SOL District Boys' Lax Preview (5-13-14))

Ten SOL teams will begin play in the District One AAAA Tournament on Tuesday. Check back for a recap of all the games.

Patriots looking to leave their mark
The Central Bucks East boys’ lacrosse team has no intention of changing its approach during the playoffs.
“We’re just going to keep doing what we do,” senior co-captain Matt Heim said.
What the Patriots do is win.
And win.
And win some more.
CB East wrapped up the regular season with a 14-3 record, including a perfect 12-0 in the Suburban One League Continental Conference. The Patriots earned a No. 4 seed in the District 1-AAAA playoffs and will face No. 29 Council Rock North at War Memorial Field in the opening round Tuesday.
“We made an effort to play a really tough schedule this year,” said Heim, who has racked up 109 goals and 40 assists during his four years with the squad.
“We went out and played teams like Malvern Prep and the Haverford School, and they’re nationally known teams with some of the best players in the country,” he said. “Going out of our comfort zone to face that level of competition really helped us improve and grow as a team.”
The Continental champs have averaged 11 goals per game this spring while allowing just 4.3 against. They enter the postseason having scored 46 points over their last three games.
CR North (9-7) will have its hands full.
Despite its talented roster and runner-up finish in the SOL National, Rock North was just 1-4 against out-of-conference opponents — including 0-2 against the Continental.
Plus, CB East, after getting ousted in the second round last year, is out to prove something.
“That loss left a real bitter taste in our mouth,” Heim said. “We’re not overlooking anybody. We treat every opponent the same.”
CR North features a solid defense, having held five opponents to three points or fewer, including a pair of shutouts. However, the Indians’ offense, though decent, is not prolific with its average of eight goals per game. That could be a problem against CB East’s stingy ‘D.’
“I think one of the things that really stands out is our defense,” Heim said. “We have some of the most talented guys around and they’ve been excellent all year. I don’t think there’s an offense that can get by us.”
Co-captain Tyler Butler anchors the Patriots’ defense. In his four years with the varsity club, he has caused 79 turnovers and 173 ground balls.
“On the other side, our offense is clicking on all cylinders,” Heim said. “We have shooters at all six positions. So I think we’re deadly at both ends of the field. We’re hoping to be playing deep into May and into June.”
Along with Heim, Matt Milici and Matt Schmidt have been leaders on offense for CB East, which has nine players committed to playing in college. Milici has amassed 80 goals 82 assists in his career, and Schmidt’s tally is 78 and 39.
“If we continue to play our game,” Heim said, “I think the sky is the limit.”

