Hat Trick

Ralph Weaver came through with a hat trick Friday night, scoring three goals to lead the Clear Spring Blazers to a 4-1 win over the Broadfording Christian Academy Lions in a boys soccer game. “I was happy with Ralph Weaver's hat trick,” Clear Spring coach Mark Myers said. “It was the first hat trick of his career.” “I got the ball at the right time,” Weaver said. “It felt good. Our team was able to get the ball down the field pretty good. That gave me an opportunity to score.

Saturday, October 1, 2011 BOYS SOCCER Thomas Blake scored three goals and Kevin Proctor had three assists as St. Maria Goretti won its Homecoming game Saturday, 5-0 over St. John's Catholic Prep. Mateo Pelja and Darrick Brown each had a goal and Clarence Wroblewski added an assist for the Gaels (8-3). Drew Katrina had four saves and John Winalski had three in combining on the shutout. Smithsburg 4, Catoctin 3 SMITHSBURG - Adler Garrett scored the winning goal off an assist from Clayton Layman in the third minute of overtime as Smithsburg defeated Catoctin in an MVAL Antietam match.

The North Hagerstown boys lacrosse team had little trouble with the Frederick Cadets, never trailing in a 12-7 victory in the first round of the Maryland Class 3A-2A West tournament. The Hubs (5-8) led 2-1 after the first quarter, then turned on the jets, scoring six goals in the second — led by Zach Eppard’s hat trick. “We came in assuming that the teams would be evenly matched based on record,” said North coach Dave Tallant. “We knew we had to be tenacious on ground balls, keep our heads in the game and control the ball.” That ball control was personified by Eppard, who easily darted through Frederick’s defense to create his three scores.

The Smithsburg boys lacrosse team got out to a fast start in its MVAL Antietam game against Brunswick on Thursday and held on for a 9-8 victory, after the Railroaders gave the Leopards a run for their money in the fourth quarter. Up 9-5 with five minutes left in the game, all Smithsburg had to do was run out the clock to secure the win. “We really needed to slow it down,” said Smithsburg midfielder Cullan Ganley. “When I got the ball, I just wanted to run the clock out.” Brunswick’s defense and midfielders stayed on top of the Leopards, getting the ball away from them and setting up the dynamic duo of Tate Rolland and Dylan Hunt to score.

On a night when the Washington County Northstars donated a defibrillator to charity, they got an offensive jolt of energy to defeat Thomas Johnson 8-0 in a prep hockey game at the Hagerstown Ice & Sports Complex on Monday. Mikhail Gardner earned his second shutout of the season, stopping all 20 of Thomas Johnson’s shots on goal. Despite a 1-4 record, the Patriots played with tenacity through the first two periods. Goalie Devin Shields, a freshman, stopped eight of Washington County’s nine shots on goal in the first period, only allowing a wrister in front of the net by Zach Kimmel which was assisted by Kevin McCormack.

BOYS SOCCER BRUNSWICK, Md. -- Ryan Byard scored all three of North Hagerstown's goals in the Hubs' 3-1 MVAL Antietam victory Tuesday over Brunswick. Mavlyud Gilmanov, Niklas Grahn and Dominique Phillip each had an assist and Caleb Mittel had eight saves for the Hubs (7-1-1, 2-0). Drew Demich scored on a penalty kick for the Railroaders (5-2, 1-1). JV: North, 2-0. Broadfording 5, Grace 0 Andy Torres recorded his 26th goal and third hat trick of the season to lead Broadfording Christian past Grace Academy (0-10, 0-8)

View more photos here! Senior striker Joey Barvir scored three second-half goals and Smithsburg's boys soccer team rallied from a 2-0 deficit to pull off a a major upset, beating North Hagerstown 3-2 on Thursday night in an MVAL Antietam game at Mike Callas Stadium. The Leopards (2-12, 2-5) kept the Hubs (9-4, 5-1) from clinching the Antietam title. "When we were down 2-0, I knew that when I got the ball that I had to do something with it," Barvir said. "I give thanks to my teammates, because all three of my goals were assisted.

View all of the photos for purchase! HAGERSTOWN -- The North Hagerstown girls soccer team tuned up for Friday night's MVAL Antietam Conference championship game against Catoctin with a 6-0 road victory over South Hagerstown on Tuesday. It was the Hubs' first game since Oct. 8. "This was a workout. This was good," said Katie Ritter, who scored the Hubs' first three goals in the first half. "We got our touch back. " The game officially ended with about 11 minutes remaining on the clock, due to an undisclosed injury to South junior Jessica Sarno, who left the field in an ambulance.

BOYS SOCCER Luke Bunting had a hat trick to lead Grace Academy past Broadfording Christian Academy 6-2 on Tuesday night in a matchup of the top two Mason Dixon Christian Conference squads. The Knights (14-1, 11-0) completed a sweep of the Lions (13-3, 11-2). Grace defeated Broadfording 3-0 on Sept. 10. Patrick Salvagno had two goals and an assist for the Knights, while Caleb Serafini added a goal and an assist. Zack Morgan recorded two assists, Andrew Michael had an assist and Kenny Frederickson made 12 saves, one on a penalty kick.

WASHINGTON -- Alex Ovechkin got his first playoff hat trick. Sidney Crosby matched him, but his was too little, too late. Ovechkin broke open a tie game with a pair of goals less than 3 minutes apart in the third period Monday night, leading the Washington Capitals to a 4-3 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins and a 2-0 series lead in the Eastern Conference semifinals. Ovechkin followed a one-timer from the left circle on a power-play with 7:07 to play with a slap shot from between the circles with 4:38 remaining.