Calvert boys lacrosse topples McDonough

On an evening in which inclement weather had nixed much of the outdoor activities slated for Southern Maryland Athletic Conference spring teams, the Calvert High School boys lacrosse team made quick work of visiting McDonough High 16-0 on the soggy terrain in Prince Frederick on Tuesday in the conference opener for both squads.

Calvert (2-0 overall, 1-0 in SMAC) vaulted to a 4-0 lead at the end of the first quarter on two goals each from junior Jaxson Zapoli and senior Benjamin Rachic and the Cavaliers were able to maintain that average through each of the next three quarters as well with numerous players contributing to the cause. Calvert had edged Indian Creek (Del.) 5-4 in its season opener four days earlier.

“We have a lot of new players, freshmen and sophomores, who are getting adjusted to the speed of the varsity game,” Calvert third-year coach Jason Zapoli said. “The most impressive thing for me so far is seeing how the seniors have displayed leadership helping the younger kids adapt to the varsity level.”

McDonough (0-2, 0-1), which had dropped a gritty 6-4 decision to Great Mills last Friday in a non-conference meeting of SMAC schools, literally struggled to gather its footing over the dampened field at Calvert on Tuesday. Nevertheless, Rams’ coach Jake O’Grady made no excuses for the lopsided setback and vowed that future contests would hardly mirror Tuesday’s outing.

Calvert, which led 9-0 at the intermission and 13-0 heading into the final period, got six goals and two assists from Rachic, four goals and three assists from Jaxson Zapoli and two goals and five assists from Drew Murphy, with four other Cavaliers adding a goal each. Goalie Jason Klotz recorded a pair of saves en route to posting the shutout.

Calvert will look to maintain its perfect start to the season this evening when the Cavaliers head to Leonardtown (2-0) in a clash of early unbeaten SMAC teams. McDonough will look to regain its winning ways on Friday when the Rams host Northern (1-0) in another SMAC contest.

“We have some high goals for this team this year,” Zapoli said. “We’re in 1A now, so we won’t have to go through Huntingtown to get to the states this year. In fact, we don’t have Huntingtown on the schedule this year or next year.”