PRLB: MIAA A-Conference Final Four Preview (Includes: Five Stats to Chew On)
The MIAA A-conference final four is this evening at Johnny Unitas Stadium on the campus of Towson University. Four of the best teams this season will faceoff to decide who will advance to the title game on Friday night.
First, starting at 5pm, #1 McDonogh will face #4 Boys’ Latin. The Eagles defeated the Lakers in the regular season. George Ward scored the winning goal with time running off the clock in the fourth quarter. The past three years McDonogh has ended BL’s season, whether it was in the semifinal game or in 2016 when the Eagles won the conference championship.
In the nightcap, #3 Loyola Blakefield will look for some redemption against arch rivals #2 Calvert Hall in the 7:30pm contest. The Cardinals defeated the Dons last week to end the regular season. Calvert Hall head coach Bryan Kelly said after the win that the one word that would define this season would be emotional. Over the offseason the Cardinal family lost a beloved member of their family in assistant coach, Dave Huntley. All season long the team motto has been #LetsHunt. Despite a couple hiccups in April against Boys’ Latin and McDonogh on the road, Calvert Hall has pieced together five straight wins. Loyola, before losing to the Eagles and Cardinals also had an impressive seven game winning streak. The Dons looked woken in the game against Severn and had that swagger back they had during their run.
The forecast looks decent for tonight and it should be a beautiful night for lax! As we inch closer to faceoff, here are some stats to chew on, courtesy of my good friend, and St. Paul’s alum, Al Franyo. Franyo is an encyclopedia of MIAA/MSA history.
Five Stats to Chew On by Al Franyo
1-Calvert Hall- looking to be the first team to repeat since Loyola weht back-to-back in 2007 and 2008. And only the FOURTH team to do so since 1992.
2-McDonogh-looking to appear in their fourth-consecutive title game. First time that has happened since Loyola from like 1984–1990.
3-Loyola’s outgoing coach(I believe) Ben Rubeor is looking to become the first coach to win titles at two different MIAA “A” Conference schools since John Tucker did so at Gilman (2) and Loyola.
4-The MIAA began in 1994. CHC’s Brian Kelly is looking to join legends Dave Allen and Bob Shriver as the only coaches to win four championships since that year.
5- BL has made the Final Four every year since 2010, that makes NINE-consecutive years.
