Winston Churchill High School senior Philip Satin might not be the biggest or fastest hockey player on the ice at any given time, but anything he lacks in size and speed, he more than makes up for with pure ice hockey smarts, Bulldogs coach Ray McKenzie said.
Hockey IQ, McKenzie added, is not something that can be taught. That and Satin’s general awareness on the ice elevate those around him and helped lead Churchill, which won its third Maryland Scholastic Hockey League Championship in four years earlier this month, to one of Montgomery County ice hockey’s most prolific seasons.
“[Satin] makes plays where most players don’t see it or are unable to do it,” McKenzie said. “Even when he was nine, he was making passes then that no one could make. He is the best reader of space and time. He always knows where everyone is, how much time is needed. His spatial relations…he knows where to go, where the puck should go. That’s very rare.”
On March 20, the Bulldogs (27-3-1) fell 1-0 in overtime to eventual champion Wayzata High (Minn.) in the semifinals of the USA Hockey High School Nationals held March 17-21 in Ashburn and Reston, Va. Churchill, which earned its invitation to nationals by winning the state championship, finished third in a field of America’s best high school teams, many of which traveled from areas known as more traditional ice hockey hotbeds than Maryland.
Satin, who this year eclipsed the MSHL’s record for career points by finishing with 211, sophomore John Taylor and junior Andrew Kurapov led Churchill at nationals with 12 points apiece. The trio has been virtually unstoppable this year but Satin also attributed much of the team’s success to a stingy defense led by senior Zach Ruvo and goalkeepers Markus Hurd and Kendall Wong. Churchill outscored its conference opponents 99-8 in 12 games this winter.
Last week’s elite championship placed an exclamation point on the end of a special four years for a senior class whose overall skill, depth and camaraderie—several Bulldogs have been playing together since they were 9 or younger—helped lift Churchill hockey to new heights.
“To us, at the beginning of the season, we didn’t know we would have a chance at nationals,” senior Mark Weinstein said. “Our eyes were set on the state championship because that was a more real and attainable goal, we knew we had the talent. When we won states, nationals was this cool icing on the cake, we would be able to compare ourselves to other teams and see what we were made of, how we stacked up against the rest of the country. We didn’t know if we’d go in there and lose every game, 10-0. But we got there and all of a sudden we were like, ‘Hey, we can compete.’
“Losing in overtime is tough and I was expecting heads to be hanging, but I didn’t see any of that because we were all just really proud of how hard we worked. To be in the semifinals with two teams from Minnesota and a team from South Dakota…the team we played in the semifinals didn’t even know where we were from.”
The Bulldogs’ success the past four years has not been predicated on flashy play or overwhelming physicality. Churchill has relied on hard work, pure skill and smart, efficient play, McKenzie said. The Bulldogs forced their opponents into errors and rarely made any of their own. The nine seniors’ familiarity with each other and their respective playing styles was an extremely beneficial intangible.
Though Churchill will certainly have some holes to fill after the graduation this spring of nine players integral to the Bulldogs success—Satin, Weinstein, Ruvo, Hurd, Wong, Chris Barber, Trevor Dixon, Madison Farrand and Charlie Butler—McKenzie, Satin and Weinstein agreed the national championship provided the team’s underclassmen with invaluable experience as they prepare to step into more prominent roles next winter.
“We have a lot of sophomores, and they just gained a lot more experience for next year,” Satin said. “[Churchill] is going to be a very good team next year. Being in close games against some of the country’s best teams helped them realize how hard you have to play if you want to win.”
Landon lacrosse bounces back from loss to Loyola Blakefield
After suffering a disappointing 11-9 defeat to the Baltimore program Tuesday, during which assistant coach J.R. Bordley admitted the Bears lost their composure, Landon quickly regrouped to pick up wins over national-caliber teams, McCallie School (Tenn.), 15-4, and Coronado (Calif.), 14-3, on Thursday and Friday, respectively.
The Bears are now 7-1 and despite the blemish, extremely pleased with their start to 2016 given all the early obstacles that have been thrown in their path, Bordley said. Injuries and illness have plagued Landon early. But, like the champions they are, the Bears have persevered.
Duke University recruit and junior Nate Buller, who was on pace to be one of the team’s go-to scorers, tallied just nine points (four goals and five assists) before breaking his thumb within the first two weeks of the season and is expected to miss a few more weeks, Bordley said. And Bordley’s father, Rob Bordley, Landon’s head coach for four-plus decades, has been missing on the sidelines for five games after undergoing emergency gallbladder surgery. His absence, the younger Bordley said, could certainly be felt in the loss as the Bears virtually fell apart.
