Bruins Survive South River Showdown To Remain Unbeaten

For most of Broadneck’s boys lacrosse showdown with South River on April 5, it was just one of those nights for Tanner Boone.

The senior attacker was hounded, chopped at, and otherwise blanketed by South River defenseman Nick Sweeney every time he had possession. But with a little over eight minutes remaining in the game, Boone found the tiniest of openings.

He feinted toward the back of the South River goal then raced to his left, and as Sweeney wedged himself between Boone and the crease, Boone flicked a no-look shot over his head toward the goal. It came out of the pocket much like a baseball changeup, catching everyone by surprise and nestling into the top of the South River net.

Boone’s instinctive moment of genius would prove to be the decisive goal, as Broadneck held off South River 10-8 in a battle of nationally ranked teams.

“Honestly, I don’t really think a lot when I play; I just kind of do,” Boone said. “Jed Pellicano, he gave me some words, that I was having a tough game, that I needed to make something happen, and I did. It definitely felt good and there was a sense of relief after I scored that.”

Tyler Hicks scored three times for the Bruins, who were ranked ninth in USA Lacrosse’s April 4 rankings of the top 25 public schools nationally — South River was ranked 10th. Nobody else scored more than once for Broadneck: Boone, Pellicano, Braden McCassie, Logan McGill, Tyler Stewart, Brayden Schmidt and Liam Komlosy all also found the net.

In a dogged, physical game that largely stayed on the legal side of the edge all players try to live on, Broadneck was able to keep their nerve, their discipline and their focus. They committed just one penalty, a late slashing call that led to a Seahawks goal, while South River twice went down two men — Broadneck couldn’t convert on either instance.

The game got scrappy and stretched late on, but the Bruins were able to prevail.

“Gotta find a way,” said Broadneck coach Jeff McGuire. “They did exactly what we asked of them. We only had three goals for this game, and that was just drop on the ride to not let them clear it early, for our middles to get it up and out — failed on that one — but then be disciplined.

“Discipline was the key to the night, and I think we stayed the most disciplined,” McGuire said. “That was the one thing we wrote on the board in the locker room. Even the guys who didn’t get in were fired up and that helped us a lot.”

The win was the fifth for Broadneck on the season, as the Bruins pushed their win streak to 25 games dating back to last season.

Broadneck started the season with a 13-6 win over Kent Island on March 22, then backstopped that with a pair of spring break tournament wins over Virginia opponents, beating James Madison 14-5 and Langley 16-7. They also beat Marriotts Ridge 13-5 before the showdown with South River.

Perhaps ominously, Boone alluded to the season as being something of a “slow start.”

“We had a couple of guys coming back, but we’re starting to figure some things out and this game shows that,” he said.

The tests keep coming for the Bruins: Broadneck faced Mount Hebron on April 8, before heading to Severna Park on April 12.