The Abington and Central Bucks East previews will follow.
#24 Perkiomen Valley (12-6) at #9 Pennsbury (16-2)
If anything has changed in a Pennsbury program that has elevated itself to new heights this season, it could well be the team’s belief in itself.
“We really feel we are one of the top 10-14 teams, and we’re excited about our chances to prove that, taking a step beyond the first round and hopefully pushing for states,” coach Jamie Huber said. “I don’t think anything has really changed in our approach.”
The Falcons and Vikings have no common opponents, but according to Huber, Perk Valley is a ‘defense-first’ team.
“We have faced teams like that before,” he said. “I’ve been told they have a really good goalie, but we’ve faced good goalies before this year.
“We feel we’re well prepared for that. We’re not a one-dimensional team. We’re not a defense-first or offense-first. We’re very well balanced. We know that Perk Valley is going to test us. They’re going to come in looking to put themselves on the map, and that was our object last season when we faced Sun Valley. We know they’re a dangerous team. We’re excited about the opportunity to go out there and prove ourselves. We believe that we can do what it takes to move on to the second round.”
Although Kenneth Warren will be a game-day decision, the Falcons have a proven entity in senior captain Shawn Caven, a four-year varsity starter and two-year captain who was a first team all-league selection last year.
“He has really led the team,” Huber said. “He’s the heart and soul of the team. He’s always giving 110 percent. He has been dominating force at the x in the midfield for us all year, and that really starts the offense.
“Winning those face-offs is huge. It allows us to control the ball and do the things we want to do. It all begins with Shawn Caven.”
Ricky Jutkiewicz has also been a key in the midfield.
“We rely on him heavily,” Huber said. “If we can get the type of game Ricky is capable of – the three, four-point game, I don’t think most teams can beat us if he gets four points a game.”
Josh Caven, a transfer from Notre Dame, has stepped in and filled in a spot on attack.
Defensively, Dan Marr has provide valuable leadership.
“He has been a real major cog in the defense, and he has really allowed for a smooth transition with a sophomore goalie,” Huber said. “(Goalie) Drew Sweetland has really stepped up. He did not expect to be the starter this year, I didn’t expect him to be the starter, and he’s really doing a great job for us.”
Sweetland limited Abington to its third lowest goal output of the season in a 13-9 loss. The second-seeded Ghosts have handed the Falcons their only two losses of the season.
#17 Upper Merion (14-3) at #16 Owen J. Roberts (15-5)
Last year, the Vikings were happy to be in the district playoffs for the first time. This year, they’re hoping to make a little noise when they take on the Wildcats.
“We were in the exact same position last year,” coach Brady McCormick said. “We were a lower seed, but we were a 14-3 team going into a road district game.
“Last year we were proud to be in the districts in only our second season of existence and to be conference runner-up. This season we took it a step further and won the conference, and we want to take it a step further and take it past OJR.”
Leading the Vikings will be senior Nate Hare.
“The key to our offense is Nate Hare,” McCormick said. “It’s not that every play runs through him, but the attention he gets from opposing teams allows a lot of other options to open up pretty quickly.
“If they focus too much on the other options, Nate’s always there to take advantage of every opportunity.”
Senior James Brennan has been a key in the midfield.
“He has been very, very strong and winning a lot of key face-offs,” McCormick said. “Offensively, he’s really starting to tear it up. He always starts coming on late in the season.”
Ryan Flansbury, a long stick middie, has had a standout season.
“All year he has been amazing at locking down the other team’s best middie,” McCormick said. “Opposing middies who are scoring middies – Brian has been absolutely fantastic at making them not a threat.”
On the defensive end of the field, Tyler Zeoli and Dom Enz are the undisputed leaders.
“We match them against the other team’s two best attackmen, and they have been very, very successful,” McCormick said.
Conor Crowe anchors the defense in goal for a Viking squad that hopes to extend its season for at least one more game.
