2006 All-County boys lacrosse team

Friday, June 9, 2006

David Taylor

Northern senior attack

All-SMAC most outstanding player; tied for team lead with 48 goals; 19 assists; second on team in points with 67; led team in groundballs (88) and was second in takeaways (21); won 61 percent (51 of 79) of faceoffs.

‘‘Some players get asked to do a lot of one thing or a little of all things. We asked David to do a lot of everything and, he did.” — Northern coach Joe Bissette

‘‘He has no weaknesses; he can do it all.” — Calvert coach Dave Spain

Coach of the year

Joe Bissette (first season)

Northern

After a successful tenure at Virginia’s Thomas Jefferson High, Bissette took over the reins of the Northern Patriots. But how good of a season could Northern really have? It graduated some strong players and Bissette was the team’s third coach in as many years.

But the Patriots began the season with four straight wins and outscored the opposition 65-8. After a loss to Southern, Bissette and the Patriots won two more games before an 8-7 loss to eventual SMAC champion Leonardtown on April 20. Northern won six of its next seven games, including a 9-5 win over Huntingtown that sewed up the Casalino Cup. Bissette’s rookie season with the team ended with a loss to Stephen Decatur in the 3A-2A East regional championship.

For his work with the team, Bissette was named All-SMAC coach of the year.

‘‘Joe took a team that graduated everyone from last year and was still at the top of SMAC. No one was expecting Northern to have the season they had. It’s not easy taking a team that has had three coaches in three years and make it a winner but Joe did that. Northern is lucky to have him.” — Huntingtown coach Vic Goeller

‘‘He came in and he took a program on the rise and kept it going forward. So many times a new coach will come in and the program will go slightly down but that didn’t happen. He was a steadying influence but, perhaps more importantly, he’s a class act.” — Spain

First team

Goalie: Jon Athens, Northern junior

All-SMAC second team; Jon had a 63 save percentage this season with 152 saves. His best game was against Jefferson when he made 18 saves and he turned aside 14 saves in a win over Madison; scored a goal against Chopticon.

Defense: Hunter Roof, Calverton senior

All-MILL first team; captain; 85 groundballs; heads to Queen’s University of Charlotte on lacrosse scholarship.

Defense: A.J. Gerdes, Huntingtown senior

All-SMAC first team; 45 groundballs, including season-high five against Northern; 45 takeaways.

Defense: Pat McMeins, Northern sophomore

All-SMAC second team; one goal, three assists; 63 loose balls; 23 takeaways.

Midfield: Ben Ganley, Calverton senior

All-MILL first team; 29 goals, 15 assists; best game was three-goal, two-assist performance against The Heights in MILL title game; 91 groundballs; heads to Towson University on lacrosse scholarship.

Midfield: Michael Jackson, Calvert junior

All-SMAC second team; 12 goals; 35 groundballs.

Midfield: David Wiese, Huntingtown junior

All-SMAC first team; 23 goals, including five and four against Calvert and Patuxent, respectively; 23 assists; 89 groundballs; 34 takeaways.

Attack: John Brozena, Calverton senior

All-MILL first team; Calverton’s most valuable player; led team with 45 goals, including seven against Pallotti; 34 assists; heads to Dartmouth College on lacrosse scholarship.

Attack: Peter Athens, Northern freshman

All-SMAC first team; tied for team lead with 48 goals; scored in every game this season, including seven goals against Great Mills and six vs. Kent Island; 36 assists; 29 groundballs; five takeaways.

Attack: David Spalding, Calverton senior

All-MILL player of the year; captain; 39 goals, 30 assists; had season-best five goals, four assists against Notre Dame Academy and four goals, five assists vs. The Heights; heads to Johns Hopkins University on lacrosse scholarship.

Honorable mentions

Goalie: Tony Roulhac, Patuxent junior

Defense: Jason Marks, Huntingtown senior

Defense: Peter Frieslander, Patuxent senior

Midfield: David Rice, Huntingtown sophomore

Midfield: Ryan Hutchins, Calverton junior

Midfield: Will Ragan, Patuxent junior

Attack: Luke Moeller, Calverton senior

Attack: Curtis Wright, Huntingtown junior

Attack: Sean Hayden, Patuxent senior