Trailing throughout most of the afternoon, Calvert Hall closed with a furious rally and got four points from the 5-6 pairing of senior Jimmy Workmeister and sophomore Finn McGinnis to edge Gilman, 11.5-9.5 in their A-Conference quarterfinal playoff match on Tuesday, May 12 at Country Club of Maryland. 

 

Workmeister was 2-down on the pivotal "back six" with three holes to play, but went par-birdie-par to win the last three holes and secure an important point for the Cardinals.  McGinnis, after losing the "front six" two-down, won four of six holes on the back six to win two points and he and Workmeister combined to win the coveted "team point" as well. 

 

Earlier, senior Kevin May and junior Charles Carter won 4.5 of the available 7 points in their 3-4 pairing, with May halving his match with impressive freshman Jairus Gaines of Gilman.  Carter edged L.J. Shapiro in his individual match and the May-Carter duo split the team point with Gilman. 

 

In the 1-2 pairing, seniors Doug Grem and Paul Schwing collected 3 points, with Schwing accounting for 2.5 of them when he defeated Gilman's Edward Owen. 

 

"This was the gutsiest win we've had at Calvert Hall since I started in 2013," said Cardinals Head Coach Drew Forrester afterwards.  "Gilman threw everything they had at us.  They played their hearts out.  We just managed to get hot late in the match and made a bunch of huge putts on the 11th and 12th holes that turned it from a loss to a win in the span of about 20 minutes.  I told my team afterwards that they'll remember this day for the rest of their lives.  The way they stayed alive and fought to the end was really something special."

 

The Cardinals will now travel to the Naval Academy Golf Club on Wednesday, May 13 to take on unbeaten Archbishop Spalding, winners of 19 consecutive matches over the last two seasons.  

 

"This is exactly the same spot we were in back in 2013 when we went to Mount Saint Joseph in the semi-finals and they hadn't lost a home match in four years," Forrester states.  "We like being the hunter rather than the hunted.  We have nothing to lose.  The pressure's completely on Spalding.  They're undefeated, they're at home...they're everyone's favorite.  We're just happy to be there, playing in the semi-finals."