The noteworthy lacrosse trends for 1995 include: a possible third straight county title for Centennial; the return of an unusual number of outstanding offensive players; more players than ever committed to play at the college level; and continued turnover in the coaching ranks.
This year also marks the return of the varsity Wilde Lake lacrosse team after a one-year hiatus due to lack of participants.
State Class 3A-4A finalist Centennial ended up as county tri-champs with Glenelg and Oakland Mills last season, after suffering a surprising upset at the sticks of Oakland Mills. The Eagles averaged 9.5 goals and allowed five.
This season the Eagles should be even stronger. All but two starters are back. And they've picked up two transfers at midfield, Dave Peek from Chicago and Jason Newman from Mount St. Joseph where he was a leading scorer.
"We're more experienced this year so we'll be letting them play more on their own and make decisions," coach Mike Siegert said. "This is a team dominated by seniors."
Oakland Mills is expected to offer Centennial its toughest challenge, followed by Mount Hebron.
But Mount Hebron graduated its All-County goalkeeper, Sean Buchanon, and Oakland Mills graduated its top two scorers, Dan Hart and Chris Cosentino.
Scoring is one area that the league should excel at this season. Eight of the top 12 scorers from last season are back.
Centennial returns Dave Saunders (36 goals, 17 assists), Tony Harding (24, 21) and Rob Hauff (22, 22). Saunders was extremely accurate, shooting 69 percent (35-for-81).
Hauff already is Centennial's career leader in assists with 80. And he is 10 goals away from the career scoring lead. He led the county with 170 ground balls.
The Centennial co-captain and The Baltimore Sun's Howard County Player of the Year saw his offensive output drop last season after he switched from attack to midfield. Hauff's sophomore numbers were 42 goals and 52 assists.
Iggy Levelev (29, 20) is a potent scorer who returns for Oakland Mills, and his numbers are expected to soar.
Mount Hebron's Scott Baughman (25, 28), whom many coaches consider the best overall player in the county, would have had much better numbers if not for a shoulder injury that shortened his season to 10 games.
The first-team All-County midfielder won 70 percent (80-for-114) of his faceoffs and scooped up 109 ground balls, including a school-record 17 against Centennial.
