Nine SOL teams earned spots in the District One AAAA Tournament. Upper Dublin has a first round bye, but eight teams see opening round action on Tuesday.
Upper Dublin moved to the head of the class this season, and the Flying Cardinals – the fourth seed in the District One AAAA Tournament – did it with a winning combination of youth and experience.
“We have some great senior leadership on our team from Michael Rama, Drew Potts, Ben Winebrake and Jack Deragon, our goalie,” coach JP Banks said. “This is their fourth year with the program.
“We play a lot of young kids, and these guys have gone out of their way to help the young players develop. Through their hard work and efforts doing that, it’s really made us a much better team.”
One of the team’s young players – freshman Michael Sowers – has had a brilliant rookie season, accumulating 104 points in 18 games. Sowers isn’t the only freshman to make an impact. A trio of freshmen – Jack Rapine, Ryan Stover and Henry Winebrake – help anchor the defense.
On attack, Ben Winebrake has 57 goals, and Michael Rama – despite missing four games – has close to 50 points.
“This team’s a lot of fun,” Banks said. “They’re a great bunch of kids.”
Another unique fact about this year’s squad is that it includes four sets of brothers – Ben and Henry Winebrake, Drew and Nash Potts, Will and Brian Lunney and Jack and Reed Rapine.
“It’s just kind of neat to see four of our seniors have younger brothers on the team,” Banks said. “To go through this kind of experience with your brother, it must be pretty cool for them.”
The Cardinals accomplished their initial goal by capturing an American Conference title and rolling through the league season without a loss.
“Our first goal was to win our conference and go undefeated, and to be able to do that is a big accomplishment,” Banks said. “It’s the first time we’ve done it since 2009, so it’s the first title these seniors have gotten.”
If the Flying Cardinals needed to validate their fourth seed and first round bye, they did that in their regular season finale – a no-doubt-about-it 11-4 win over sixth-seeded Springfield-Delco.
“The boys have been working hard all season,” Banks said. “We just keep trying to get better as the season goes along. The boys put in a lot of hard work, and it’s starting to pay off for them.
“Getting the seed is nice recognition of what you have accomplished to that point. With the situation this year in District One, there are so many good teams, and going into the playoffs – even though we have a high seed, we realize that we really have to work.
“There are teams seeded below us that are excellent, excellent teams. We’re going to have to continue to get better. I call our season a work in progress. Everything we’re doing is working towards something.
“Even at this point with having been awarded the fourth seed, which is a huge honor, we still feel we’re a work in progress.”
Ghosts own the National Conference – Abington has proven it can play with anyone this season. The Ghosts were a shot off the post in the closing seconds of regulation away from extending top-seeded Radnor into overtime. They also battled fourth-seeded Upper Dublin tough in a 10-9 loss earlier this season.
Last Thursday, the Ghosts closed out a perfect league season with a win over Council Rock North.
“We clinched the championship two days before, and it didn’t feel like much,” coach Jos Staerk said. “Thursday night when we played Council Rock North and as the game clock counted down, the kids dumped the water bucket on me and then piled on. It was awesome.
“It was a great feeling. The kids were really happy to go 10-0, especially in my first year there and after a little bit of a disappointing season last year in conference with two losses to Pennsbury. Everybody is very happy with the outcome thus far.”
It’s impossible to talk about the Ghosts without mentioning the name of senior co-captain Austin Pifani, who is bound for North Carolina on a lacrosse scholarship.
“Everyone knows Austin Pifani,” Staerk said. “He does everything. He can take the ball from someone on the defensive end, run it down on the offensive end, dodge and score and then face off.
“The kid does everything for us. He’s extra special.”
Pifani is not a one-man show. Fellow co-captain Gage Gormley might not find himself in the spotlight, but his contributions have been significant.
“He’s another amazing kid,” Staerk aid. “Between his play and his presence on the field, keeping the guys together and ready to go as well as being able to play with anyone out there – he’s a special talent.
“Our goalie, Eric Goldsborough has been phenomenal, just the backbone. I can’t say any more than that about Eric.”
In the midfield, Joey Lomady, although only a sophomore has been a huge contributor.
“He does fantastic things on the face-off dot and in the scoring box,” Staerk said. “He can face off, he gets us goals, and he dodges.
“Matt Gormley (a junior) is a great, great defensive middie. I don’t think there’s a player out there who can run past him, and if he does, it’s not going to happen more than once.”
Senior midfielder Gus Greenberg also has been a major contributor, and attackmen Will Dulin, Hunter Jones and Brian Gallagher are all 40-plus goal scorers.
