Mustangs

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.

No. 4 Stevenson has won two consecutive games without Dimitri Pecunes, but the freshman goalkeeper could return for Saturday's road contest at Middle Atlantic Conference rival Widener. Coach Paul Cantabene said the sprained AC joint in Pecunes' shoulder that he sustained in the first quarter of the Mustangs' eventual 14-13 overtime loss to No. 13 Roanoke on April 9 is improving. He is expected to test his shoulder in practice Thursday afternoon, and Cantabene said he is “optimistic” that Pecunes could play against the Pride.

Each time Howard's Cody Ford steps onto the field, he is expected to score. The man-up specialist for the Lions took full advantage of his limited minutes on Wednesday. The junior attackman scored four times, including the game-winning goal in overtime, propelling Howard to an 8-7 victory over host Marriotts Ridge in a pivotal Howard County lacrosse matchup. The Lions improved to 7-1 overall and 4-1 in the league, while the Mustangs dropped to 5-3 and 3-3. Senior Sam Hebner scored four goals for Marriotts Ridge, which was coming off a heartbreaking 7-6 loss in triple overtime to Reservoir last Friday.

After losing three of its past five games, with all three losses to Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association A Conference opponents, Loyola's baseball team needed to turn things around. It did. Winner Mason Kapelanski pitched a three-hit shutout and the Dons (12-7, 4-3) blanked McDonogh, 10-0, on Saturday. The Eagles (1-9) suffered their sixth straight loss. Conor Reynolds (2-for-2) had a double, a homer and four RBIs, and James O'Malley (3-for-4) had a double for Loyola.

  With first place on the line, Penn State (9-3, 4-0 Colonial Athletic Association) used a 6-1 run to take a four-goal lead in the third quarter that it would not relinquish en route to a 10-8 win over visiting Towson on Saturday. The Tigers (7-6, 3-1) entered the match on a four-game winning streak but couldn't hold off a five-goal effort by the Nittany Lions' TJ Sanders. UMBC 13, Stony Brook 12: The Retrievers (5-6, 2-1 America East) rallied to overtake the Seawolves (6-6, 1-2)

Paul Cantabene was not entirely sure how the Stevenson players would react after dropping a 14-13 overtime decision to Roanoke on Tuesday night. But as the No. 3 Mustangs prepare to dip back into Middle Atlantic Conference play with a visit from Albright this Saturday at Mustang Stadium in Owings Mills, the head coach is hoping that the team practices and plays with an undercurrent of anger. “I think we need to start playing a little more angrily,” Cantabene said Wednesday. “In my time here, this is one of our nicer teams.

Richard Lachlan scored the game-tying goal with 1:20 left in regulation and then struck in overtime to lift the No. 16 Roanoke men's lacrosse team to a 14-13 victory over No. 3 Stevenson on Tuesday night at Kerr Stadium in Salem, Va. The Mustangs (11-2) suffered their first loss in three overtime games this season and the first since a 14-13 loss at Salisbury on May 23, 2010, in the semifinals of the NCAA Division III championship. Junior Chris Dashiell totaled a season-high six points with three goals and three assists for Stevenson, which saw its five-game winning streak end. Tuesday's game featured three ties and four lead changes.

After defeating three Middle Atlantic Conference opponents, Stevenson breaks up its league slate with a non-conference tilt with Roanoke Tuesday night. The game was initially scheduled to be played at Mustang Stadium in Owings Mills on Wednesday, March 6, but a storm forced the contest to be postponed. Finding a later date proved impossible until Stevenson offered to travel to Salem, Va., and both sides agreed to Tuesday night at Donald J. Kerr Stadium. “We wanted to keep the game,” Mustangs coach Paul Cantabene said Monday.