Despite illness, Spencer Ford rallies Boys' Latin lax against St. Andrew's

BOCA RATON, FLORIDA – Junior attackman Spencer Ford scored three goals, including two go-ahead goals during a decisive second quarter to propel Boys’ Latin (MD) to a 15-6 lacrosse victory over St. Andrew’s (FL), Tuesday evening. The victory completed a two game sweep of a South Florida trip for the Lakers, who routed St. Thomas Aquinas earlier in the week.

After a timeout by head coach Brian Farrell with 7:26 remaining in the second quarter, and Boys’ Latin trailing 3-1, Ford would score two of the Lakers’ next four goals to give the Boys’ Latin a 5-3 advantage heading into halftime.

The win moves Boys’ Latin to 2-1,  while St. Andrew’s falls to 8-2 with the loss.

St. Andrew’s would score three of the first four goals of the game behind seniors Jack Schulte, Eric Stiefel and junior Leyton Zorumski. The Scots’ early offensive output could have been have been even bigger if not for some key early saves by the Lakers’ Dylan Cadigan. The senior net-minder would go on to make 10 saves in the game. 

“Kudos over there to the St. Andrew’s team,” said Boys’ Latin head coach Brian Farrell. “That team scraps and that team fights. They had a plan and executed it very well early. There is a reason they went up early on us because they were ready and I think we kind of got ourselves into it towards the second and third quarter. Did some hustle plays. I’m really proud of the senior leadership.

"Again, I think a couple weeks ago when we played early, we went down and there wasn’t a lot of guys saying things. I think we played really tight, but this was a learning game and learning experience they moved on. You go down a couple of goals and the panic wasn’t there like it was a week or so ago. Very proud of the seniors and very proud of the guys. And again, kudos to that team over there. It’s a really good team.”

After a quick third period goal by St. Andrew’s Caleb Fox, Boys’ Latin would score the next three goals to take an 8-4 lead with 2:14 second remaining in the period. Along with one by Ford, the Lakers netted goals from Matthew Higgins, his second of the game, and senior Jacob Pacheco, his first of two on the night. The Scots’ next goal by freshman Nick Testa would be their last until the 2:08 mark of the fourth quarter, much to the credit of Cadigan in net. 

“Dylan (Cadigan) has been doing it all year,” added Farrell. “He’s obviously a senior and a guy we have relied on this year to step up when we need him the most and be vocal. Making saves that we need him to make. I thought that he stole a couple from them early and that could have swayed the momentum of the game. He’s been true to who he is and he’s worked really hard and taken advantage of opportunities.

Spencer has had a tough week. He has been in and out with some sickness stuff. He’s a warrior at the end of the day. The guy loves lacrosse. He loves his teammates and loves playing. We had to get him in a little early. As soon as he got in, some things changed I thought. He does such a nice job of just getting open, catching the ball. Making some ride plays. He gets two ride plays that really again swing the momentum of the game. Those are big time plays in a big game. We are really lucky to have a guy like Spencer on our team.” 

A third period buzzer beating goal by senior Niko Karetsos would be the start of seven straight by Boys’ Latin into the fourth quarter to take a commanding 15-5 lead. The Lakers also received goals from junior Liam White, senior Jackson Walsh, and junior George Insley during the sequence. 

“I mean I’ve been sick the past couple of days,” said Ford. “The coaches thought it was smart for me to not go in the first quarter. We went down and their energy was up. I feel like I had to bring my energy to the offense and leadership to the offense. I scored a couple big goals. Our whole team scored a couple big goals. We led at half and just kept going from there as a team.”