Junior All-American Kevin Huntley, a graduate of Calvert Hall, is one of eight former MIAA players playing for Johns Hopkins and one of 18 that will play in the Final Four this weekend at M&T Bank Stadium.

by Gary Adornato

The
NCAA Men’s Lacrosse Final Four returns to Baltimore this weekend and
with it, as usual, will come several former MIAA stars, all seeking to
win a national championship on their home turf.

Of course, the
largest contingent will be a group which has never left town, but
instead have cast their talents locally with Johns Hopkins, the
nation’s most storied college program.

The Blue Jays feature
eight MIAA players on their roster, led by All-American Kevin Huntley,
a junior attackman from Calvert Hall.  Huntley, who broke all types of
scoring records during his sensational MIAA career and led Hopkins in
scoring last year, matched a career high with five goals and six points
in last weekend’s 14-6 quarterfinal win over Georgetown.

The
performance was a welcome sign for Hopkins and Huntley, who has seen
his scoring dip a bit this spring.  He now has 19 goals and nine
assists.

Also making a major impact is freshman attackman
Michael Kimmel, from Loyola, who has scored 20 goals and dished out
seven assists in his rookie year, and senior Eric Zerrlaut, from St.
Mary’s, who has started all 15 games and played a major role for the
Hopkins’ defense.

The other MIAA players on the Blue Jay roster
include brothers Nolan (Jr., G) and Nathan Matthews (Fr., A) from St.
Paul’s, Garrett Stanwick (Jr., M) from St. Mary’s, Chris Boland (Fr.,
A) from Boys’ Latin and Eric Dang (Fr., LSM) from Friends.

Hopkins
will face Delaware on Saturday and the Cinderella Blue Hens have also
dipped into the MIAA talent pool and now have six of the league’s
former players on their roster.

The leader of this group is
junior goalkeeper Tommy Scherr from Mount St. Joseph.  Scherr has
started all 18 games for Delaware this year and has recorded 175 saves,
as well as a 7.8 goals against average.

Also playing key roles
are Alex Smith, a senior midfielder from Boys’ Latin, and Evan
Crowther-Washburn, a junior defender from Severn.  Smith is the team’s
top face-off guy and has won 304-of-415 draws (.733), while adding five
goals and three assists.  Crowther-Washburn has started all 18 games
and has contributed 29 ground balls and two assists.

Midfielder
D.J. Widlake, from St. Joe, has netted three goals and an assist as a
freshman, while junior midfielder Drew Turner, from Severn, has
appeared in 15 games, with two starts, and has 39 ground balls and one
assist.  In addition, freshman midfielder Andrew Reinhardt, from
Calvert Hall, has appeared in two games.

Cornel, which is not a
traditional destination for MIAA players, does boast three players from
the nation’s top prep league on this years roster.  The group includes
freshman midfielder Austin Boykin from St. Paul’s, sophomore attackman
Christian Pastirik from St. Mary’s and sophomore midfielder Rocco
Romero from Boys’ Latin.

Romero has had the biggest impact this
year, as he has scored nine goals and added six assists, while Pastirik
has had five points, inclcuding four goals.

Of course, Cornel
will face top-seeded Duke in Saturday’s other semifinal.  The Blue
Devils, who are attempting to rise from the depths of last year’s now
dismissed rape scandal, have just one former MIAA player on their
roster â?? senior midfielder Ed Douglas from Gilman.