Bruin Boys Lacrosse Dismantles Crofton On Senior Night

It took the best part of 30 minutes for Broadneck’s boys lacrosse team to sharpen their focus, but once they did, there was no denying them a senior night win.

Behind a couple of goals from senior Blake Levicki, steady and creative play from freshman Wyatt Hicks, and a relentless defense, the Bruins pulled away from Crofton to win 11-4 on April 25.

Broadneck logged 40 shots at the Crofton goal and carried play for significant stretches. But at halftime, it was 3-3, courtesy of a late Crofton run, and it briefly appeared as though another Severna Park- or South River-like battle was in store.

“It did kind of feel like that, and that’s the type of team Crofton is: if you make mistakes, they’re ready and willing to shoot fast and punish them, and they did that near halftime,” said Broadneck coach Jeff McGuire. “We just needed to settle in and get back to doing what we do well. We dominated possession and created a lot of chances; it’s just about finishing them.”

Broadneck finished a glut of chances in the third period, pulling away for a three-goal lead early in the frame to create some breathing space. Hicks netted twice in quick succession to put the game away.

“It’s just the team game. I find spots to get open, and we’ve got a great connection,” said Hicks, part of the one-two freshmen tandem alongside Braden Cornett that has paced Broadneck’s attack this season.

The victory was Broadneck’s second straight, after three losses against quality opposition. The first was the overtime loss to South River, followed by a 7-3 setback to Cape Henlopen (Delaware) and the 7-5 defeat by Severna Park in which they were close through halftime before the Falcons stretched the margin and kept Broadneck at bay. They followed that up by beating Southern 23-0 and topping Crofton to improve to 9-3 on the season.

After having graduated so many seniors, and so much talent, from previous years, the younger Bruins have had to adjust and gain chemistry on the fly.

“We might not have the (polished) talent of recent teams, I’ll be honest with that, but we’re coming together and are starting to rise,” Levicki said.

With only a razor-thin chance of playing for the county championship, Broadneck is gearing up for a postseason run where they will likely be the two or three seed in regionals. They might not get another home game of any kind after their battle April 29 with Arundel. Their final regular season game is at Old Mill on May 2.

Even if they’re to be road warriors the rest of the way, the Bruins are making themselves ready and feel they’re equipped to emerge yet again from 4A’s East Region II.

“We’ve spoken a lot about just playing Broadneck lacrosse, which is playing fast and shooting fast,” McGuire said. “It’s part of the growing process with this team to play faster, but it’s coming. We’re going to play a lot more teams like Crofton into regionals and tonight will help us in those games.”