A mirthful Rob Scherr stood on Loyola's Hargadan Field, savoring his 19-save effort and a 9-5 victory yesterday that helped McDonogh continue to go where no Eagles program has gone before.
Not only was it McDonogh's first lacrosse win at third-ranked Loyola, but it also was the 13th straight victory for the Eagles (14-1) since a league-opening, double-overtime loss to then-No. 1 Gilman.
The decision also came on a day when McDonogh made its debut as the area's No. 1 lacrosse team, gaining the ranking for the first time in the program's history.
"[Loyola] crushed us here last year [11-3] and then again in overtime in the playoffs, but we avoided the upset," said Scherr, one of eight nonseniors who starts for McDonogh. "We've worked very hard to get to No. 1. Today, I think we proved we deserve it."
Gilman lost its No. 1 ranking last Tuesday after a one-goal, overtime loss to Loyola, which then lost to No. 7 Severn by one goal on Friday. McDonogh has faced every league team except Friday's opponent, No. 4 St. Paul's, which earlier routed Loyola, 13-6, at Loyola.
McDonogh, under sixth-year coach Jake Reed, entered the season having won only a combined five league games. Now, however, the Eagles are 7-1 against MIAA A Conference opponents with two league games remaining.
Attackmen Matt Primm and Ryan Floyd led McDonogh with two goals and an assist apiece, but the Eagles got contributions from almost everywhere on the field.
Primm credited midfielders Owen Daly (two goals), Brad Dumont (one goal, two assists) and James Disney (one goal) for "stepping up and running the offense," adding that even defender Joe Rosenbaum "came up and got some shots off."
"We're a very unselfish team," said attackman Bobby Benson.
"We [offense] played well against Boys' Latin [Friday's 16-15 win,]" Dumont said, "and the defense -- Joe Rosenbaum, Chris Bowman, Evan Weinberg -- they stepped up today."
For Loyola (10-3), T. J. Morton had two assists, with single goals from Brian Miller, Kyle Bell, Ricky Hayes, Pat Jackson and Devin Weatherly. Defender Ricky Schultz sparked Loyola's 12-5 advantage in faceoffs, but the Dons were continually foiled by Scherr.
Pub Date: 4/22/98