“I’m not looking forward to the fact that the winner of 16/17 plays number one, which is Springfield Delco,” McCormick said. “But I want to take it a step further than last year.
“We absolutely have the team to do that. It’s just a matter of being able to play 48 straight.”
#19 Wissahickon (12-6) at #14 Downingtown East (9-9)
It’s been nearly a decade since a Wissahickon lacrosse team advanced to the post-season playoffs.
“This is all new for them,” coach Anthony Gabriele said. “This senior class came into a program that was 3-7 in the league 5-13 overall, and now we’re 12-2 in the league and 12-6 overall and a share of the league championship.
“They’ve literally changed the culture of the program at the high school from kind of an afterthought into a competitive lacrosse program. They have done a very nice job. We said today at practice, ‘The ride isn’t over yet. This is huge. This is the first time any of you will play in the district playoffs.’ They have done a great thing, and we’re real excited for (Tuesday).”
The Trojans’ success begins on the defensive end where they are anchored by goalie Sean Smith and a defensive unit comprised of Beau Gomez, Tom Bracaglia, Jesse Sutow and Ward McMasters.
“Over the past two years – even though we finished at 10-8 last year, we held teams to an average of 5.6 goals a game, and this year we held teams to 4.6 goals a game,” Gabriele said.
The Trojans’ coach tipped his hat to his defensive coordinator, Jim Simmington, who played lacrosse at Conestoga and West Chester University.
“He has really built this defense,” Gabriele said. “They’ve kept us in games the past two years but especially this year.
“We struggled last year as an offense to score, and we were still in games because of the defense. They have been the rock that we have built this whole thing off of.”
A key addition to the team this year was Nick Lucchesi. The senior attackman – who will be playing lacrosse at Marywood next year - started for the Trojans as a sophomore and averaged double-digit goals and assists but was sidelined all of last season with a knee injury.
“You look at last year and the difference between being 10-8 and 15-3 was 1.7 goals a game, and Nick was good for at least two goals a game this year,” Gabriele said. “It’s a big difference.”
Jeff Gebert, who will take his talents to Susquehanna next year, played attack for three years but is playing middie as a senior and has led the midfielders in goals.
“As one of our captains, he’s a leader, and he’s really stepped it up and did a great job for us as an offensive midfielder,” Gabriele said.
Also coming up big for the Trojans is midfielder Steve Carrozza, a four-year starter.
“He was an offensive middie for us for three years, and we asked him to take a leadership role in the defensive midfield this year,” Gabriele said. “He did a great job with it – calls the transition. He stepped up and did a great job.”
The ‘new season’ begins for the Trojans on Tuesday when they will take on Downingtown East.
“We said, ‘Everyone is 0-0, and for 13 kids on our team, it could be their last lacrosse game. There’s two ways to finish the season – laying down or going down swinging. When you wake up on Wednesday and look back on Tuesday, how are you going to feel? Are you going to feel you could have done more or left everything on the field,’” Gabriele said.
Earlier this season, the Trojans hung tough in a 6-5 loss to a Downingtown West squad that is 16-2.
“Both them and East have gotten a lot better since then, but we have too,” Gabriele said. “It’s anybody’s game.
“One of the personality traits is we’ll fight for four quarters and overtime if they have to.”
#20 Plymouth Whitemarsh (12-6) at #13 Downingtown West (16-2)
Downingtown West, according to coach Phil Chang, boasts several Division One players on its roster. That will hardly intimidate the Colonials, who also have some D-1 players of their own.
For starters, Shawn Kaplan is taking his talents to Ohio State University.
“We feel we can control the face-off part of the game,” Chang said. “We have done it for the last three years against everybody.
“We feel with Shawn will be able to control the face-offs and give us more possessions.”
Colin Joka, who will be playing lacrosse at Marist, is the go-to scorer for the Colonials, and in the midfield, Pat Nolan will be a key.
“He’s the midfielder that does everything for us,” Chang said of Nolan. “He plays defense, he plays attack, he plays transition. He shows up to play every single day.
