Towson boys lacrosse’s Hudson Arrup scores 6 goals in 11-7 regional championship victory over Dulaney
Hudson Arrup erupts for a career-high six goals in Towson's 11-7 victory over Dulaney in a boys lacrosse regional final.
It took Towson’s Hudson Arrup 16 seconds to score the first goal of the Class 3A North Region I championship game against Dulaney, but that was just the start of a career night for the sophomore attacker.
Arrup finished with a career-high six goals and the host Generals advanced to the state quarterfinals with an 11-7 victory.
“This is obviously a rivalry and to play a playoff game like this, it’s a lot of pressure and records kind of go out the window in these kind of games,” said Arrup, who responded when asked if he was more excited about the regional crown or beating Dulaney, “Probably beating Dulaney.”
The Generals improved to 13-2 overall and will likely host a state quarterfinal game on Wednesday after teams are reseeded. Dulaney finished 8-6.
The Lions didn’t go quietly. After Arrup’s early goal, the Generals were held scoreless for the rest of the first quarter.
Dulaney tied the game game at 1 when Jack Santoro rifled home a shot from 12 yards out with 7:07 left in the first quarter. Dulaney broke the tie just over a minute into the second quarter when Anthony Anslemi converted a feed from Constantione Bellios.
Arrup scored his second goal, off an assist from Patrick Corbett, and the game was deadlocked at 2.
“[Arrup] is a special player,” Towson coach Phil Rossetti said. “He’s such a hard worker, puts his head down, comes to work every day, plays through pain, very coachable. So it’s no surprise he had a big day today.”
Just 21 seconds later, Santoro scored his second tally of the night after a spin move from 10 yards out and the Lions led 3-2. That’s when the light bulb went off for the Towson offense, which scored five straight goals to close out the half with a 7-3 lead.
Arrup and Connor Parks scored twice and Jackson Kanzler had the other with under 30 seconds left in the half. Ansen Park had two of his game-high four assists during the stretch.
“They’ve got a great offensive set and I thought our game plan was right on point and they made more plays than we did and Ansen is certainly an excellent player and changes the tempo of the game for sure,” Dulaney coach Kyle Fiat said. “Down the stretch, we just didn’t make enough plays. They made more plays than we did.”
Before they got to the stretch, Dulaney faceoff specialist Will Bachran made a play that could have given the Lions the momentum when he scooped a faceoff and scored seven seconds into the third quarter, cutting the lead to three.
“Dulaney came out in the third quarter and scored that first goal and that kind of woke us up a little bit and I think that helped us a little bit,” Rossetti said. “We battled at the faceoff X which helped, it was just a great team win for us.”
Towson’s Nate Mangiafico and his mates won 14 of 21 faceoffs overall and when the Lions defense did get possession, the defense of long poles Matt Spencer, Jack Nowlan and Zach Mangiafico and long-stick midfielders Pat Corbett and Colin Kosmides was stellar along with goalie Alex Hochrein (nine saves).
“He’s a great goalie and when you are not answering back with a goal on your end it makes it really tough for the defense to have to play that next possession,” Fiat said.
“We trust our defense to play and give up shots from the outside because we know our goalie is going to make those saves and that’s something we take pride in and they did it well today,” Rossetti said.
After Dulaney’s early third-quarter goal, Towson methodically built the lead up to 11-4 with four straight goals, including two more from Arrup, one that he whipped around the back of his neck.
Dulaney’s Ryan Dannenfelser scored and Anselmi scored twice to cut the deficit to four with 2:28 left in the game, but the Lions never got another shot on goal.
“That’s a testament to these guys, they’ve got no quit in them and they are going to play until the very last whistle,” Fiat said. “I think that just speaks to the character of the guys and they’ve got a lot to be proud of. This is a dream group of guys right here and we had a ton of fun this season and made a ton of progress.”
Towson, whose only losses were to Urbana and Hereford in the Baltimore County championship game, returns to the state tournament after losing in the state quarterfinals last season. But Rossetti and the team were happy to celebrate its win over the rivals for the second time this season.
“We told the guys before, ‘Guys, it doesn’t get any better than this. We get to face a rival in a regional championship game, a real meaningful game’ and that’s what we wanted.’ That’s what anybody dreams of and I think that’s what anybody would want and our guys rose to the challenge today,” Rossetti said. “It’s not easy, but we get another day of practice and we get another game together, so that’s great.”
Towson – 1 6 1 3 — 11
Dulaney – 1 2 1 3 — 7
Goals: Tow – Hudson Arrup 6, Connor Parks 2, Jackson Kanzler 1, Max Kosmides 1, Zack Hockrein 1; Dul – Anthony Anselmi 3, Jack Santoro 2, Will Bachran 1, Ryan Dannenfelser 1; Assists: Tow — Ansen Park 4, Pat Corbett 1, Parks 1; Dul – Constantine Bellios 2, Ryan Grogan 1, Santoro 1.
Saves: Tow — Alex Hochrein 9; Dul — Jake Carlson 5.