All told, it’s been a team effort for the Ghosts.
Hatters rise to top – Hatboro-Horsham’s success, according to coach John Kurek, didn’t just happen. It is the result of hard work and highly committed players.
“It starts with my two captains, Jim Durkin and Jimmy Murphy, in the offseason,” the Hatters’ coach said. “They rallied the troops, they said, ‘We have something special.’ They ran the offseason.
“The conditioning and everything went right into the season, and they really set a precedent by working hard and leading by example. Everyone just followed.”
While Durkin and Murphy led the Hatters on the offensive end, junior goalie Marc Poust did the same on the defensive end.
“It’s his third year starting, and he really takes control of the defense,” Kurek said. “He’s a student of the game. He likes to know what another team does and tries to read what their offense is doing to put us in the best position to stop them. The kids listen to him.”
Although Durkin, Murphy and Poust have been in the spotlight, they are not the only contributors.
“When you look at our team, there are guys that do a ton of work that no one notices,” Kurek said. “Steve Palo does a great job on the face offs. Every single time people ask about our team, they always ask about goals, assists or something else, and Steve doesn’t get all of that, but he does all the work on face offs.
“Attackman Ben Cellini – this is his first year starting, and he’s third on our team in goals, so he’s doing a great job on attack. TJ Keleher is a long pole for us who is a first-time starting senior.
“All those kids are getting exactly what they worked for. They went into the offseason and said, ‘It’s my senior year. I want a position.’ They earned it and just been loving it the whole time they’ve been playing this year.”
The Hatters closed out their league season undefeated.
“The way the kids played this year – I couldn’t be more proud,” Kurek said. “When we set up our goals for the season, they wanted to be league champs, they wanted to make some noise in the playoffs.
“They want to accomplish all the goals that they started, and now they’re asking themselves, ‘How good can we be?’ We got a home game on Tuesday night, and they want to start by focusing what we can do. We’re going to see where we match up against a good season out of the Ches-Mont.”
#17 Central Bucks South at # 16 Kennett (5pm)
CB South
- 8-4 SOL, 13-5 overall
- Third place Continental Conference behind #11 Hatboro-Horsham and #12 CB East
- Won seven of nine to close out regular season
- Highlights of the season include a non league overtime victory over Holy Ghost Prep 10-9, and a pair of league wins over #25 CB West (6-5 2OT and 12-4)
- Six seniors are committed to play in college including Ryan Kelly (Navy)
Kennett
- 6-4 Ches-Mont League, 12-6 overall
- Second place American Conference behind eighth-seeded Great Valley
- Beat CB South 9-8 in their season opener on 3/22
- Highlights of the season included a thrilling overtime upset against second-seeded Downingtown East, lost single goal games to #10 Avon Grove (7-8 OT), #18 Downingtown West (6-7) and #23 Holy Ghost Prep (10-11)
#25 Central Bucks West at #8 Great Valley (7:30pm)
CB West
- 6-6 SOL, 8-9 overall
- Fourth place Continental Conference after a 2-16 season in 2012 (1-11 SOL)
- Highlights of season include a pair of lopsided wins over North Penn (16-8 and 11-1) and a 7-6 double overtime over league rival Souderton breaking their three-game winning streak (all in overtime)
Great Valley
- 8-2 Ches-Mont League, 14-4 overall
- First Place American Conference for the first time in program history
- Share the title with second-seeded Downingtown East, tenth-seeded Avon Grove and thirteenth-seeded Bishop Shanahan
- Won ten of their final eleven games
- Highlights of the season include an 8-3 victory over #13 Bishop Shanahan, a 13-12 overtime win against tenth-seeded Avon Grove and a convincing late-season victory over #16 Kennett (15-9)
#24 Plymouth Whitemarsh at #9 Abington (7 pm)
Plymouth Whitemarsh
- 9-4 SOL, 11-7 overall
- Third place American Conference behind #4 Upper Dublin and #19 Wissahickon
- PW and Abington faced off in 2009 in the first round of playoffs, Abington won that matchup 7-4
- 2012 was the first year the Colonials made it through the first round with a win over Avon Grove
- Highlights of the season include a pair of wins over Upper Moreland to clinch third place in the conference and a late-season victory over #27 Upper Merion 14-13
- Against, common opponents, PW fell to Upper Dublin twice (11-6, 10-7) while Abington lost 10-9. PW lost to Ridley 10-5 and Abington fell to the Green Raiders 9-2.
Players to watch: Corey Keller (Midfielder), John Walker (Midfielder), Riley White (Goalie), Jake Brown, the team’s leading goal scorer with 45, is injured.
