Ellicott City Rivals Become Teammates for a Weekend

PRINCETON JUNCTION, N.J. -- Apart, they relish the days when one can deliver a Maryland-style beating to the other.   

Together -- as they are for a summer of lacrosse playing for Zingos HS Black -- the boys of , , Marriotts Ridge, South River and other area schools join for the common goal of playing at an All-Star level, with the hope of being noticed by top colleges.   

The Zingos spent the post-July 4 holiday weekend doing just that, competing in the annual Tri-Lax Summer Lacrosse Festival, held in Princeton Junction, N.J.

After four games against a Florida team and three New York teams, the Zingos won Game 1 of Sunday's playoff round.  

But their tournament ended in the next game, a grueling loss to the Wet Bandits, a team from Pennsylvania. The Zingos tied the game after being down by two goals, but gave up a score with 21 seconds left.   

"That was frustrating," said defenseman Jamie McLamb, a soon-to-junior at Mt. Hebron. "We played hard, but our defense broke down at the wrong time. But it's awesome to see how other teams play and how good they are. You learn from them and want to get better."   

Getting better is always the idea for McLamb, one of the younger members of the team who shares the dream of going to a Division 1 school. He joins Vikings teammates Adam Huber, Jake Stevens and Joe Valentine, who didn't attend the Tri-Lax tourney, on the Zingos.   

Unfortunately for the Vikings quartet, they were on the wrong end of an April 26 game at Centennial, which also has three Zingos members.   

"14-7," Centennial's Eugene Kim said, smiling and quickly reminding his Mt. Hebron friends of the regular-season outcome between the schools.   

"It was the worst thing we've ever experienced," said Viking Adam Huber, with a sigh. "The practice after that game was a living hell, basically. Not fun."   

Within seconds, they're laughing about it, even as Ryan Swentzel pipes in that even a defenseman like him scored a goal in that game, and is told to "Shut up," by Huber. They can joke about it, just as the Eagles (10-4) can laugh at the 14-5 drubbing they suffered to Marriotts Ridge, another team that feeds members to the Zingos. Ridge also beat Mt. Hebron in going 15-3.   

"It's fun," Centennial's Kevin Hulvey said. "You get a lot of bonding and get better at the sport you love."

In its third year since being added to the girls' program, the Zingos boys' team has made great strides under coach Frank LeQuang, who was proud of his team's Sunday effort. "[The Wet Bandits] were better than us for 35 minutes, but they weren't the better team," said LeQuang, a coach at the McDonogh School in Owings Mills for 25 years.

"That's the nature of sports. They fought throughout the tournament. As a coach, that's all you can ask for. We've done well the past three years."

LeQuang, who also serves as the program's director, brought seven teams of varying ages to New Jersey. Four made it to the second round of the playoffs, with the Under 13 group and Under 11 group winning their respective championships.   

And they become friends along the way.   

"A lot of these are Howard County guys, so you get to know players on different teams," Swentzel said. "A lot of these guys I didn't know before, so it will be fun to go back and play against them."   

And beat them, of course.