April 13, 2006

When considering rivalry games, the natural thought is that they tend to come at the end of the season. But that's not always the case in lacrosse, as evidenced by the boys' clash between Maryland's Georgetown Prep and Landon. The two privates, located just a few miles apart in the suburbs outside Washington, D.C., squared off Tuesday, before an estimated crowd of 2,000, with Prep's depth and experience proving to be the difference in a 10-5 win. A balanced offense featured eight players with at least one goal for Prep, which improved to 12-0 on the season and defeated its arch-rival for the fourth time in the last seven meetings.

"We're disappointed with the result, but they are an excellent team," said Landon's Head Coach Rob Bordley. "We hung with them for a while, but missed some good opportunities. They played more kids than we did. Maybe we ran out of gas."

Part of what makes a rivalry special is the environment surrounding the game, and reports from those in attendance said that Tuesday's atmosphere met expectations, with strong turnouts from both student bodies and lots of healthy verbal interaction across the field from supporters of both teams. (WE CAN"T HEAR YOU - clap - clap - clap - clap -clap.)

Bordley noted that in these types of games, the coaches must also do their part to ensure that the atmosphere remains civil, both on and off the field.

"Coach (Kevin) Giblin and I spoke last summer about how we can set the tone," said Bordley. "If we model the behavior we want to see from our players and the fans, then this can remain a great rivalry without any ugliness. It's nice to play an intense game without any negative aspects."

A number of other traditional Maryland boys' showdowns loom just around the corner, including St. Mary's vs. Severn, and Calvert Hall vs. Loyola, both later this month. May clashes include Boys' Latin vs. St. Paul's and Dulaney vs. Towson.

Not to be overlooked further north, one of Long Island's best rivalries also takes center-stage this week when Manhasset visits Garden City. Both teams bring 5-0 records into Saturday's game.

• New York's Yorktown continues its ambitious non-league schedule this week with a match-up against defending Connecticut state champion Darien. Yorktown has already played Maryland's Dulaney and Long Island's Chaminade, with games still to come against Ward Melville, St. Anthony's and Wilton.

• In Connecticut, a new boys play-off system will allow at least two more teams to have a shot at a title. The two-division format has been replaced by a traditional class breakdown system, based on enrollments. The 76 lacrosse-playing schools have been divided into three divisions, with 24 in Class L, and 26 each in Class M and Class S.

Traditional state powers Wilton, Darien and New Canaan are all competing in Class M, while Greenwich, Fairfield Prep, Cheshire, and Glastonbury are expected to be the top contenders in Class L.

• Connecticut girls will remain in the two-division format, with 24 teams competing in Division I and 41 teams competing in Division II. New Fairfield and Somers, last year's Division II champion and runner-up, have moved to Division I in 2006.

• Want another sign of lacrosse's growth in Michigan? Two schools announced new field projects this week. Grand Haven High School will be breaking ground shortly on a new sports complex that will include a 1,000-seat synthetic field to be used for soccer and lacrosse only. The lacrosse field is in addition to a new 6,000-seat football stadium that the school is also building.

• Gabriel Richard High School in Ann Arbor will begin construction on a multi-purpose artificial turf complex that will house its lacrosse team as well as the football squad. The $850,000 project, which will include seating for up to 1,200 spectators, is expected to be ready for the 2007 lacrosse season. The team, 3-3 this season, currently plays all its games on the road.

Meanwhile, three-time defending boys' state champion Brother Rice appears to still be the class of the Wolverine state, with a 6-1 start that includes three wins against out-of-state competition. Its three in-state wins have come by a combined 50-5 count.

• St. Mary's High School in Lynn, Massachusetts isn't wasting time. Rather than getting its feet wet in junior varsity play for its new boys' and girls' teams this spring, the Spartans are jumping in right at the varsity level. At least they've got some depth with 45 girls and 33 boys suiting up during this debut season.

• At the other end of the Massachusetts spectrum, Duxbury, which has won the boys' state Division I title in three of the past four years, is off to a 3-0 start. Wellesley, last year's Division II runner-up, is 5-0, including a big early-season win over Medfield last week. On the girls' side, Framingham is off to a 6-0 start, all against in-state competition, including a narrow 12-11 win over highly-regarded Wellesley earlier this week.

• In New York, the West Genesee girls may be primed for another state title run. Looking for their first crown since three-peating from 2001-03, they're off to a 4-0 start that includes a 14-8 win over two-time defending state Class A champion Fayetteville-Manlius. Conversely, FM is off to a rocky 2-3 start that includes a 14-2 loss at Maryland powerhouse Mount Hebron last Saturday.

• And closing where we started, back in Maryland, the St. Mary's of Annapolis girls suffered their first loss of the season Tuesday, falling 10-8 to undefeated McDonogh after opening with ten straight wins. Despite the loss, the Saints may provide the strongest regular season threat to Mount Hebron's five-year, 83-game winning streak. The teams meet next Monday.