Mustangs

The Interscholastic Athletic Association of Maryland A Conference girls lacrosse tournament gets underway in a few hours and, while No. 1 McDonogh is the overwhelming favorite, there could be a few surprises. Consider that four of the top A Conference teams were upset in their regular-season finales. No. 2 St. Paul's fell to No. 15 North Harford, 12-11; No. 7 Maryvale lost to No. 14 Archbishop Spalding, 12-10; No. 9 Severn lost to Notre Dame Prep, 15-13, in overtime; and No. 13 Mount de Sales lost to Catonsville, 13-12.

McDonogh's Miranda McCoy said her No. 1 Eagles learned an important lesson in Monday's scare at No. 5 Century - they don't want to get off to a slow start. The Eagles applied that lesson in Thursday's clash of the area's only two undefeated girls lacrosse teams, scoring three goals in the first two and a half minutes to spark a 19-9 victory over No. 6 Marriotts Ridge for their 88 t h straight victory. Those three early goals from Megan Whittle, Casey Black and Grace Muller were the opposite of what happened Monday at Century, when the Knights scored the first three goals and the Eagles had to rally for a 10-7 win. "We came out flat mentally against Century," McCoy said.

Goalkeeper Dimitri Pecunes started in Stevenson's 26-5 shellacking of Lycoming last Saturday, but played just the first quarter and did not record the win. The Baltimore native and Calvert Hall graduate is expected to play much longer in the team's home contest against Lebanon Valley in Wednesday night's semifinal of the Middle Atlantic Conference tournament. Coach Paul Cantabene said the sprained AC joint in Pecunes' shoulder that sidelined the freshman for three games is no longer an issue.

The senior All-Metro midfielder scored the game-winning goal in No. 6 Marriotts Ridge's 13-12 victory over archrival No. 8 Mount Hebron in the fourth overtime Friday night. She also scored a free-position goal with 1:02 left in regulation to tie the game at 11 and, in the first overtime, won the draw with 2.8 seconds left and assisted Jenna Kerr's buzzer-beating goal to tie at 12. Stukenberg finished with six goals and five assists to help the Mustangs (11-0) remain undefeated and take over sole possession of first place in the Howard County league.

When the calendar turns to April and May, the postseason becomes a pressing matter for those teams jockeying for a position in the NCAA tournament. For Stevenson, which is ranked No. 4 in the latest United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association poll, the road to the Division III NCAA tournament appears to be a one-lane thoroughfare as the Mustangs went 8-0 in the Middle Atlantic Conference and is poised to win the league tournament and the accompanying automatic qualifier. But where the team might land in the NCAA tournament is nearly as significant.

While the NCAA selection committee has Rating Percentage Index and strength-of-schedule rankings to review regarding the 16-team field of the NCAA Division I tournament, the committee in charge of the NCAA Division III version has another tool. The NCAA ranks contenders in the North and South regions, and the most recent list was released Wednesday. No. 4 Stevenson, No. 7 Salisbury and No. 10 Washington College are ranked in the top five of the South region. The Mustangs are ranked No. 3 with a 14-2 overall record and a 12-2 in-region mark.

Marriotts Ridge senior Zoe Stukenberg showed there was one key to the No. 8 Mustangs' 13-12 girls lacrosse win over archrival Mount Hebron that lasted into the fourth overtime: Don't quit. Stukenberg, an All-Metro midfielder headed to Maryland, scored not only the game-winning goal with 1:13 left in the fourth overtime period, but she also scored the tying goal with 1:02 left in regulation and assisted Jenna Kerr's buzzer-beating goal to tie the game at 12 in the first overtime. "We were dragging," Stukenberg said.

When C. Milton Wright and North Harford met in girls lacrosse Thursday night, both sides expected a close game. None of their previous seven meetings had been decided by more than four goals. Three of the last five were one-goal games. Early on, No. 3 C. Milton Wright appeared ready to buck that trend by running up a seven-goal lead, but the Mustangs needed that advantage to hold off the visiting Hawks for a 12-10 victory that clinched the Upper Chesapeake Bay Athletic Conference Chesapeake Division championship.

St. Paul's coach Brooke Kuhl-McClelland on Saturday found a way to keep high-powered C. Milton Wright from running wild on offense. Simply never let the No. 2 Mustangs start running to begin with. Using a ball-control offense featuring frequent one-on-ones and very few high-risk passes, No. 7 St. Paul's took control by holding the visiting Harford County team to just one goal in a mid-game span of more than 15 minutes, getting a game-high five goals from senior Shelby Wells in a 10-9 win. "We wanted to take away their transition.

When Stevenson was a member of the Capital Athletic Conference, the program took home regular-season crowns in 2009 and 2011. The No. 4 Mustangs have an opportunity for another league championship, but as members of the Middle Atlantic Conference. Stevenson (13-2 overall and 6-0 in the league) only have to defeat No. 16 Widener (9-4, 5-1) on Saturday night to capture the regular-season title, and coach Paul Cantabene said the accomplishment is a coveted honor. “Any time you can win a conference title, it's good for the program,” he said Thursday.