Abington and Upper Dublin win lax titles
By Mike Prince
Back on April 3, Abington scored the game’s final four goals to come from behind and defeat Upper Dublin, 12-11, in a non-conference meeting between two of the best teams in the area.
Over a month later, and the two squads – both undefeated in their respective conferences – are now done celebrating championships and are preparing for Tuesday’s District One playoffs.
The Ghosts, who finished the regular season 13-4 overall and 10-0 in the National Conference with first-year coach Peter Burns, were awarded the No. 9 seed, setting them up for a Tuesday night meeting with Central Bucks West.
“We drew a good, tough opponent, but we knew that anyone we were going to face would be a quality opponent because it’s the playoffs,” Burns said.  “Our expectations are to play hard and execute the game plan and hopefully come out with a win.”
The Ghosts have notoriously – at least for the past five or six years – been known for running things in the National Conference.  But in the recent past, things did not always go Abington’s way in the postseason.  With a brand new coach and a team filled with experienced leaders, Burns believes that this year’s team has something to prove.
“I can’t speak enough to the quality of people that are on this team,” Burns said.  “Not just as players, but how these kids are as people has been a joy to coach.  It’s been easy for myself and the other coaches to implement our coaching game plans and philosophies because they’ve been very open to them and they’ve been receptive to what we teach them.  Our leadership – especially our senior leadership – has been stellar this year.”
The Ghosts’ leadership starts with senior Will Dulin, who has taken on the team’s leadership role after Abington graduated a few of its top players last year.  Dulin, along with senior goalkeeper and co-captain Blake Friedman, have led the Ghosts in more than one way all season long.
“Blake and Will do what we’ve asked of them and more from a leadership standpoint,” Burns said.  “They are both excellent students as well, which just adds to the praise that the coaches have for them.”
Offensively, Abington has been led by Hunter Jones, who Burns called the team’s “most consistent” offensive player.  Defensively, Christian Werner has been used to shut down the opposition’s best player game in and game out.
Abington will face No. 24 CB West Tuesday at 7 p.m. inside Stephen A. Schwarzman Stadium at Abington High School.
As for the Cardinals, who finished the regular season 15-3 while also completing their second consecutive undefeated season (14-0) in the American Conference, a 4 p.m. home meeting on Tuesday with Central Bucks South is what Coach J.P. Banks and his team drew after being given the district’s No. 10 seed.
One season after being knocked out of the postseason in the quarterfinals, Upper Dublin is trying to prove that its undefeated conference record holds a lot more weight than some people think.
“It’s a great goal (to make it further than we did last year), but we have a tough road ahead of us,” Banks said.  “We’re seeing that we have to get past a really tough Central Bucks South game and it’s going to be a tough road to get back there.  Our kids are going to have to focus and they know what they have to do.  They have to play like each game is going to be the last one they’re going to play.”
Despite being the class of the American Conference and one of the better teams in the area, Upper Dublin is still led by a handful of underclassmen.
Other than co-captain Ryan Siwinski, a senior who has stepped up offensively for the Cardinals, Upper Dublin’s leadership starts on defense with Jack Rapine, along with Henry Winebrake and Michael Sowers, all three of whom are only sophomores.
Not only does Rapine do everything from keeping things calm on the defensive side of the field to setting up goals from his play in the backfield, he has already – with more than two full years of high school remaining – earned a scholarship to play lacrosse at the prestigious Johns Hopkins University.
“Throughout the season, Jack has done a great job of controlling both ends of the field,” Banks said.  “He can be a spark for the defense, but also for the offense as well.  He’s an extremely versatile player.  But it’s going to be a lot of different players who we’re going to have to count on for the playoffs.  You don’t have to be a captain to be a leader, so we really need all those other guys to step up.”
Sowers, along with Michael Mullin and Evan Scott, have been leading the Cardinals all season in what has turned into an explosive offensive team.  Goalie Bobby McPeake has stood tall in net as well.
“You can say that a lot of the younger kids have a great amount of experience from our run last year, and even though they happen to be sophomores now, we expect more out of them with the leadership role because so many of them have been through it,” Banks said.  “We know we have a tough matchup with CB South.  They’ve done a great job taking over that program and turning them into a contender, so we’re looking forward to the opportunity of playing them.”
The winner of the Upper Dublin/CB West game will take on the winner of the Ridley (No. 7) vs. Upper Moreland (No. 26) game on Thursday night.

#29 COUNCIL ROCK NORTH at #4 CENTRAL BUCKS EAST
Central Bucks East

• 15-3 overall
• 12-0 SOL Continental Conference champions
• Won nine of 10 to close out regular season
• Only losses to #11 Conestoga (11-6) as well as perennial powers Malvern Prep (11-6) and the Haverford School (15-7)
• Wins over #5 Avon Grove (11-9) and #17 Hatboro-Horsham (6-5 & 7-4)
• Allowed an average of just 4.3 goals per game

Council Rock North

• 9-8 overall
• 7-3 SOL National Conference (second place)
• Defense boasts a pair of shutouts and has allowed three goals or less in five games
• Lost four of six to close out regular season after a stretch that saw the Indians win five of six

#24 CENTRAL BUCKS WEST at #9 ABINGTON
Abington

• 14-4 overall
• 10-0 SOL National Conference champions
• Winners of eight of nine to close out regular season
• Three of four losses have been to teams seeded in top 10 of districts – Radnor (14-8), #6 Garnet Valley (12-8) and #7 Ridley (11-8). Their fourth loss was to #17 Hatboro-Horsham (9-6) in the third game of the season on March 27.
• Wins over #10 Upper Dublin (12-11), #13 Holy Ghost Prep (8-7) and #23 Central Bucks South (11-5).

