On Saturday, April 2, Bel Air Boys’ Lacrosse hosted the Scoop Kelly Memorial Tournament to honor longtime Coach Kelly. They played two games during the day, knocking off Quince Orchard 14-2, but losing to Churchill, 14-6.

The Bobcats started early, facing off against Quince Orchard at 9 AM. They did not look like a team who just woke up, as they jumped to a quick start. Seniors Justin Calabrese, Dylan Bielatowicz, and Junior Keegan McHugh are just a few of the players who scored for the Bobcats.

The Bobcats not only played explosive offense, but played lockdown defense led by Juniors Josh Carlon, Alex Muneses, and senior Jake Kraemer. In addition to the stellar shut down performance by the defense, Junior Goaltender Chris Hagy made 12 saves to stop the little success Orchard had offensively.

Defenseman Josh Carlon commented on the success of the defense: “Being aggressive, sliding early, getting doubles, and playing smarter defense all helped stop them.”

Later that Saturday night, Bel Air returned to play Churchill, one of the toughest opponents in the state of Maryland. The first half was absolutely ugly for the Bobcats, as they couldn’t score once. They looked sluggish and slower, and it led to them being heavily outplayed. Bel Air dropped too many passes and missed too many shots.  Those mistakes frustrated them, which led to careless mistakes like penalties, putting them in an even tougher position to score.

The defense couldn’t stop Churchill’s top midfield line, which led to almost all of their scoring. Led by top high school recruits Reed Moshyedi and Chris Higgins, Churchill proved to be too much for Bel Air. They moved the ball around with ease and found holes in the defense to convert most of their shots to goals. At the end of the first half, Bel Air found themselves down 10-0.

Despite a solid second half where the Bobcats finally hit their stride, they found themselves down 14-6. They outshot, outscored, and ultimately outplayed Churchill in the second half, but it was too late after the atrocious play from the first half.

Carlon said “I think we needed to just find our rhythm. It took us until to the second half to do it, but if we played the second half like the first half, it would’ve been a whole different ballgame.”

The Bobcats have two more tough games this week, as they will travel to Archbishop Spalding on Wednesday and Towson on Saturday. Towson is currently the #1 ranked team in the state of Maryland, but Bel Air has always had success against the Generals. They will look to continue that trend and pull off the major upset, but they will need a strong support from our Bobcat fans. Come out and cheer on your Bel Air Boys Lacrosse team!