BALTIMORE (Map, News) - Don’t tell senior attacker Matt Dybala that Kenwood is Baltimore’s “other” county champion.

Dybala has 39 goals and 31 assists for the Bluebirds, who went 13-1 and captured the Baltimore County Division II championship. But Dulaney still is recognized as the top team in the county, as it defeated Catonsville, 9-6, on Tuesday to win the more competitive Division I title.

“We’ve definitely got a lot to prove,” said Dybala, who will play at Hood College, a Division III school in Frederick, next year.

Kenwood hasn’t faced the same level of competition as Dulaney, but senior faceoff specialist Hector Montoya, who started playing lacrosse just three years ago, feels his team has a good chance to make a deep run in the 4A/3A South Region Tournament. Kenwood is the region’s top seed, and hosts C.M. Wright (8-5) or Perry Hall (5-7) at 11 a.m. in the quarterfinals on Saturday. Dulaney is the region’s third seed.

Montoya, who won 168-of-207 faceoffs and had 91 ground balls this spring, believes his team would have fared well in county’s Division I despite going 5-12 in the league last season.

“We were much younger last year, but have improved a lot since then,” Montoya, who will also play at Hood, said. “We would have been able to play with most of the teams in that division if given the chance.”

Kenwood coach Tony Ruocco, in his seventh year, knows his team likely is going to be considered an underdog on Saturday. Ruocco also knows through experience that Kenwood can make a playoff push, as it advanced to the region final in 2002 and 2005, but never has qualified for the state tournament.

“We don’t have the same tradition of schools like Dulaney or Towson, but we’ve always tried to be competitive,” Ruocco, who also coaches the Bluebirds’ football team, said. “We’ve definitely earned our top seed in the tournament.”

Ruocco, who played college lacrosse at Canisius, said this season has been especially satisfying, considering many of his players did not play the sport before high school — a trait rarely found at county powers Pikesville, Towson and Dulaney. He’s molded a team of 45 players — composed mostly of athletes who play more than one sport — into a contender. 

“In a program like this, you get the chance to really teach the game,” Ruocco said. “It’s been great to watch players like Matt and Hector grow into college prospects and I think we’ll only see more players like that as the youth programs in the area continue to grow.”

rsnyder@baltimoreexaminer.com