Perfect Season

Loyola Blakefield's freshman soccer team completed a perfect 15-0-2 record this season in claiming the Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association A Conference title. The Dons also prevailed over B Conference junior varsity squads from St. Paul's and Boy's Latin. After starting the season with five consecutive wins, a trip to Georgetown Prep in Bethesda was the first real challenge for Loyola. "Both teams were undefeated, and we were unsure how the game would play out. It turned out to be extremely physical.

MIAA A Conference lacrosse championship No. 1 Boys' Latin (19-0) vs. No. 4 Loyola (12-8) When: Friday, 8 p.m. Where: Johnny Unitas Stadium, Towson University Coaches: Bob Shriver, Boys' Latin; Jack Crawford, Loyola PLAYERS TO WATCH Boys' Latin: Colin Heacock, Sr., A; Shack Stanwick, Jr., A; Mac Pons, Sr., D; Christian Knight, Sr., G Loyola: Devin McNamara, Sr., A; Alex Roesner, Soph., A;...

Orioles fans can be a chronically grumpy lot. They tend to roll their eyes and sigh loudly when the subject of baseball comes up. That's what perpetual fourth-place finishes can do to otherwise decent people. (To this one can only add, thank heavens for the Eastern Division's last-place Tampa Bay Devil Rays, without whom our collective mood would be left in the dark spaces reserved for the latest American Idol reject and Dick Cheney.) But today is different. It's Opening Day. Opening Day does strange things to baseball fans.

Johns Hopkins-bound Shack Stanwick had five points (two goals, three assists) and No. 1 Boys' Latin completed a perfect regular season in boys lacrosse Tuesday with a 13-8 win over No. 5 St.Paul's. The Lakers finish the regular season with an overall record of 18-0 and a 9-0 mark in the Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association AConference. The last time Boys' Latin had a perfect season was 2006; there have been only five undefeated teams in the MIAA since plastic sticks were introduced into the sport.

Johns Hopkins-bound Shack Stanwick had five points (two goals, three assists) and No. 1 Boys' Latin completed a perfect regular season in boys lacrosse Tuesday with a 13-8 win over No. 5 St.Paul's. The Lakers finish the regular season with an overall record of 18-0 and a 9-0 mark in the Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association AConference. The last time Boys' Latin had a perfect season was 2006; there have been only five undefeated teams in the MIAA since plastic sticks were introduced into the sport.

On Thanksgiving Day 29 years ago, Vince Lombardi brought his unbeaten Green Bay Packers into Detroit to play a division rival his team had beaten by two points in their first meeting that season.In one of the most memorable Thanksgiving Day games, the Lions, who had lost to the Packers, 9-7, in the dramatic first meeting (Lombardi wrote his book "Run To Daylight" about that victory), repeatedly sacked Bart Starr and beat the 10-0 Packers, 26-14.Lombardi took the loss to the 8-2 Lions in stride.

On Thanksgiving Day 29 years ago, Vince Lombardi brought his unbeaten Green Bay Packers into Detroit to play a division rival his team had beaten by two points in their first meeting that season.In one of the most memorable Thanksgiving Day games, the Lions, who had lost to the Packers, 9-7, in the dramatic first meeting (Lombardi wrote his book "Run To Daylight" about that victory), repeatedly sacked Bart Starr and beat the 10-0 Packers, 26-14.Lombardi took the loss to the 8-2 Lions in stride.

Massachusetts has a date with Xavier, not destiny.That's what John Calipari wants you to believe, but he doesn't always stick to the one-day-at-a-time script. Not as long as the Minutemen maintain a perfect record, and Calipari and his players keep dropping references to the last game of the season.Top-ranked UMass and its 20-0 record are in Cincinnati today for a regionally televised Atlantic 10 Conference game against Xavier. The Minutemen shrug when 38-0 is mentioned, but that's the record they could have on April Fools' Day, when the NCAA title game will be played at the Meadowlands.

Howard's Brian Neal has come as close to a perfect season as possible so far.Not only is the senior unbeaten at 24-0, but he's yielded only one point -- and that was because his coach ordered him to allow an opponent to escape."

MIAA A Conference lacrosse championship No. 1 Boys' Latin (19-0) vs. No. 4 Loyola (12-8) When: Friday, 8 p.m. Where: Johnny Unitas Stadium, Towson University Coaches: Bob Shriver, Boys' Latin; Jack Crawford, Loyola PLAYERS TO WATCH Boys' Latin: Colin Heacock, Sr., A; Shack Stanwick, Jr., A; Mac Pons, Sr., D; Christian Knight, Sr., G Loyola: Devin McNamara, Sr., A; Alex Roesner, Soph., A;...

