Keena, Joyce are key for the Bears
Victories in the heated lacrosse rivalry between Landon and Georgetown Prep aren’t supposed to come this easy. So how did the Bears put a proper 10-5 beating on the Little Hoyas Wednesday before 3,000 in Bethesda?
Recommended Stories
They did it with the offense of senior Patrick Keena (three goals, two assists), the defense of Luke Howard (one goal), and the stellar play in goal of junior Alex Joyce (15 saves).
It was Landon’s most thorough victory in the series since a 10-5 win in 2004. Six of the previous seven meeting had been decided by two or fewer goals.
“These games have always been close, except they’ve kicked our butts a few times in the last few years,” Landon coach Rob Bordley said. “It’s been a long time. Usually you’re holding on for dear life at the end of this game. You’re just looking at the clock and praying.”
| Game notes |
| » Landon leads the series 24-10, even though Prep has won eight of the last 11 meetings. |
| » In each of the last two years, the loser of the regular season game has avenged the loss in the tournament. |
In winning its 12th game in a row, Landon (13-2, 3-0) took over first place in the Interstate Athletic Conference. On Apr. 29, the Bears have a key game at Bullis (9-3, 2-0), a surprise winner in overtime earlier this year against Prep (10-4, 2-2).
On Wednesday, Landon took control in the third period, after Prep midfielder Bobby Gribbin (two goals) scored to make it 3-3. The go-ahead goal came from sophomore Garrett Fellows, who dodged a defender and whipped a sidewinder past Little Hoyas goalie Ford Martin (five saves).
Later in the period, sophomore midfielder Philip Pena found a sophomore attack Peter Laco (two goals) cutting to the cage for a 5-3 lead. After senior midfielder Justin Murphy (12 of 18 face-offs) won the ensuing draw, Keena beat a defender from the behind the cage and scored for a 6-3 lead.
After Gribbin scored again for Prep, Landon resumed control with a pair of goals in the final two minutes for an 8-4 lead, the tallies coming from freshman midfielder Jack Falk and senior midfielder Will Laco in a man-up situation.
“Coaches said, ‘We know you can win. Just go out there and play your hardest,'” said Howard who shut out Prep attack Liam Giblin. “We made a lot of mental mistakes in the first half. We didn’t do that in the second half.”
In the fourth period, Joyce made seven saves to prevent the Little Hoyas from gathering any momentum. Then with 70 seconds left, Howard applied the appropriate exclamation with his rare goal off a re-start.
“It was a nice way to capitalize,” said the Ohio State-bound Howard. “It’s nice to get a goal, especially as a defensive guy, especially in the Prep game.”
Joyce’s play was key as well. Last time the teams met, in the IAC Championship game last May, Joyce’s older brother, Will, had 14 saves in the Bears’ 9-8 victory.
“That’s the best I’ve ever seen him play,” Bordley said. “Alex had a great game for us.”
It was a rough start for Joyce, who gave up a soft goal early. In the second period, Georgetown Prep dominated possession, but Joyce and the Landon defense – bolstered by junior Mark Strabo and seniors Kellen Miller and Drew Hayhurst – frustrated Prep.
The teams are likely to meet again next month in the IAC tournament. History says don’t expect the next game to be as decisive.
“They’ll use this game as motivation,” Howard said. “But we know we can come out here and do it again as second time.”
