Central Bucks East rebounded from back-to-back one-goal losses to defeat District 11 champion Parkland in Tuesday’s opening round of the PIAA Class 3A Tournament.
#1-4 CENTRAL BUCKS EAST 7, #11-1 PARKLAND 5
The Patriots turned in an impressive performance on Tuesday night, showing absolutely no ill effects from consecutive one-goal losses to earn an opening round win over the District 11 champion Trojans. East fell to Avon Grove in the district semifinals (10-9) and then dropped a 12-11 decision to Garnet Valley in the third place game.
“You come off of two losses – they’re one-goal games against some of the best lacrosse teams in the state,” coach Bruce Garcia said. “We’re in this, and we’re able to play with some of the best teams in the state. There’s no reason why we can’t win games against these people.
“Tonight, although Parkland was very well coached, a very disciplined team and very athletic, we came out on top by two goals. They had an early lead on us, but after that, we never looked back.”
The Trojans took a 1-0 lead less than two minutes into the game, but East answered with a pair of goals to go on top 2-1. Parkland knotted the score in the closing minute of the opening quarter only to watch East score a pair of goals in the second quarter to go into halftime with a 4-2 lead. The Patriots led the rest of the way.
The strong start represented a sharp contrast from the previous two games that saw the Patriots fall into an early hole and then spent the rest of the game playing catch-up.
East’s defense limited a Trojan squad that came into Tuesday night’s game averaging 14.7 goals a game to just five. It was Parkland’s lowest point total of the season.
“Everyone did their job,” Garcia said. On face-offs, Michael Ott was outstanding, but that’s his job.
“On defense, Joey Thiroway and Bryan MacIntosh shut down their top attackmen to no goals. We double poled at midfield, and both of those double poles – one didn’t have a shot, didn’t have an assist, didn’t have a ground ball, and the other one didn’t have any goals. Liam Rosenthal in the cage stood up real big. They all did their jobs."
Offensively, Ryan Brown came up big for the Patriots, scoring a game-high four goals.
“Ryan did outstanding, but he’s given that by the presence of a strong defense and the presence of a strong face-off squad that keeps possession of the ball,” Garcia said. “If you don’t have possession, you can’t score”
In addition to Brown, Ryan Stout, Alec Bracken and Conor Larkin each added single goals. Ott won 9 of 13 face-offs. Rosenthal had eight saves.
Ott had a team-high six ground balls, and Jake Kueny had three. Scooping up one each were Thiroway, Ryan Bullotta, McIntosh and Colin Stein. Ryan Schmidt and John Galow both had one caused turnover.
“Everyone has bought into the program, they’ve bought into the second season,” Garcia said. “In other years, I had players sign contracts. This year we just talked about buying into the start of a new season.
“This is their season. Through the captains, they contribute to how the pre-game works, how we practice. They take ownership and it’s working. We got down against Avon Grove and Garnet Valley, but we don’t let that shake us. We continue to play the game until 48 minutes are up.
East’s win over Parkland came in the third game of a lacrosse tripleheader. All three games pitted District One squads against teams from District 11. District One was 3-0 as Owen J. Roberts girls’ team routed Easton 20-8 and Garnet Valley defeated Parkland 15-10 in girls’ action.
“We’re still playing lacrosse where other schools were done on May 12 or 13,” Garcia said. “Every year we plan on playing a second season.
“I give a lot of kudos to the coaching staff – the offensive coaches, the defensive coaches, the special teams coaches. Joe Brodzick, Jim Mithoefer and Dan Gray – those three guys put in countless hours, and they put the players in a position to succeed.”
Central Bucks East (17-5, 9-0 SOL) will face District 12 champion La Salle, the defending state runner-up, in Saturday’s quarterfinal round at a site and time to be determined.
“They’re a very, very good team by looking at their record,” Garcia said of the Explorers. “The scores they’re putting up, the number of All-Americans – they are without a doubt a formidable team to play, and I look forward to playing a team like La Salle that is so well-coached.
“As coaches, these kind of games are what we sign on for. I’m excited to come up with a game plan.”
Central Bucks East 2-2-1-2 7
Parkland 2-0-1-2 5
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