YORK, PA-The York College men's lacrosse team dropped their final game of the 2001 season as the Western Maryland Green Terror, the 12th-ranked team in the nation, handed the Spartans a 27-7 defeat. The loss was the final game for Spartan head coach Phil Avillo as he has announced he will retire from coaching at the conclusion of the 2001 campaign. Avillo helped usher the Spartans to the intercollegiate level after coaching the Spartan club team for nine years.
The Spartans found themselves down early as the Green Terror scored the game's first five goals before senior Trey King (Columbia, MD/South Carroll) scored YCP's first tally with 1:51 remaining in the period. Western Maryland's Mike Griffin scored with just 11 seconds left in the period, allowing the visitors to take a 6-1 lead to the second period. WMC junior Tom Brown had a large hand in the early lead as he scored three of the first six goals while sophomore Joe Ellis added two goals and one assist.
The Spartan offense kicked it up a notch in the second period as they scored three goals. Unfortunately for York, Western Maryland continued their offense onslaught as they notched seven goals to take a 13-4 lead into intermission.
The Green Terror would proceed to outscore York 8-1 in the third quarter and 6-2 in the fourth to turn the game into a romp.
Western Maryland received 11 goals and two assists from Brown as the junior now has 62 goals and 25 assists for 87 points. Ellis chipped in with six goals and five assists for the Green Terror.
The Spartans were led by junior Ryan Wynne (Mt. Airy, MD/South Carroll) as he notched a team-high three goals. King, Nick Smith (Crofton, MD/Arundel), Brendan Brace (Bethpage, NY/Bethpage), and Jason Kemper (Bel Air, MD/Bel Air) each added single goals. Junior Scott Hermes (New Freedom, PA/Mervo) dished out three assists while senior Bill Bryson (Fairfax, VA/Chantilly) added one helper.
The Spartans finished their second varsity season with a record of 3-12. The three wins tied their total from 2000 but the Spartans played a number of close games that could have gone the other way. Unfortunately, Avillo's last game was not one of them.
Three Spartans, King, Bryson and Zach Fine (Ellicott City, MD/Mt. Hebron), played their final game in the green and white. King and Bryson are two of the final holdovers from the Spartan club team.