Strong start carries Bishop England past A.C. Flora for 4A lacrosse title

Bishop England used a quick-strike offense on its way to its first Class 4A boys lacrosse championship.

The Bishops (14-3) scored three times in the first 1:09 and defeated A.C. Flora, 11-4, on Saturday at Cecil Woolbright Stadium. With the win, Bishop England won both 4A titles Saturday, as the girls team defeated Chapin.

Michael Gaffney and Connor Mulark each had three goals to lead Bishop England, which led 8-0 at halftime.

“You know, tonight was an anomaly for our season,” Bishop England coach Sean Keiper said. “In all our biggest games, we have not started well and have fallen behind. Tonight, we were very focused and fortunate to get a lead. We came out ready to play.”

A.C. Flora coach Mickey Purdy said the team’s game plan of putting two guys on the Bishops’ top two midfielders, Colin Reich and Mulark, backfired in the first half. Both players had goals during the opening two minutes.

But like they did in the first meeting between the two teams, the Falcons mounted a second-half comeback. A.C. Flora scored four straight goals in the third quarter, two by all-state selection Sam Duffie, to close within 8-4.

“You don’t want to ever lay down in a game,” Purdy said. “You want to have an opportunity to show that you belong here and make that run. We can score five, six or seven goals in a quarter. We knew we weren’t out of the game completely. It was just a bad way to start.”

Gaffney scored once near the end of the third and to begin the fourth quarter to push the margin to 10-4.

William King and Michael Graff had the other two goals for the Falcons, who finished the season at 13-4. A.C. Flora is the only Midlands boys lacrosse team playing for a state championship. The Falcons were trying to become the second Midlands team to win a state title since the Blythewood girls won in 2010.

“I’m still proud of the boys. Bad first half, but I’m glad how they fought back and had a great year,” Purdy said.

This story was originally published April 29, 2017 at 9:20 PM with the headline "Strong start carries Bishop England past A.C. Flora for 4A lacrosse title."