'Twin telepathy': Iannarino brothers connect for winner as Glenelg boys lacrosse tops No. 14 Mt. Hebron, 10-9
Apr. 15—Tim Iannarino called it "twin telepathy." The Glenelg senior midfielder knew exactly where to find his brother, Chris, in the waning seconds of Monday afternoon's tie game against Mt. Hebron.
The veteran set a pick for junior attackman Brandon Klopp and rolled off for a pass. He relayed it to Chris Iannarino, who was cutting on the doorstep and buried the go-ahead goal with 18 seconds remaining.
The Gladiators held off the Vikings' last chance and claimed a 10-9 win.
"When they came out in man [defense] we just knew," Tim said. "I just knew that when I was going to push that backside, there was going to be that back cut because they were ball watching. Twin telepathy, I just felt him. He was right there to dunk it. No doubt in my mind, I knew 100% percent he was going to score that."
It also marked the first time the senior tandem has connected for a game-winning goal in their high school careers.
"I felt that Mt. Hebron defender run right by me and I said, 'Where is he going?'" Chris Iannarino said. "I knew I was going to be wide open and I knew Tim was going to put the feed in my stick right where I needed it."
Mt. Hebron won the ensuing faceoff and had one final chance to tie. However, Shane DuBois was there to dislodge the ball from the Vikings' Maverick Smith and seal the come-from-behind win.
"Oh my gosh, there's nothing like it," Chris said. "You see the net move and I'm screaming, 'Yeah, let's go, this is great.' Then I had to sprint back to the sideline and grab my faceoff stick."
The brothers have played together their whole lives, creating an on-field connection that can't be replicated.
"Playing so much, I know how he cuts and how he always has a stick right there," Tim said. "When I came across that side, I knew that he would have his stick in the right hand ready to catch and just dump it right away. The biggest thing is we've been doing it since day one, so it's a lot easier."
Glenelg (4-3, 4-0 Howard County) found itself trailing by four entering the fourth quarter. Junior Robert Jones started the rally early in the fourth beating Luca LeClaire from just outside the crease. That was a common theme in the fourth as all five of the Gladiators' goals came from in tight.
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Jones and Chris Iannarino combined for all five fourth-quarter tallies.
"I think we got lazy with our slides," Mt. Hebron coach Mike McCarthy said. "We weren't playing bodies; we were playing sticks. I think our middies were a little gassed and our turnovers in really the first and fourth quarter killed us, having to go up and down the field instead of maintaining possession of the ball."
The Gladiators started the game out strong, building a 4-1 lead after the opening quarter. However, Mt. Hebron controlled the middle of the field in the second and third. The Vikings scored four goals in the final 2:27 of the first half to take a one-goal halftime lead. Cooper Stockenberg and Logan Foust spearheaded the offense as Mt. Hebron (4-5, 3-2) scored seven straight goals to take a 9-5 lead into the fourth.
Yet, in that final period Glenelg flipped the script. The Gladiators won contested groundballs in the middle of the field and forced turnovers. Glenelg's offense was the one firing on all cylinders while Mt. Hebron's offensive unit searched for answers.
"The biggest thing we talked to them about from the beginning of the second quarter is we weren't running our stuff," Glenelg coach Josh Hatmaker said. "Then we were getting caught and staring stuff down with turnover after turnover. You just can't have that and the message was still the same, 'Run our stuff, the looks will be there.'"
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Glenelg — 4 1 0 5 — 10
Mt. Hebron — 1 5 3 0 — 9
Goals: G- Chris Iannarino 3, Chase Buscher 3, Robert Jones 2, Tim Iannarino, Conner Hammond; MH- Cooper Stockenberg 3, Logan Foust 2, Maverick Smith 2, Doug Cohen, Will Kettering. Assists: G- Conner Hammond 2, Tim Iannarino 2, Chris Iannarino, Ethan Sands, Robert Jones; MH- Maverick Smith, Tyler Tangires, Cooper Stockenberg. Saves: G- Zach Coughlin 8; MH- Luca LeClaire 7.