“We feel that we can score some goals. We need a strong defensive effort and a good day from our keeper, and we feel we have a good chance to compete with this team.”
The Colonials’ improvement this season is reflected in their seeding – last year they were 27th (and lost to Abington 7-4 in the opening round), and this year they are seeded 20th.
“We’re happy we improved,” Chang said. “We played some tougher teams out of league and really tried to get our program on the map a little bit.
“We want to continue to do that every year. We’re definitely excited to be here, and we think we have an opportunity in front of us.”
#27 Council Rock North (10-7) at #6 Spring-Ford (18-2)
Joe Kivlen knew his Indian squad was perched squarely on the bubble when it came time for the district seeding meeting on Sunday.
“I kind of painted not the most positive picture because we have never made the playoffs before, and we didn’t know what to expect,” the Indians’ coach said. “We didn’t know how Council Rock North would be judged when it’s put up there against all these really good teams.”
The district seeding committee judged the Indians worthy, awarding Rock North its first ever playoff bid.
“We were very excited as a program, as a team,” Kivlen said. “We have a very family-oriented team, and it was unbelievable to see all the e-mails going around – even the jayvee players. There’s so much support in our schools.
“A lot of teachers were coming up to me and saying things. I think everyone is really excited for Council Rock lacrosse, and that’s the neatest thing because we’re a very young program in a very young area.”
One of the players that will be key for the Indians is captain Chris Gifford. The junior attackman, a third-year varsity player, has 35 goals and 25 assists (60 points), and he also has 96 ground balls.
“He’s the type of kid that is all over the field for us,” Kivlen said. “He’s a true leader.
“He takes face-offs for us, and he’s 40 percent on face-offs. He gets a lot a lot of big goals, and when we ask him to play defense, he plays defense – he’s the one guy that does everything for us. He’s a great kid and has a breakout year.”
Tyler Shablin, also a captain, has contributed 31 goals and seven assists. The left-handed middie also has 76 ground balls.
“Although he hasn’t scored as much, every one of his goals has been a big goal,” Kivlen said. “He had the game winner against Neshaminy.
“He scores the most against the best teams.”
Senior Dan Brenner, who has 18 goals and 15 assists, is a captain and, according to Kivlen, represents the true heart and soul of the team.
“He’s our vocal leader, our emotional leader,” the Indians’ coach said. “He is the perfect captain because he understands that balance – of the team but above the team.”
Sophomore goalie Mark McDonald has been rock solid in goal. He is coming off a dazzling 28-save effort in the Indians’ 13-11 win over Council Rock South in the regular season finale.
“He’s very athletic, so he’s like a one-man clear for us,” Kivlen said. “He has about 50 ground balls, and when he picks it up, he’s taking off. He’s usually the fastest guy on the field.
“We’re excited to have a young, athletic goalie. That Council Rock South game – to come up with 28 saves. I didn’t believe it at first, but I went back and watched the video. It was pretty awesome.”
A trademark of this year’s team is its blue collar work ethic as evidenced by the number of ground balls its players have accumulated.
“We get after the ground balls as much as we can,” Kivlen said. “We might not have as much talent, but we fight and scrap for every ground ball.
“That’s been a point of focus for us this year.”
Win or lose on Tuesday, advancing to the playoffs is a huge step in the right direction for a young Rock North program.
“I told them they should be very proud of what they’ve accomplished but to not be satisfied,” Kivlen said. “That’s been our motto – to not be satisfied and to be the best.
“I said, ‘Just go out there and do it. Give it your best shot. We have nothing to lose.” All I’m asking is they go out there and give it their best shot, and who knows which way the ball bounces. Spring-Ford is a great team, a great program, and it’s great for us to be playing a team like this. We’re just going to give it our best shot.”
#25 Bishop Shanahan (12-6) at #8 Hatboro-Horsham (15-3)
#23 Upper Dublin (9-9) at #10 Ridley (12-6)
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