Central Bucks West

• 12-6 overall
• 7-5 SOL Continental Conference (fourth place)
• Defeated #29 Council Rock North 12-1 in regular season finale
• All six losses have all been at the hands of district qualifiers
• Won six of seven to close out regular season

#23 CENTRAL BUCKS SOUTH at #10 UPPER DUBLIN
Upper Dublin

• 15-3 overall
• 14-0 SOL American Conference champions
• Saw a 13-game winning streak snapped with 9-3 loss to #8 Springfield-Delco in regular season finale.
• Wins include a late-season 8-7 overtime victory over #11 Conestoga. The Cardinals also defeated #15 Wissahickon twice (9-5 & 8-4)

Central Bucks South

• 10-8 overall
• 8-4 SOL Continental Conference (third place)
• Earned wins over #17 Hatboro-Horsham (9-7), #24 Central Bucks West (10-3) and #29 Council Rock North (13-2)
• Opened season with four straight wins but lost five of seven to close out regular season.

#18 GREAT VALLEY at #15 WISSAHICKON
Wissahickon

• 14-4 overall
• 12-2 SOL American Conference (second place)
• Believed to be first district home game in program history
• Lost to Great Valley 10-5 in season opener on March 21.
• Notched wins over #17 Hatboro-Horsham (5-4) as well as a pair of wins over both #26 Upper Moreland (16-7, 9-4) and #28 Plymouth Whitemarsh (15-2, 9-5)
• Trojans take a six-game winning streak into the postseason.

Great Valley

• 13-3 overall
• 7-3 Ches-Mont League (tied for third place)
• Defeated Wissahickon 10-5 in season opener on March 21.
• Winners of seven straight to end regular season
• Earned an 8-7 win over #25 Boyertown and a 10-6 win over #20 West Chester Henderson in the regular season finale

#17 HATBORO-HORSHAM at  #16 DOWNINGTOWN EAST
Hatboro-Horsham

• 10-8 overall
• 9-2 SOL Continental Conference (second place)
• Played 12 games against team’s seeded in top 25 of district
• Wins over #9 Abington (9-6) and #23 Central Bucks South (5-4) as well as a pair of wins over #24 Central Bucks West (5-1, 8-4)
• Goalie Marc Poust has surpassed the 1,000-save mark for a Hatter squad that has not allowed more than nine goals in any game and allowed an average of five goals a contest.

Downingtown East

• 9-9 overall
• 7-3 Ches-Mont League (tied for third place)
• Wins over #18 Great Valley (13-9) and #20 West Chester Henderson (6-2)
• Six of the Cougars losses are to teams seeded in top 10.

#26 UPPER MORELAND at #7 RIDLEY
Upper Moreland

• 13-5 overall
• 9-5 SOL American Conference (third place)
• Split season series with #28 Plymouth Whitemarsh, earning a 10-5 win in second game
• Won eight of 10 to close out season.

Ridley

• 13-4 overall
• 8-3 Central League
• Wins over #8 Springfield-Delco (9-6), #9 Abington (11-8), #11 Conestoga (6-4) and #15 Wissahickon (16-5)
• Opened season with five straight wins and closed regular season with wins in eight of nine games.

#28 PLYMOUTH WHITEMARSH at #5 AVON GROVE
Plymouth Whitemarsh

• 9-9 overall
• 8-6 SOL American Conference (fourth place)
• Split season series with #26 Upper Moreland, winning season opener 13-10
• Lost two of three games to close regular season.

Avon Grove

• 12-4 overall
• 9-1 Ches-Mont League (second place)
• Wins over #7 Ridley (15-5), #10 Upper Dublin (12-9), #12 Spring-Ford (12-7), #16 Downingtown East (10-8) and #18 Great Valley (14-5)
• Two of Avon Grove’s losses are to top 10 district seeds - #2 Bishop Shanahan (10-7) and #4 Central Bucks East (11-9). They also fell to Haverford School (10-6) and Malvern Prep (11-11 OT)