion of the first half to early third. University of Virginia recruit Ryan Conrad, one of the nation’s top senior prospect, had two goals and an assist and junior attack Nick Goles scored twice.

Winning nearly every groundball, Loyola established a 3-0 lead after an unassisted tally by Conrad early in the second. McDonogh (10-4, 4-2 MIAA A, 11th in Epoch Lacrosse Rankings) answered with four straight goals including man-up tallies from Sutley and Morrill to gain the lead.

Roesner’s unassisted tally sparked a three-goal retort by the Dons, who led 6-4 at halftime. The lead grew to 8-4 as Williams, who constantly had his way one-on-one against McDonogh longsticks with his 6-foot-3 agile frame, scored unassisted.

Loyola was in full command at 12-6 with 7:56 left in regulation after a Roesner strike off a pass from Goles. Roesner got his fifth foul on an empty netter with three minutes remaining.

McDonogh coach Andy Hilgartner was disappointed with his team’s inability to match Loyola’s physicality.

“We didn’t respect their athleticism in the way we played. We didn’t put our head down and our nose down to go after tough ground balls,” said Hilgartner. “We knew it was going to be a very physically stressful game and we weren’t up for that today.”

Despite losing senior goalie Acie Newton to a season-ending injury and meshing a young defensive unit, Loyola has been the most consistent entity in the MIAA A.

“They’ve been through a season where we got to a championship game and got blown out by Calvert Hall. They’ve been through a season where we were lucky to get into the playoffs and we won,” said Crawford, whose led Loyola to three MIAA A titles. “Last year, we didn’t qualify, so there’s been a lot of peaks and valleys. Now, they know how to manage the emotion of the game.”

Loyola Blakefield 13, McDonogh School 8

McDonogh 0 4 2 2 – 8
Loyola 2 4 3 4 – 13

Goals: McDonogh – Barrett Sutley 3, Jackson Morrill 2, Robert Clark, Jason Sarro, Connor Young; Loyola – Alex Roesner 5, Ryan Conrad 3, Cole Williams 3, Nick Goles
Assists: McDonogh – Robby Black 2, Clark 2; Loyola – Conrad, Goles, Robbie Olsen, Roesner

Saves: McDonogh – Jacob Stover 10; Loyola – Jake Stout 10