Andrew Feinberg did everything in his power this week to make sure McDonogh was in a position to defend its MIAA A Conference championship.
The junior attack had one goal and four assists as the No. 6 Eagles (11-4) upset second-seeded Gilman yesterday, 8-4, in the conference semifinals at Homewood Field. Feinberg?s performance came after he had four goals and four assists in an 11-6 quarterfinal win against third-seeded Loyola on Monday.
McDonough ? which needed a season-ending win over Mount St. Joseph just to reach the postseason ? now advances to the A Conference finals May 19. There, the Eagles will face the winner of last night?s other semifinal between Severn and Boys Latin. That game is also scheduled for Homewood Field.
“The seniors on this team just refused to lose,” Feinberg said. “There?s no better way to reach this point than to beat your archrival.”
Although it barely made the playoffs, McDonogh is not the typical tournament bottom seed. Two of the Eagles losses came by one goal against Gilman and top-seeded Boys? Latin, respectively. McDonogh also led much of the way in both of those contests.
However, the Eagles put it all together in the second half yesterday as they outscored the Greyhounds 5-1 in that span. Along with Feinberg,McDonogh received solid offensive production from Bryn Holmes, Brad Zink and Tim Brandau, who had two goals each. The Eagles defense did the rest, including goalie Tyler Fiorito, who finished with 19 saves.
“Our goalie played well and we did a good job of containing (Kevin and Brian Carroll), who are two of the better lacrosse players to come around in a long time,” McDonogh coach Scott Corrigan said.
Fiorito said getting back to the championships as a sixth seed makes winning that much more rewarding.
“No one expected much from us this year and to come out and prove everyone wrong feels great,” he said.
Kevin Carroll scored twice and Brian Carroll had a goal and assist in the loss for Gilman, which finished the year at 11-5.
MIAA TOURNAMENT
» Gilman won its previous game against McDonogh, 9-8, in overtime April 28.
» McDonogh won its previous MIAA titles in 2005 and 1999. Gilman?s previous championships came in 2000 and 1998.
» Yesterday?s winners have eight days to prepare for the A Conference championship game, which will be played at 7:30 p.m. May 19 at Homewood Field. The final will also be preceded by the C and B conference finals at 3 and 5:15 respectively.
