MIAA, WCAC and IAC lacrosse playoff preview

Regional and national powers collide for championship glory

The MIAA lacrosse playoffs get underway on Friday with No. 5 seed Loyola Blakefield visiting No. 4 Boys' Latin and No. 6 St. Paul's traveling to No. 3 Calvert Hall. Top seeds Archbishop Spalding and McDonogh have first round byes. / Photo courtesy of Jenny Nugent

The chase for the most coveted crown in high school boys lacrosse begins Friday.

The Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association (MIAA) A Conference playoffs, featuring six teams ranked in this week’s High School on SI DMV Top 25 rankings, starts with two opening round matches. 

No. 9 St. Paul’s School, the tourney's sixth-seed, travels to second-ranked and No. 3 seed Calvert Hall College. The Cardinals defeated St. Paul’s, 11-9 on April 25.

The other first round contest features No. 5 seed and seventh-ranked Loyola Blakefield at No. 5 and fourth-seeded Boys’ Latin School. The Lakers posted an 11-9 victory over the Dons on April 8.

The road moves to Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in Maryland’s state capital of Annapolis for the semifinals Tuesday. Top-ranked and No. 1 seed Archbishop Spalding, in search of its first MIAA A crown, takes on the Loyola/Boys’ Latin survivor.

No. 4 and second-seeded McDonogh School, looking to become the first team in the MIAA era to win four consecutive A Conference championships, will play the St. Paul’s/Calvert Hall winner. The semifinal winners advance to the title game at Towson University’s Unitas Stadium May 16. 

The MIAA B and C playoffs start Friday with opening round action. Archbishop Curley, in pursuit of a four-peat, is the top-seed in the B. Glenelg Country School is the No. 1 seed in the C.

The Interstate Athletic Conference championship will be decided Friday between third-ranked Landon School and No. 6 Bullis School. Landon, the No. 1 seed, will host. 

Landon, which has won 31 of 32 decisions dating back to last season, will seek their second straight IAC title and 34th overall.

The Washington Catholic Athletic Conference final four is on tap Friday. No. 4 seed and 14th-ranked Gonzaga College is at No. 11 and top-seeded DeMatha Catholic. Gonzaga is the defending champ.

The other semifinal features No. 13 and second-seeded Our Lady of Good Counsel hosting seventh-seed and 20th-ranked St. Mary’s Ryken. Ryken upset No. 12 St. John’s College, the second-seed, in the quarterfinals Tuesday.

The semifinal survivors will play for the championship Monday at Georgetown University’s Cooper Field.