Coach Phil Chang says: “We look forward to the opportunity of playing a great team like Abington. They are extremely talented, athletic and very well coached. They are among the best in District One. We have been working hard all season to improve daily, and we hope our best lacrosse is displayed on Tuesday.”
Abington
- 10-0 SOL, 14-4 overall
- Undefeated National Conference Champions
- Sixth league title in seven years
- Has qualified for playoffs ever year since the program began
- Lost Ryan Ambler to Princeton in 2012, and he has had a stand-out rookie year
- Nine-game winning streak to finish out the season snapped by #5 Garnet Valley (7-4)
- Highlights of the season include a 9-7 season-opening win over #18 Downingtown West and a 7-3 upset win over second-seeded Downingtown East
Coach Joseph Staerk said: “There’s never an easy game in districts, but we’re a very good team, and I think that’s very clear in some of the games we’ve played. We lost to Radnor 7-6 and hit the post with five seconds left, so we’re right there with the best team in the district, and our kids know that. I don’t have to say a whole lot other than to remind them every once in a while to play our game and we’ll be fine.”
#21 Owen J Roberts at #12 Central Bucks East (4pm)
Owen J Roberts
- 12-2 PAC-10, 14-6 overall
- Second place in league after double overtime loss to #15 Spring-Ford in PAC-10 playoffs
- Highlights of season include an 11-8 win over #22 WC Henderson, a victory against #15 Spring-Ford early in the season (12-10), and a win over #26 Methacton 11-7 to advance to the PAC-10 championship game
CB East
- 10-2 SOL, 14-3 overall
- Second place Continental Conference behind eleventh-seeded Hatboro-Horsham
- Started off the season 8-0, outscoring early opponents 116-37
- Went to State semi-finals in 2012 and lost 11 players to graduation
- Two of their three losses are by a single goal
- Highlights of the season include a pair of big league wins over #17 CB South (10-6 and 7-5), and a convincing early season win over #25 CB West 17-5
#19 Wissahickon at #14 Penncrest (7 pm)
Wissahickon
- 12-2 SOL, 14-4 overall
- Second place American Conference behind fourth–seeded Upper Dublin
- Ended regular season on a seven-game winning streak
- Allowed only one goal in eight of their wins
- Highlights of the season include a pair of league wins over #24 Plymouth Whitemarsh to clinch second place (5-1 and 8-7), and two big wins over #27 Upper Merion (15-7 and 17-4)
Penncrest
- 6-5 Central League, 13-5 overall
- Fifth place Central League behind a four-way tie for first
- Highlights of the season included a 9-7 win over #20 Lower Merion, a victory over #16 Kennett 8-6, an 11-7 win over WC Henderson during a mid-season six game winning streak and a key victory over second-seeded Downingtown East to end their regular season (11-10)
#27 Upper Merion at #6 Springfield-Delco (7pm)
Upper Merion
- 7-7 SOL, 8-9 overall
- Shared fourth place in the American Conference with Upper Moreland
- Faced three top-ten seeded teams in regular season but lost to all of them
- Highlights of the season included an early come-from-behind victory (13-8) over Upper Moreland to clinch a share of fourth place
Springfield-Delco
- 8-3 Central League, 11-6 overall
- Fourth place in the league behind top-seeded Radnor, third-seeded Conestoga and sixth-seeded Springfield-Delco
- Highlights of the season included a 6-4 win over Cardinal O’Hara in season opener, an overtime victory against #14 Penncrest (10-9), an 11-7 win over seventh-seeded Ridley and a non-league victory against Continental Conference Champion and eleventh-seeded Hatboro-Horsham (6-4)
#22 West Chester Henderson at #11 Hatboro-Horsham (7 pm)
West Chester Henderson
- 5-5 Ches-Mont League, 10-7 overall
- Fifth place National Conference
- Highlights of the season include a convincing non-league win over #25 CB West (10-3) and a 7-6 win in double overtime against #16 Kennett
Hatboro-Horsham
- 12-0 SOL, 15-3 overall
- Undefeated Continental Conference Champions
- Had a share of two league titles in the past four years
- Won 14 of 15 to close out regular season
- Highlights of the season include a pair of wins over #12 CB East to claim sole possession of the title (8-5 and 11-10), a 10-7 victory over #18 Downingtown West and a convincing 10-3 win over #17 CB South
Coach John Kurek says: “Our players are motivated, but they clearly know that every team is 0-0 right now. It’s a brand new season when you get to the playoffs. The seniors have already said, ‘Let’s not make Tuesday night our last game we have together.’ We had a great practice.”
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