Tagged as the area’s No. 1 team at the start of the season, the Cardinals were able to successfully navigate through the deep and talented Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association A Conference to capture the program’s first title since 2003.
Zinkand, a 1987 Calvert Hall graduate in his fifth season as coach, guided a senior-laden team that dealt with pressure to end the program’s championship drought. Down 2-1 to then-No. 1 Archbishop Curley late in the championship game, the Cardinals stayed poised and pulled through with goals from seniors Ben Alexander and Brady O’Connor to pull out the 3-2 win.
The Cardinals (15-4-2) finished the season where they started — atop The Baltimore Sun’s Top 15 poll — in claiming their fifth MIAA crown and 32nd overall league title dating to 1928. Zinkand, who was part of two Maryland Scholastic Association championships as a player, has a 56-38-9 mark in his five seasons.