But there have been some great storylines early, as players such as leading scorer Drennan Greene (18, 5) and Griffin Brown (13, 9), have picked up the scoring slack. In fact, Landon’s offense has looked sharp early—18 players have scored at least one goal and four have tallied 10 or more—and Bordley said the addition of 2000 Landon graduate and former University of Maryland lacrosse player Ian Healy to the coaching staff has played a major role in that.
The Bears have been given four days off to recover, Bordley said, ahead of a busy couple of weeks, with a number of formidable opponents on the horizon, including Gonzaga and improved Interstate Athletic Conference foe Bullis.
Blake baseball wins first season opener since 2012
Trailing 0-2 with two outs in the top of the sixth inning, the Bengals mounted a major comeback to defeat Richard Montgomery, 8-2, Wednesday for their first season-opening win in four years.
All 11 varsity members saw playing time and either drove in a run or scored themselves.
Making his first varsity start, sophomore Phoenix Spiller tallied four hits, including two doubles and two runs batted in; he also picked up the win on the mound with six strikeouts and only one hit allowed in three and two-thirds innings of relief work.
Blake began its comeback in the sixth inning, during which Spiller’s double scored Mike Griffin to cut Richard Montgomery’s lead in half. Four-year starter Jared Lowry then stole home to even the score at 2-2.
The Bengals, who had tallied only three hits through five innings, then scored six runs on six hits in the top of the seventh inning—they finished with 11 total—to complete the come-from-behind victory.
Starting pitcher Will Brown sparked Blake’s productive seventh inning. After reaching on an infield hit, he scored the go-ahead run on a double from Tyler Welsh. Hits from Griffin, Lowry, Chris Haley and Spiller and a fielder’s choice by Shaun Lee scored five more runs.
“The seniors who have been in the program for three years haven’t experienced a winning record,” 14th-year Blake coach Steve Murfin said. “This year is different. You can feel it.”
The Heights lacrosse proving success is no fluke
Four games in and 2016 is already an historic season for the Cavaliers. In its second game of the season, on March 16, The Heights notched its first-ever win over Washington Catholic Athletic Conference foe DeMatha, 10-9.
The Cavaliers (2-2) then proceeded to stay within three goals—9-6—of perennial Interstate Athletic Conference power, Georgetown Prep, ranked 20th in the country in the most recent Under Armour/Inside Lacrosse Top 25 High School Power Rankings. And on Wednesday, the team fell by one late goal to Montgomery County Public Schools power Churchill.
“I am very proud of the way my guys have competed so far this season,” coach David Mitchell said. “This team is realizing that with hard work, careful preparation and excellent effort, we can play with and bat the best. Hopefully these young men will remember this powerful life lesson for many years to come.”
Mitchell said the superb play of long-stick midfielder Richie Bartozzi (six goals, five assists, 33 ground balls) has helped propel the Cavaliers to such success early this spring. Freshman attackman Chase Noah leads The Heights in scoring with 11 goals, five of them against DeMatha.
Bethesda-Chevy Chase softball showing promise early
The Barons, who have won one game in the past two years combined, opened their season with a convincing 14-5 win over Walter Johnson, traditionally a .500 program.
Sophomore pitcher Julia Dimmick struck out nine batters in six innings. She and Cori Davis led the Barons with three hits apiece.
“What I’ve been preaching to the girls, and they were excited after the win, is to now, let’s expect to win,” first-year coach Scott Davis said. “Let’s have that confidence and mentality of, ‘This is not a fluke. Let’s pretend we’ve been here before.’ And run with it.”
For a young team playing for a program that has struggled to notch victories for the better part of a decade, winning games early and remaining competitive with the county’s better teams for as long as possible will be integral to B-CC’s success this spring, Davis said.
The game was a one-run contest—the Barons led 6-5—heading into the bottom of the fifth inning before B-CC began to jump on Walter Johnson’s pitching.
Wildcats coach Jamie Ahearn said B-CC looked like a completely different program from a year ago. She credited solid play by her junior shortstop, Delaney Harrison-Peters, who completed a rare double play in the sixth inning, with helping to keep Walter Johnson in the game through seven innings.
“[B-CC] is a different team this year,” Ahearn said. “Their pitcher is really good. They used to be a team everyone assumed they could beat, but they’re playing well.”
