Landon Lacrosse 10 Bullis 5

Bullis hit Bordley Stadium at Triplett Field full of expectations, given the IL cover article by Christian Sweezey. As lacrosse’s acknowledged leading journalist put it:

The talented junior class provides more than depth. It includes attackman Connor Shellenberger, IL’s No. 1 recruit in the class who has committed to Virginia and transferred this past fall from St. Anne’s-Belfield (Va.); linemate Robert Shain, who is committed to Penn, and two-way midfielder Bryson Shaw, who will play football at Wisconsin after originally committing to play lacrosse at Maryland and briefly considering playing both sports for the Terps.

The Bulldogs came with a gaudy 7-2 record only losses were to highly rated teams and their O averaged 11 goals a game.

The visitors first quarter was a barrage of shots, reminiscent of the Brown O when Coach Tiffany (now at UVa) installed a quick paced attack (a Bullis alumnus was the #2 scorer then).

Mo Sillah created a turnover and  converted it to a fast break. Zach Johnson showed his speed/power dodge for a goal @8:08.

The gold team from Potomac (the IAC has more than one Bulldog mascot; what are the other 2?) recorded their first goal at 4:49.

Garrett Kurtz, whose speed was a major portion of the Bear offense, generated confusion in the opposing D and Joey Epstein cut into a hole among the Gold D. He received the pass and in a single sweep of his crosse best the Bullis goalie @ 2:45. Soon thereafter using his series of Mixmaster (right spin left reverse…) moves, Joey E “spinned” (spun) his opponent into confusion and beat the visiting netminder @ 1:11.

The junior from Charlottesville got acquainted with Mo Sillah and Drew Wellington. Yes, once in a while, he would make a juke and create separation. But, somehow the two fleet Bears would negate the advantage before the shooter could fire. The cohesive Landon defense—poles, LSMs and middies—contributed to the shutoff by showing when the other #1 made a move. After 36 minutes, the No. 1 2020 recruit had one assist.

It is also important to recognize that the home team used its depth—more than the first middies and a rotation of Long Poles. Getting them on the field early helped create an advantage later in the game.

END OF 1^ST QUARTER BEARS 3 BULLDOGS 1

Will Bou (15/18 at X) started the second period with another win which turned into a Bear fast break. Joey E quarterbacked the ball GLE (left) and saw, through a thicket of sticks, John Geppert, who caught the pass and unleashed a low shot for a goal @11:03.

The gold team scored a goal at 8:51. Soon thereafter the visitors were deemed to have fowled the home team and the Bears’ EMO worked. John connected with Graham Hertzberg for a goal @ 6:35.

Momentum could have made an abrupt turn to the visitors when a misguided pass ended in an opponent’s stick with the Bear goalie out of position. Miraculously, perhaps more technically “superathletically”, Mitch Laughlin threw his body at the goal-headed Bullis shot—SAVE; one of 16 for the game.

To put a “.” at the end of period #2, Joey E had back-to-back tallies @3:00 and @ 1:41.

HALFTIME BEARS 7 BULLDOGS 2

Joey notched his 5^thto start the 3^rd period. Another man advantage set up a pass from Joey E to John whose blast rippled the nets @ 8:38.

The gold team replied with consecutive goals at 2:34 and then 0:08.9

 END OF 3^RD PERIOD BEARS 9 BULLDOGS 4

A midfield play worked moving the ball from John to an open Garrett who beat the 2^nd Bullis goalie for the Bears double digit goal @10:29. The goal team earned its 5^th goal at 7:45.

FINAL SCORE BEARS 10 BULLDOGS 5

KHARI BATEN “THAT’S A BEAR” AWARDS

Joey Epstein

Mitch Laughlin

Will Bou

Ryan Giles

Drew Wellington&Mo Sillah

 Next game 4/10 4:30pm Northern undefeated (5-0, averaging 19.4 GAA; 2017 18-2, winning MD 32 South-1 last year)