Glenelg Country captures long awaited lacrosse crown

by Derek Toney

Calvin Abel got off to a fast start for Glenelg Country School lacrosse Thursday evening. His finish, however, was long-awaited history for the Dragons.

The sophomore’s goal with 2 minutes, 44 seconds left in the second overtime gave the Dragons a 11-10 victory over Key School in the MIAA C Conference title game at USA Lacrosse’s Tierney Field in Sparks.

For the first time since 2005, Glenelg Country (11-2 overall) has a MIAA championship plaque in its Ellicott City trophy case. 

“They got it done. A bunch of people asked today are we going to win and I said it’s up to them,” said Dragons coach Jim Murphy. “They decided we were going to win.”

Abel provided the “golden moment,” coming from the back of the goal and putting a shot past Key goalie Christian Dent, capping a five-goal performance and a perfect conference run (11-0) for Glenelg Country. 

Abel, who didn’t score in the second half, wasn’t worried after Glenelg Country relinquished a four-goal halftime lead.

“I’ve been playing lacrosse for a very long time…I always stay calmed and relaxed,” said Abel. “Even if we made a bad play, always keep your teammates up.”

Murphy, who tried to get Abel on the all-conference team as a freshman last year, said his attackman “might be the MVP” of the league.

“If he’s not, I’m going to have some questions,” Murphy said. “He did an incredible job. He’s going to keep on playing.”

Abel’s heroics Thursday were setup by Glenelg Country’s senior veterans. Goalie Chase Traff stopped three Key shots in the opening overtime. Longstick defensemen Patrick Curtin, who will play basketball at Bucknell University later in the year, helped keep Key scoreless over the final 12:51 of play.

Andrew Hibbert got the Dragons to overtime, scoring off an unassisted strike with 2:07 left in regulation.

Calvin Abel (left) and Andrew Hibbert helped Glenelg Country win its first MIAA lacrosse title in two decades Thursday. Hibbert, a senior, sent the C final into overtime with his goal in late regulation. In the second overtime, Abel scored his game-high fifth goal giving the Dragons the title. (Derek Toney)

Hibbert said Glenelg Country wanted redemption after losing in the C quarterfinals last spring.

“We wanted to get back and show what we had,” said Hibbert. “Our team put in a lot of work in the summer, a lot of players improved significantly.”

The Dragons, who defeated Key during the regular season, went on a four-goal run to claim a 6-2 advantage in the second quarter. Abel’s fourth goal, off a feed from Connor Grimes, made it 8-3. 

Key (13-4), looking for its first MIAA lacrosse crown, rallied in the second half. Ben Gendell put a loose ball back into the goal, pulling the Obezags even at 9 with 10:29 left in regulation. 

Senior Theo Levering, whose goal in the final 30 seconds of the opening half helped put the comeback in motion, finished a pass from Tommy Donnelly to tie the match with 7:35 remaining.

Gendell (two) and Davis Chapman got opportunities in the first overtime turned away by Traff. Junior David Lee, who was outstanding at the X, got the face-off to start the second overtime.

About 70 seconds later, Key’s hopes for history turned into heartbreak.

Obezags’ first-year coach Nate Babcock lauded his team, especially his nine seniors. 

“It’s not who you play, it’s how you play. We have felt that way and it’s been our message since day one,” said Babcock. “The first day when we met these guys we said it doesn’t matter if you win a single game, our character and how we play mattered.”

Murphy or his players didn’t know about Glenelg Country’s title drought. The Dragons’ 2005 C championship, completed a back-to-back run. 

Glenelg has 20 letter winners, including seven juniors and nine freshmen, scheduled to return next spring.

“It’s surreal…I never thought we’d be here. My freshman year, we were in the B Conference and didn’t do so well,” said Hibbert. “We dropped to C and went to the quarterfinals. We’ve believed we could do this.”