By Alex Frazier
National Conference
It’s no surprise to see Abington atop the National Conference standings.
And it will be no surprise when the Ghosts capture their fourth straight conference championship.
But the thing that might be surprising is the dominance of this year’s team.
The closest conference game was a 15-6 win over Council Rock North. Even when Abington and Pennsbury faced off as the two undefeated teams in the league on April 23, the Ghosts overwhelmed Pennsbury 16-4.
“We played with a little chip on our shoulder,” said coach Randy McNeill. “We were extremely motivated to play that game, and it showed in their hustle and the way we executed. It was a first-place game and the guys got up and played well.”
Admittedly, this year’s National Conference lineup is not very strong, but Abington has played some quality non-league opponents.
The Ghosts defeated Downingtown East 14-10. The Cougars are currently in third place in the Ches-Mont League. They also took down Holy Ghost Prep - which heads the Independents League - 19-5; and against Ridley, one of the traditionally strong schools in the Central League, Abington turned a 3-2 halftime lead into a 16-5 rout.
The Ghosts’ have outscored their first 13 opponents 205-82. They average 15.7 goals a game and give up just 5.54.
“The key to the season so far is our offense has been extremely explosive,” said McNeill. “We’ve gotten a lot of different guys scoring. Against Ridley we had five different guys score three goals.”
A check of the scoring stats explains it all.
On attack, senior Joey Jones has 34 goals and 37 assists in 12 games; sophomore Ryan Ambler has 27 goals and 38 assists; Nick Pisko has 27 goals and nine assists.
In the midfield, freshman Matt Rambo is the leading scorer with 39 goals and 14 assists. Senior Anthony Hensley has added 22 goals and 17 assists, and senior Rich Rambo chipped in 18 goals and six assists in eight games.
“Every game it seems like they have two goals and two assists, every one of them,” said McNeill. “Part of our success is that you can’t stop one guy or two guys. You have to stop all six of them. Ridley tried to shut Rich Rambo off, and all the rest of the guys had three goals and three assists because they were keying on Rich.”
Senior goalie Jesse McGinley has been strong in the net and anchored the Ghosts’ defensive efforts.
It’s not unusual for him to have at least 15 saves a game.
The defensive unit is a mix of all four grades.
“Our ‘D’ is stepping up and getting on the same page,” said McNeill. “That’s been the difference lately. It’s a matter of getting used to what we want to do defensively. We’ve eliminated some of the problems we were having earlier.”
Though the National Conference may not be the Ghosts’ toughest challenge this year, they will have face some stiff challenges in districts and states.
“It seems this year everybody is beating everybody,” said McNeill. “We’ll have a good shot of going far in the playoffs.”
Continental Conference
This could be Hatboro-Horsham’s year.
Twice in the past two years the Hatters had to play second fiddle to Central Bucks East because of getting tripped up at Central Bucks West. They avoided that roadblock this year, though they still have to play the Bucks at home, and after losing to East at home, came back to defeat East 6-5 in overtime to create a tie with the Patriots.
If both teams win out, they will share the Continental title.
Coach Dave Sowers admits this is a special team for him, perhaps the most special in his 22 years of coaching.
“My ultimate goal is not about the record,” he said. “It’s about what kind of men and husbands and fathers are these guys going to be in 20 years. You come across a group of kids sometimes that may be so talented and then you come across a group that is maybe not that talented but you love the kids, and then you get that special group that you love like they’re your own sons and on top of that they’re very talented.”
The talent can be summed up in four names: Eddie Coombs, Ryan Kreston, Ryan Mullen and Dino Vitale.
“When it’s all said and done, Eddie Coombs is our heartbeat,” said Sowers. “He makes us go. When the game is on the line, I want the ball in Ryan Kreston’s stick. And back on defense we have Ryan Mullen, who is the quarterback of the defense, and when you throw somebody like Dino Vitale in at goal, we’re pretty solid right up the middle.”
Talent alone doesn’t win games. You also need the workhorses. And no one exemplifies them more than Greg Cutilli.
“He comes every day to practice,” said Sowers. “He can flat out play the game. He won’t get the big write-ups; he just plugs away. He’ll get one or two goals when you need them.”
An 8-7 loss to Garnet Valley early in the season and a trip to Disney World to train and play two Colorado teams may have been the key to the season.
In the Garnet Valley game, the team played like individuals.
“All the superstars wanted to do it themselves,” said Sowers.
But at Disney, things began to change.
“It was more about coming together as a team,” said Sowers. “When we came out of Disney, it was like they got it.
“(Now) they’re so unselfish and believe in each other and play as a team.”
The Hatters still have three league games remaining against Souderton, Central Bucks West and Pennridge.
Any one of them could play the spoiler.
