Green Hornets Fifth-Graders Win Lax Title In HoCo League

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The Green Hornets fifth-grade boys lacrosse team coached by Jon Kemezis had an outstanding season in the Greater Howard County Club Lacrosse Conference, going undefeated at 9-0 and winning the 2025 B league title in thrilling fashion with a 10-9 victory over Bethesda Lacrosse Club in the championship game.

Playing on Sundays in the Howard County league, known as the HoCo league, the Green Hornets team of Ashton Cristallo, Elliot Danielson, Finn Denman, Lukas Emrich, Teddy Evans, Alex Ferguson, Jack Fish, Keaghan Gorski, Josh Hale, Charlie Hilgartner, Porter Hill, Connor Kemezis, Connor Lamoreaux, Colin Marsh, Mitch Murray, Warrick Simm, Joey Tramontana, Merric Warren, Cole Wittlinger and Landon Zawartka went 7-0 during the regular season, including tough victories over HoCo Lacrosse Club and Bethesda Lacrosse Club, to earn the postseason tournament’s No. 1 seed.

In the playoffs, the team faced HoCo Lacrosse again and grinded out a hard-earned 7-5 win under the hot Saturday sun to earn a spot in the final.

The championship pitted the Green Hornets against BLC once again, and Severna Park had to rally for the victory. The Green Hornets fell into early holes of 0-4 and 1-5 but battled back to within 4-5 at halftime. Wittlinger came up with some incredible saves in goal, stuffing a hand full of one-on-one opportunities, and with the game tied 9-9 with 30 seconds remaining, Fish dodged from behind the net and finished in the upper corner of the goal for the game-winning score.

“The boys played hard and just kept driving one play at a time,” said Kemezis of the come-from-behind championship win. “They slowly chipped away. It was really a great team effort and very hard to point out any one player in particular.”

The team also played on Saturdays throughout the season against stiff Anne Arundel County competition in a less balanced Recreation and Parks league, and despite playing to a 1-6 record in that league, the team stayed confident and managed to win its Sunday league with an undefeated 9-0 record.

“All of the coaches are so proud of the energy and intensity the team played with to close out the season. When we play with relentless passion, we are a very good team,” said Kemezis, who coached the team with assistant coaches Peter Hilgartner, Mike Murray and Brad Evans. “It was an up-and-down season, and the boys really stuck together and started to gel, playing with passion to close out the year. Very proud of the group and extremely happy for the boys to be rewarded for all their hard work this season.”

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