Chesapeake Boys Drop Hammer On Northeast, 17-4

There was no stopping the Chesapeake boys lacrosse team on April 6 as the Cougars controlled play from start to finish in a 17-4 rout of visiting Northeast.

Dylan Wolfe dazzled with an array of dodges and finishes on his way to a game-high six goals along with two assists. Thomas Bullen (three goals, two assists), Nick Wells (two goals, two assists), Bret Devine (two goals, two assists), Matt Rogers (one goal, one assist), Brendan Ansted (one goal), Garrett Hall (one goal), Gavin Hansel (one goal) and Jesse McWilliams (one assist) all got in on the scoring action for Chesapeake, which secured its fourth win of the season.

Tanner Bishop (three goals) and Ryan Nappier (one) landed on the score sheet for Northeast, which was largely stifled by the Chesapeake defensive corps of Logan Hill, Hunter Davis, David Colangelo and Devin Forrester as well as goalkeeper Garrett Summers, who made 10 saves, and short-stick defensive middies Hansel, Hall, Cole Foca, Victor Listorti and Luke Bentz.

Chesapeake entered the game fresh off a lopsided defeat to Severna Park, hungry to produce a winning effort against their rivals.

“It was a good, full team effort today,” said Chesapeake head coach Rodney Beres, who noted the team’s inexperience at faceoff — the Eagles dominated the circle, 18-5 — but said Chesapeake offset its faceoff losses with strong play elsewhere. “I thought our guys on the wing got those neutral balls and helped out, and then the offense shared the ball. Dylan Wolfe is playing at a different speed this year. He’s very fast and is shooting the ball well, and having Thomas [Bullen] back this year after, we didn’t have him at all last year with his back injury, so he’s helped us out. Dylan and Thomas and Logan Hill have been leaders all year for us, and we’re getting that growth from some kids who were first-time varsity players last year that are getting more experienced. Goalie played excellent today. Garrett had a great game saving the ball.”

PHOTO GALLERY: Chesapeake vs. Northeast boys lacrosse, 4.6.18

Bullen said the team didn’t make too much of the rivalry matchup, though they noted Northeast’s wins over Chesapeake last spring, when the Eagles beat the Cougars in both the regular season and playoffs during one of the best years in the Eagles’ history.

“It’s just another game on the schedule, but I mean it’s a little fun beating them at home, especially after last year,” said Bullen. “Mainly just working the ball around quick and finding the open spots. We were practicing our offense all week and we had a lot of plays to throw at them, so that worked out well for us.”

Added Wolfe, “Finishing our shots. There was a really good goalie [in Northeast’s Pat Martinek] you know, we didn’t get that many shots on him last year, and we just buried our shots this year, so that’s made the difference … Two losses [to Northeast] last year, I’m glad to get this one back.”

Northeast, which graduated 14 seniors from last year’s 11-win region finalist team, had little answer to Chesapeake’s offensive firepower.

“We’re a little better than that, but Chesapeake played really well,” said Northeast coach Walt Blahut. “Hats off to them. They came out on fire and just kept it going the whole game, and we just never met them at all. We did not play well tonight, and I take the blame for that, obviously did not have them prepared … Just try to get better every game, every week, every day at practice.”

The Cougars moved to 5-2 on April 10 with a 16-6 thrashing of Wilde Lake in which Wolfe had another five goals and three assists, Wells had four goals and Bullen had three goals and two assists. The Cougars are averaging 15.6 goals in their five victories over Northeast, Wilde Lake, Meade, Glenelg Country and Oakland Mills.

Chesapeake suffered a dispiriting loss to Old Mill on March 27 in which they held a large lead early, only to see the Patriots claw their way back and win in overtime, 12-11.

Beres was glad to see the Cougars keep the pedal to the floor against Northeast and believes the Cougars can have a shot in the 3A East in a month’s time.

“I like the fight in this team, and hopefully we’ll continue to get better and be playing our best lacrosse in May,” Beres said.

PHOTO GALLERY: Chesapeake vs. Northeast boys lacrosse, 4.6.18