“My biggest challenge is to make sure we stay focused at the task at hand, which is one opponent at a time,” said Sowers.
In the first game against Souderton, for instance, the Hatters cruised to a 7-2 lead before the Indians chipped away to tie the game at seven.
Assistant coach Duncan Swezey wanted to call timeout, but Sowers didn’t.
“I want to see what these kids are made of, see how they respond to adversity,” he told Swezey.
He was pleased at what he saw.
The team rattled off six straight goals to win 13-7.
“It was a tribute to our seniors who pulled it together and said, ‘This is not going to happen this year. We’re not going to get tripped up,’” said Sowers. “They don’t take anything for granted. They work for everything. It showed in the game against C.B. East. They just don’t give up.”
American Conference
For a team that has been playing varsity lacrosse for only three years, Upper Merion has come a long, long way.
Last year the Vikings finished second in the conference. This year they got a little help from Plymouth Whitemarsh, which knocked off Wissahickon 11-10 Wednesday to give the Vikings a shot of taking or tying for the division title.
Right now they trail Wissahickon by one game with a head-to-head left with the Trojans on Tuesday.
“There are a couple of games I’d like to have back,” said coach Brady McCormick.
The first PW game is the first. The Vikings were missing Tyler Zeoli, their best defenseman, and Nate Hare, who has tallied 50 points on attack, went out in the first minute and a half of the game. Upper Merion found itself down 7-2 at the half but could only score four goals in an 8-6 loss.
“We almost got back into that one,” said McCormick. “That loss put us in a bad position.”
The other is Wissahickon. The Vikings had a 2-0 lead until a minute and half left in the first half when Wissahickon scored.
“We were confident and our defense was playing really, really well,” said McCormick.
But the third period was devastating as the Trojans outscored Upper Merion 6-1.
“That was the end of that,” said McCormick.
Upper Merion first began lacrosse as a club program in 2005 with just 18 players. McCormick was an assistant coach the first three years under Joe Shannon and Roman Kopecky.
He took over the program in 2008 when it became an official varsity sport.
In 2006, the Vikings began a middle school program, which has provided the nucleus of this year’s senior class.
“It’s very clear that we’ve had the benefit of a youth program,” said McCormick.
The club program now goes kindergarten through eighth grade and boasts over 200 players this year.
“Hopefully, we’ll be reaping those benefits from now on out,” said McCormick.
The Vikings have a lot of firepower this year.
All three of Upper Merion’s attackmen have at least 50 points. Freshman Trevor Kupecky leads the group with 26 goals and 50 assists for 76 points; senior Nathan Hare, who is heading to Robert Morris next year, follows with 39 goals and 21 assists for 60 points; and junior Luc Minnich is third with 44 goals and 12 assists for 56 points.
“Those guys have fortunately set each other up and been scoring the goals when we needed them,” said McCormick.
In the midfield, senior James Brennen has been the go-to player. He has come up with 70 percent of the face-offs and set the all-time ground ball record with 300 for his career (114 so far this season).
“He’s what you want a midfielder to be,” said McCormick. “He’s very strong. He’s good with the ball. He carries it well and is a ground ball machine.”
When McCormick needs to mark an opposing player, he goes to long-stick middie Ryan Flansbury.
“I think he’s easily the best long-stick middie in our league,” said McCormick. “He’s a really strong player and fantastic defender.”
Anchoring the defense is three-year goalie Conor Crowe, who has a .697 save percentage. The junior has recorded two games with 23 saves. In the first game against Wissahickon, he came up with two huge saves in one-on-one situations.
“He’s an exceedingly intelligent player,” said McCormick. “He’s a big kid and makes unbelievable saves. In games where we’ve made mistakes, he’s kept us in the game many, many times.”
Upper Merion may be a young program, but the Vikings are already enjoying success. They are hoping to move up from second place last year to either winning or getting a share of the title this year.
“We need to run the table to have a shot,” said McCormick.
• The Wissahickon varsity and jayvee lacrosse teams participated in their Third Annual Community Service project on April 24. The team cleaned up and re-wood chipped the walking trail at Whitpain Township’s Wentz Run park. The 49.8-acre park is part of the Whitpain Township Open Space Plan adopted in December 1995. This is the third year in which the coaches, parents, and players gave back to the township in the form of community service.
SOL Top Five
1. Abington
2. Central Bucks East
3. Hatboro-Horsham
4. Pennsbury
5. Wissahickon
Pa. Media-All teams
(Week Six)
1. Springfield Delco 13-1
2. Haverford, 15-3
3. Conestoga, 13-2
4. LaSalle, 9-2
5. Episcopal, 8-2
6. Abington, 12-1
7. Garnet Valley, 9-3
8. Central Bucks East, 10-1
9. Emmaus, 8-5
10. Germantown Academy, 7-4
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