Best Offense Is A Great Defense: Chesapeake Beats Severna Park In Thriller

By Colin Murphy

On April 12, an inspired defensive performance powered the Chesapeake High School boys lacrosse team as they narrowly defeated the Severna Park Falcons, 5-4, in a wildly exciting nail-biter that was decided in the game’s final second.

“We played our game,” said Chesapeake Head Coach Rodney Beres proudly after the contest. “Our defense is our strength. Our idea is to slow the game down, let our defense do what they do best, and then take our shots on offense,” he continued.

Chesapeake imposed their defensive will on the game early on. After surrendering a goal three minutes in to go down 1-0 to the home team, the Cougars quickly took form and turned the game into the gritty defensive battle they wanted. Severna Park dominated possession throughout the first quarter, but they were hounded relentlessly by the Cougars’ long sticks.

“We’re the ‘Brick Squad’,” said exuberant junior defenseman Jason Crane after the win, eliciting “Brick Squad” chants of approval from fellow defensemen Conner Kipke and Rutger Souder. “[Chesapeake senior goalie Michael] Brennan is a brick wall in goal, and that’s who we are defensively,” said Crane.

With the score still 1-0 and the Chesapeake defense playing true to its self-given nickname, the Falcons found themselves calling a timeout just two minutes into the second quarter, as the Cougars’ defense was seemingly a half step faster on every play, disrupting and exhausting Severna Park’s attack. When the Falcons were able to get a shot off on goal, they were frustrated repeatedly by the outstanding goaltending of Brennan, who made a dazzling array of saves to keep the game close throughout. Brennan recorded ten saves in the first half, twenty for the game.

“Luck of the Irish,” joked a lighthearted Brennan after the game when asked about his approach in goal, drawing laughs from his excited teammates, before adding more seriously, “I’m there [in goal], but we all come ready to play.”

That was certainly the case at the start of the third quarter, as Chesapeake was clearly the more active and aggressive squad coming out of the break. It was only a matter of time before the Cougars would get on the scoreboard. Senior midfielder Justin Kestler scored the Cougars’ first goal to tie the game at one just a minute and a half into the period.

The goal proved to be a momentum-swinging moment. After a spectacular point-blank save by Brennan, Kestler assisted on a goal by junior midfielder Tim Caropreso, giving the Cougars a 2-1 lead. Moments later senior attack Adam Bellarin took advantage of a seemingly rattled Severna Park defense, scoring Chesapeake’s third goal of the period to push the lead to 3-1.

The talented Severna Park team managed to cut the lead to 3-2, but Kestler scored again early in the fourth off a fantastic individual effort. He shook off several Falcon defenders on his way to the goal, and fired a laser past the keeper to extend the Cougars’ lead to 4-2.

Not going down quietly, Severna Park again closed to one early in the fourth quarter, but the Cougars managed to maintain the lead on the strength of their defense until the final minute, when Severna Park tied it, 4-4, with just 40 seconds left on the clock.

With under 20 seconds remaining and overtime looming, Kestler initiated a thrilling sequence in which he fired a shot that ricocheted violently off the right post and caromed toward the right sideline. In a footrace with a Severna Park defender, a diving Bellarin managed to secure possession for the Cougars. With one chance to avoid overtime and just 4.9 seconds remaining, Bellarin then sent a bullet bounce pass to a cutting Caropreso, who fired home the game-winner with just five-tenths of a second left on the clock, capping the comeback win and setting off a wild celebration on the Cougars’ sideline.

“To come out last year and get shut out by this team, and then to come back and beat them this year, there’s nothing better,” said Kestler after the game.

When asked what a win over a strong and highly-ranked Severna Park team means going forward, a visibly spent but high-spirited Bellarin was confident on behalf of his entire team: “We know we can beat anybody on any given day.”

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