Gilman Knocks Off McDonogh in Overtime, 11-10

“That’s our biggest rival right there – McDonogh.  It’s huge, it’s big stuff,” Gilman midfielder Jake Matthai said after scoring the winning goal for the Greyhounds in an overtime 11-10 victory against the previously unbeaten-in-conference Eagles.

“It means so much.  We talked about it before the game and it means a whole bunch to beat that team,” the junior said.

Gilman Coach Brooks Matthews, who played for the Greyhounds in the 1980s, agreed.

“You throw everything out the window.  It’s Gilman-McDonogh,” Matthews said.  “Everything else doesn’t matter except trying to win that game.”

Matthai took the ball up the left side of the field, made a couple of cuts and beat the McDonogh goalie with a shot laced into the upper right corner with 1:14 left to play in the overtime session.

The goal capped a dramatic win for the Greyhounds, who saw a 10-7, fourth quarter lead evaporate over the last four minutes of the contest played at Gilman on Friday.

“It was my teammates, really,” Matthai said when asked about the game winner.  “They got me the ball and luckily I could finish it for them.”

And were it not for a point-blank save off a McDonogh shot by Gilman goalie Palmer Murray early in overtime, the Matthai score would not have occurred.  Murray finished the game with 10 saves.

In the see-saw game, McDonogh jumped out to a first quarter lead just 51 second into the game when Michael Keegan connected with Connor Morgan.

Yet Gilman scored four unanswered goals by four different players (Peter Senft assisted by Conor Doyle at 5:28; Riley DeSmit assisted by Doyle at 3:32, Gordie Koerber unassisted at 2:37 and Max Greene from a DeSmit feed with 55 seconds left) to take a 4-1 lead at the end of the first quarter.

The Eagles narrowed the lead to 4-3 in the first 75 seconds of the second quarter with goals by Michael (unassisted at 11:00) and Morgan (assisted by Evan Glaser at 10:46), but Gilman responded with two of their own (DeSmit assisted by Doyle at 7:09 and Cotter Brown from Senft at 3:25), before McDonogh closed out the first half scoring when Morgan and Glaser again teamed up with 2:49 left to play.  Gilman led 6-4 at the half.

Mirroring the first two quarters, McDonogh again jumped on the board early in the third quarter with a goal by Glaser just seven seconds into the second half to narrow the Greyhounds lead to one.

Yet the Greyhounds responded again, this time with three unanswered scores ( Ryan Tucker from a Doyle feed at 10:43, Tucker unassisted at 5:43 and DeSmit from Koerber at 4:33) to open a 9-5 advantage.  The Eagles closed strong with two goals, one by Pratt Rexford at 3:21, the second by Michael with only nine ticks left on the third quarter clock.

Peter Senft opened the fourth quarter scoring for the Greyhounds with an unassisted score at the 5:48 mark.

Momentum then shifted to McDonogh with consecutive goals by Keegan (unassisted at 4:18), Morgan (on an assist by Brinton Valis at 1:59) and Valis (assisted by Michael with a minute left to play.)

Gilman’s Doyle and Tucker each unloaded shots in the final 30 seconds; Doyle’s shot was saved and Tucker’s was wide left at the final horn.

It was the third overtime game in as many starts for the Greyhounds, who beat Boys’ Latin at home on April 8 at Gilman and lost at St. Paul’s on Tuesday.

“Apparently that’s our style, according to one of our players who said in the huddle, ‘overtime’s our style,’” Coach Matthews said after the game.

“I think it speaks to the parity in the league,” Matthews continued.  “People are knocking each other off and most, except for Calvert Hall, all the teams are right around .500.”

Before the overtime, Matthews reminded the team it had been in this situation before.

“We just gotta finish plays,” he said, adding he stressed "short memory"  regarding adverse plays.

“McDonogh’s a great team, it’s not a surprise that they were able to put a couple of goals in.  They’ve got some really tough, hard-nosed, athletic, great lacrosse players,” Matthews said.

“So I just told out kids, keep going, keep playing hard, you’re doing great.  We just gotta finish the plays and hope for the best.”

The Eagles had a bit of bad luck, hitting the pipe twice, each in extra-man situations.  A third shot nearly rolled over the goal line.

Yet situations like that happen all of the time, Matthews said, adding that those kinds of things even out over the course of a season.

“We’ve had our share, other teams have had their shares.  It’s just a part of how it goes and it’s part of what you have to deal with when you are playing,” he said.

When asked if the win puts the Greyhounds back in the playoff hunt, Matthews said you can’t think about playoffs right now.

“It’s still too early – we’re right about halfway through the season,” he said.

“We just gotta keep building momentum, keep getting better every day.  You want to be playing your best lacrosse at the end.”

The Greyhounds are 3-3 in MIAA A conference play, the Eagles are 5-1.