By Jeff Nelson
Special to The Washington Post
Sunday, May 11, 2008

When third-ranked Landon finished its 8-4 home win over fourth-ranked St. Albans yesterday in the Interstate Athletic Conference semifinals, the Bears turned their attention to the game they had wanted for weeks.

But something funny happened on the way to their much-anticipated rematch with top-ranked Georgetown Prep.

Two hours after the Bears' win, St. Stephen's/St. Agnes -- a team that went 1-4 in the IAC regular season -- stunned the top-ranked Little Hoyas, 8-7, on sophomore Peter Labovich's overtime goal.

"I've been fortunate to be around a lot of neat experiences lacrosse-wise, both as a player and a coach," Saints Coach Andy Taibl said. "But this one might very well top them all."

This is the second straight season the Saints have beaten the Little Hoyas in the semifinals, but to call this one a much bigger surprise would be an understatement.

The 2007 season was a banner year for St. Stephen's/St. Agnes, which went 16-5, lost to Georgetown Prep by only one in the regular season and eventually claimed its first Virginia Independent Schools Athletic Association title behind 14 seniors.

Their graduation meant this was supposed to be a rebuilding year. And it had been during a 1-10 start to the season, which included an 11-1 loss to the Little Hoyas.

But the Saints (7-10) won their final four regular season games and topped Bullis, 8-4, in the first round of the IAC tournament.

"I'd like to just simply say the kids stuck with us and always continued to work hard," Taibl said, "but this is the first time I've felt like I don't have a total answer for how it's turned around. It seems like one night we showed up and it all clicked."

Georgetown Prep (17-3) led 5-2 in the first half yesterday, but St. Stephen's/St. Agnes cut that deficit to one by halftime and tied the score early in the third quarter. Saints junior Andrew Cordia evened things again at 7 with around five minutes left in regulation, setting up Labovich's overtime heroics.

"Last year at this time, I was on [junior varsity], and I went to this game and was sitting in the stands" Labovich said. "And I remember rushing the field as time expired and I was on the top of the pile jumping on them. This year, I was at the bottom."

Earlier in the day at Landon, the Bears (17-4) led 4-2 at halftime and pulled away from the pesky Bulldogs (16-4) in the second half.

Senior Mike Grossman and junior Josh Offit each scored twice for Landon, a program that has dominated the league for the better part of the past three decades, but failed to win the IAC tournament each of the past three seasons.

"Landon's had a great history," Grossman said. "But just by putting on the jersey, you don't win championships, as I've learned."