Owning a perfect record can be a double-edged sword. There's the excitement and attention that results from staying unblemished, but there's also the knowledge that opponents are eager to end the run. Both Stevenson and Cornell fell from the ranks of the unbeaten Tuesday. The No. 2 Mustangs dropped a 7-6 decision to No. 9 Tufts and the No. 2 Big Red were nipped, 9-8, by No. 20 Bucknell. Those setbacks are reminders of what awaits 6-0 Washington College as it prepares to dive into the Centennial Conference portion of its regular-season schedule.

Loyola Blakefield's freshman soccer team completed a perfect 15-0-2 record this season in claiming the Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association A Conference title. The Dons also prevailed over B Conference junior varsity squads from St. Paul's and Boy's Latin. After starting the season with five consecutive wins, a trip to Georgetown Prep in Bethesda was the first real challenge for Loyola. "Both teams were undefeated, and we were unsure how the game would play out. It turned out to be extremely physical.

Late in the second half of Thursday's Class 3A girls soccer state title game, River Hill junior defender Callie Allen had a chance to score the goal that would win the championship for the Hawks, but her shot was turned away by C. Milton Wright sophomore goalkeeper Stacy Venanzi. When Allen had another chance in front in overtime, she converted for her fourth goal of the season and first game-winner. Haily Emrick's free kick from the left side eventually found its way to Allen, who finished off the chance with 3:47 left in the first 10-minute overtime period that gave the No. 1 Hawks a thrilling 1-0 win over the No. 5 Mustangs at UMBC Stadium.

As Garrison Forest fans waved posters and made sure to sit in the same bleacher seats at Goucher College they've sat in for the past two championship seasons, the No. 1 Grizzlies field hockey team took care of business on the field. Garrison Forest withstood a ferocious attack by No. 2-seeded Bryn Mawr and then pushed in goals by Bayly Jarrett and Erica Marshall to beat the Mawrtians, 2-0, and win the Interscholastic Athletic Association A Conference championship for the fifth time in six years.

The Towson High School JV Boys Soccer Team completed a perfect season — a 9-0 record — with the team's recent 1-0 victory over Eastern Tech High School in the Baltimore County Championship. The lone goal was scored by sophomore midfielder Peter Wieczorek. The JV Generals, led by first year coach Phil Sheehey and captained by sophomores Alex Harrison, AJ Bosse and Henri Colombat, surrendered only a single goal over the course of the season. Team members, in addition to Wieczorek, Harrison, Bosse and Colombat, include Kyle Dixon, John Booher, Clark Benassi, Jack Thorne, Stephen Palo, Matthew Hayden, Aiden Devaney, Zakir Bulmer, Colin Roche, Wyatt Young, Ryan Lightfoot-Johnson, Noah Schweitzer, Julian Salmon, Cameron White, Jack Ware, Andrew Cianos, Adam Cines, Riley German, Jack Jahries and James Miller.

The Severna Park boys soccer team spent the entire game against pesky South River looking for the goal that would help make history in Wednesday's regular-season finale in Edgewater. With under two minutes to play, it finally came. Senior forward Kyle Albach gained room on the right side after taking a pass across from Daniel Kwon and was able to find the lower left corner from 15 yards to give the No. 6 Falcons a 1-0 win over the Seahawks and complete a perfect regular season. In going 14-0, Severna Park closed with six straight shutouts and 10 overall, outscoring its opponents 43-5.  The Falcons will take on second-place North County in the Anne Arundel County championship game, set for 5 p.m. Tuesday at North County.

The Towson High School JV Boys Soccer Team completed a perfect season — a 9-0 record — with the team's recent 1-0 victory over Eastern Tech High School in the Baltimore County Championship. The lone goal was scored by sophomore midfielder Peter Wieczorek. The JV Generals, led by first year coach Phil Sheehey and captained by sophomores Alex Harrison, AJ Bosse and Henri Colombat, surrendered only a single goal over the course of the season. Team members, in addition to Wieczorek, Harrison, Bosse and Colombat, include Kyle Dixon, John Booher, Clark Benassi, Jack Thorne, Stephen Palo, Matthew Hayden, Aiden Devaney, Zakir Bulmer, Colin Roche, Wyatt Young, Ryan Lightfoot-Johnson, Noah Schweitzer, Julian Salmon, Cameron White, Jack Ware, Andrew Cianos, Adam Cines, Riley German, Jack Jahries and James Miller.

Chargers (7-2) at Broncos (7-2) -- It's Round 1 of the battle for the AFC West title. The Chargers showed yesterday that they're never out of a game. Colts (9-0) at Cowboys (5-4) -- The Colts will begin to feel the heat of a perfect season if they win in Dallas.

Kudos to the Loyola Greyhounds and Maryland Terrapins for putting Baltimore and Maryland back at the apex of men's Division I college lacrosse ("Charles Street bragging rights," May 30). But where's the love for the Salisbury mens' lacrosse team? What The Sun seems to consistently overlook are the tremendous feats the Division III Salisbury Gulls mens' lacrosse program has amassed. Head Coach Jim Berkman is the winningest mens' college lacrosse coach in the history of the game (that includes all divisions)