By Alex Frazier
It wasn’t a particularly pleasant night to sit at a lacrosse game, but those daring fans that did were rewarded.
Upper Merion 10, Wissahickon 9
The Vikings trailed Wissahickon by as much as 9-4 heading into the final period. By the time the final minute of play came around, Upper Merion had cut the lead to just one at 9-8. When James Brennan dashed out of the penalty box, Viking goalie Conor Crowe hit him with a clearing pass. Brennan shot upfield and found Luc Minnich open on the crease to tie it up with 25 seconds left.
On the ensuing faceoff, Nate Hare won a ground ball and tossed a blind pass to Minnich, who netted the game winner with 16 seconds left.
“To get five in the fourth and win it like that was pretty amazing,” said Upper Merion coach Brady McCormick. “It was a real testament to the boys. They believed in themselves.”
“Both sides played well; both sides played hard,” said Wissahickon coach Anthony Gabriele. “The lacrosse gods smiled on Upper Merion today. Those kids did not give up. They fought and fought to the last seconds of that game, and they played to win. It’s a tough loss. It’s one of those losses that builds character.”
For Wissahickon, it was its sixth one-goal game of the year.
AJ Andersen led the Trojans with four goals. Garret Rosiek had two goals and an assist, Nick Lucchesi scored one goal and added four assists, Brian Dick had one goal and one assist and Jeff Gebert tallied once.
The win was particularly satisfying for the Vikings, who had lost to Wissahickon 11-5 back on April 16.
Conor Crowe was a big part as he made 12 saves in goal.
The win lifts Upper Merion to 11-2, tied with the Trojans for first place. Upper Merion has one game left Thursday against Upper Dublin.
“That will be an uphill battle,” said McCormick. “If we play our game and stay within ourselves, we can hopefully grind out a win.”
Meanwhile, Wissahickon takes on Upper Moreland in its final tilt.
If the Trojans win, they will be guaranteed at least a tie for the title, which would be their first since 1999.
Pennridge 8, Souderton 7
It’s not surprising that a game between two archrivals such as Souderton and Pennridge would be decided in the closing seconds.
And that’s just what happened.
With 38 seconds left to play, Souderton’s Lee Stiles scored to tie the game at seven. Pennridge won the ensuing faceoff, took the ball downfield and shot wide. Souderton gained possession but when the Indians tried to clear the ball, Pennridge’s Scott Hunsberger intercepted it in the middle of the field and beat Souderton goalie Grant Nyce one on one.
“It was a huge win for us,” said Pennridge coach Tom Wyatt. “We have had our ups and downs all year long. I have a small core of players, but they’re very good. I have a lot of youngsters out there, and everybody is falling into their role, getting into their rhythm. It happened tonight, guys playing their positions, playing them well with heart.”
Souderton led 6-4 at the half, but the Rams rallied to tie it at six. Kevin Figaniak scored his third goal of the game midway through the third period to put Pennridge up 7-6.
Stiles then tied it up and the rest is history.
“I take responsibility for this loss,” said Souderton coach Todd Pettit. “Our guys were not making the good decisions in the game that they needed to. That’s a coaching mistake. I haven’t tuned these kids up well enough for these close games.”
Bryan Ziegler and Lee Stiles led the Souderton attack with two goals each. Jordan Wampole, Tyler MacDougall and Dan Barrett chipped in single goals.
In goal, Grant Nyce turned aside 21 shots.
Despite the loss, the Big Red, which has one non-league game left against Neshaminy on Friday, turned in a stellar season, finishing third in the Continental Conference (10-7 overall, 7-5 SOL), up from last place a year ago.
Pennridge (8-8, 4-6) still has two games remaining against North Penn on Thursday and Hatboro-Horsham Friday.
“I’m really proud of these boys,” said Wyatt. “What sets us apart is heart, and heart translates into every guy doing his job, hustling after ground balls, backing up shots, making the key saves, winning faceoffs. They’re all doing it at the right time.”
Abington 13, Pennsbury 9
Abington jumped out to an 8-4 lead at the half and held on to clinch the National Conference title.
“They weren’t going to roll over,” said Abington coach Randy McNeill. “It was kind of what I expected.”
Even though the Falcons couldn’t pull off the upset, coach Jamie Huber was pleased with the outcome.
“Our goal going into this game was about respect,” he said. “We wanted to earn the respect we knew we deserved from Abington. The last time we gave them no reason to respect us (in a 16-4 loss). I’m pretty sure we did that. We made them earn their victory.”
Pennsbury senior Dan Caggia came off the bench to lead the team with four goals. He was replacing leading scorer Kenneth Warren, who is injured.
“He really stepped in,” said Huber. ”He was able to shoot the ball real well. It was nice to see him as a senior contributing that way when he was asked to.”
Pennsbury goalie Drew Sweetland came up with 10 saves, including a one-on-one against the Ghosts’ scoring ace Joey Jones.
Jones still led the Ghosts with five goals and three assists. Matt Rambo pumped in four goals, while brother Mitch had two goals and an assist. Nick Fisko added two more tallies and Ryan Ambler chipped in five assists. Jesse McGinley made nine saves in goal.
Pennsbury (15-2 overall, 8-2 SOL) has one game left against Harry S Truman Thursday, while Abington awaits the seeding meeting Sunday to find out where it starts the playoffs.
“We’re not happy that we didn’t win, but we’re very excited,” said Huber. “We think this is a real good springboard for the playoffs. We think we’re going to get a decent seed, and come the second or third round, a game like this which gives us the belief that we can play and possibly beat a team like Abington that is a top three or two seed, will pay dividends for us in the long run.”
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