After his team was beaten in the Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association B Conference soccer final for the second straight season -- and for the third time in his stellar four-year varsity career -- Ryan DeSmit left Friends School without a title to show for a dozen varsity campaigns.

That still didn't stop the 2009 Baltimore Messenger Athlete of the Year from giving his best effort on the basketball court and lacrosse field in the winter and spring, respectively.

In all three sports, DeSmit was the focal point of opposing coaches' game plans.

Because the soccer squad had more weapons surrounding the senior center midfielder, rivals had less success stopping the Quakers by slowing down DeSmit.

Despite using their top marking schemes to deny DeSmit possession of the ball, he led Friends to a 15-2-2 overall record and a sparkling 14-1-2 conference mark, scoring 12 goals and assisting on 17 others.

His final assist of the 2008 campaign, followed by his final goal, couldn't have been more timely. The Quakers were trailing nemesis Boys' Latin, 1-0, early in second half of the B Conference championship match when the captain's heroics gave his team a short-lived 2-1 advantage.

Boys' Latin went on to win in overtime, 3-2.

"Losing to them last year (as a junior), I felt we still had a chance to come back and beat them this year," DeSmit said. "When we lost this year, it was definitely a heartbreaker."

DeSmit's father, Quaker soccer coach Doug DeSmit, said that watching his son deal with extra attention from rival defenders "would have been frustrating for me. But to see him deal with it, day in and day out and stay on an even keel, was a great experience for me. I learned from him -- read him -- in knowing how to react to a team's defense."

The younger DeSmit knew playing basketball last winter would not help him recoup many losses.

That said, after losing their first two encounters to Boys' Latin on the hardwood in December and early January, the Quakers upset the Lakers, 44-42, in February.

Even that sweet victory, however, could not salvage a season for a squad on which DeSmit was the sole senior, captain, main ballhandler and top scoring option. Friends won only five of 21 contests.

Still, he averaged 16.1 points and 7.4 rebounds per game for coach Brian Anglim's club.

"You just had to take it day by day," the 6-foot-3, 185-pound point guard said. "You had to appreciate each win because they were so rare."

The same could be said for a lacrosse squad that did not win an A Conference game for the third consecutive season and will be moving to the B Conference for the 2010 season.

In his third role as a captain, DeSmit, who will attend Towson University in the fall, helped the Quakers prevail over Sidwell Friends, Montclair Kimberly Academy and North Harford before going 0-10 against conference rivals.

"I still like the idea of playing against the best," said DeSmit, who almost always drew the opponent's top longstick and still scored 40 goals and added 15 feeds for the Quakers.

"He's always been a competitor," coach Rick Matthews said. "And he always comes ready to play. He likes to take charge and get his teammates involved."

DeSmit said playing against Calvert Hall's top defender, Johns Hopkins-bound standout Chris Lightner, was an experience he remembers as one of his best efforts.

"We gave them a little scare in the first half," DeSmit said. "And (Calvert Hall) coach (Bryan) Kelly said I earned a lot of respect that day."

At Towson, DeSmit will join fellow Friends grads Will Harrington, a midfielder, and Rob Wheeler, a goalie.

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