Archbishop Spalding and Calvert Hall to battle for the nation's most coveted lacrosse title

Cavaliers and Cardinals are set to face-off for the MIAA A Conference crown on Friday night

With semifinals victories on Tuesday night at Navy-Marine Corps Stadium in Annapolis, Archbishop Spalding and Calvert Hall earned their way to Friday's MIAA A Conference lacrosse championship game at Towson University's Johnny Unitas Stadium. / Derek Toney

One team is on the verge of a historic breakthrough. The other seeks a return atop the championship mountain.

Archbishop Spalding and Calvert Hall will play for the coveted MIAA A Conference lacrosse title after semifinal victories Tuesday evening at Navy-Marine Corps Stadium in Annapolis. The third-seeded Cardinals defeated No. 2 seed McDonogh, 12-10, while the No. 1 seed Cavaliers pulled away from fourth-seeded Boys’ Latin School, 12-6, in the opener.

Friday evening at 7:30 at Towson University’s Johnny Unitas Stadium, Calvert Hall and Spalding will decide who’s best in the nation’s toughest high school boys lacrosse league.

The Cavaliers (18-1 overall), the consensus No. 1 team in the nation, avenged their only blemish so far this spring as Bucknell University-bound Joey Matassa scored four goals and junior Brady Mollot handed out six assists. Gordie Bennett and Ethan Ostrowski each added two goals.

Spalding put the Lakers away with a four-goal fourth quarter blitz, extending its winning streak to 11. Boys’ Latin defeated the Cavaliers, 9-8, in the MIAA A opener for both back on March 28.

“I’m proud of the way we came out and we stayed focused on the next play, that’s been our motto all season,” said Spalding coach Evan Hockel. “They (Boys’ Latin) had a nice little run in the third quarter, but we responded in the fourth.

Spalding, which struggled against the Lakers’ zone in the first meeting, was ready in the rematch, building a 7-2 advantage in the opening half. Boys’ Latin closed to within 8-5 entering the fourth, but the Cavaliers, seeking their first MIAA A championship, showed why they’ve been the best team this spring.

Virginia-bound long stick Robby Hopper scooped up a ground ball off the face-off and passed to Mollot who quickly got it to Matassa for the finish. Seconds later, goalie Jacob Neuman’s stop turned into a transition score by Carson Blair. 

Bennett, who will play for Hobart next spring, converted a pass from Matassa, who put in an empty net goal, giving Spalding a commanding 12-5 advantage with 8 minutes, 2 seconds left in regulation.

“We came out in the fourth quarter ready to go,” said Mollot, a junior attack who’s committed to Maryland. 

Boys’ Latin (13-5), looking to return to the final for the third time in five seasons, got two goals and an assist from Maryland-bound attack Matt Higgins. The Lakers, who overcame a 5-2 first half deficit in the regular season meeting with Spalding, trailed 5-1 inside the first 11 minutes Tuesday.

Boys’ Latin was unable to recover. 

“They got on us pretty quickly…when you have a team like that that’s super-focused and driven, it’s a hard hole to climb out of,” said Lakers coach Brian Farrell. “We were getting there, but we just couldn’t get it to one or two. That’s a really good team and we just didn’t have our best day.”

For the first time since 2021 when Boys’ Latin was the last team in the standing, there will be a new MIAA A champion as Calvert Hall ended McDonogh’s bid for an unprecedented fourth straight crown. Senior attack Peyton Forte, who will play for Navy next spring, scored three goals for the Cardinals, and Jack Williams added two scores.

Calvert Hall (15-2) used a four-goal second quarter run and tough goalie play from senior goalie Brady Stangle in the fourth to punch its first title game appearance since 2023. Will Schwanke and junior attack Ben Hanover finished with a goal and an assist.

“We have different guys who can do different things,” said Cardinals coach Bryan Kelly.

Trailing early in the second quarter, Calvert Hall got four goals from four different players in a 54-second span and never trailed again. McDonogh pulled to within 10-9 early in the fourth, but Williams’s behind-the-back score off a pass from Hanover and Forte’s unassisted score, extended the Cardinals’ advantage 12-9  with 5:46 left in regulation.

Stangle, who will play for Fairfield next spring, stopped four shots in the final frame, denying Brendan Millon with 74 seconds remaining. Calvert Hall ran out the remaining time, punching its ticket for a five-minute bus trip to Unitas Stadium Friday evening. 

The Cardinals lost to McDonogh, 10-9, last month.

“Winning this game means a lot to us,” said Stangle. “We all did the little things.”

“They just made the plays tonight,” said Eagles coach Andy Hilgartner. “They outplayed us.”

Millon, the country’s No. 1 senior recruit headed to Virginia, finished with five goals and two assists in his final game for McDonogh (12-6). He sparked McDonogh’s championship run four years ago, scoring the winning goal as time expired to beat Boys’ Latin in the semifinals.

Hilgartner was disappointed his seniors won’t get a shot at history. 

“Our guys were so incredibly resilient this year battling through a lot of injuries,” said Hilgartner. “I couldn’t be more proud of our guys.”

The Cardinals received yeoman efforts from Yale-bound face-off specialist Ben Cuomo (goal) and senior long stick Jermaine Anderson (North Carolina) whose second quarter goal gave them the lead for good. 

Calvert Hall now stands a win away from its first MIAA A title since 2019 when it became the first team to claim three straight A titles. The Cardinals lost to Spalding, 11-8, back on April 22.

“We always preach during the playoffs, ‘just one more day, focus on the present,’” said Stangle. “We’re going to practice, get focused and be ready for Friday.”

An opportunity to complete its ascension with a first MIAA A championship is within reach for Spalding. In 2021, the Cavaliers reached their first final in their inaugural A postseason trip. They lost to McDonogh in last year’s semifinals at Navy.

The Anne Arundel County school will look Friday evening to stake its claim to a mythical national championship, the first by a MIAA A program since Calvert Hall was ranked No. 1 by Inside Lacrosse after claiming the 2019 crown.

“It goes all the way back to the 2021 team. We owe it to them. We owe that team and every other Spalding team in history this championship,” said Hopper. “We need to bring home that ring for them to honor them and honor ourselves.”