Upper Dublin earned a dramatic win while CB East saw its season end in an overtime heartbreaker.
#10 UPPER DUBLIN 10, #6 GARNET VALLEY 9
The Flying Cardinals remained alive in their quest for a state playoff berth, earning a thrilling come-from-behind win over the sixth-seeded Jaguars. Ryan Siwinski scored the game winner with 4:14 remaining to give the Cards the electrifying win at Garnet Valley.
“I was really proud of our kids,” said coach J.P. Banks. “Bishop Shanahan is an excellent team, and we really didn’t play very well on Saturday (in a 14-5 loss).
“Coming into today, we hoped the boys would bounce back, but you’re never really sure, but they did. They came out with confidence, and they played a lot smarter. It was really nice to see our guys step up.”
The two teams spent the first half exchanging goals with Upper Dublin leading 2-1 at the end of one quarter only to watch the Jaguars knot the score 3-3 at halftime. The Cards appeared to be in command when they opened the second half with a 5-0 run, but the Jaguars reeled off six straight goals of their own – one to close out the third quarter and five to open the fourth.
“Down 9-8 with about six minutes left – the boys have been given every opportunity to quit, and they don’t,” Banks said. “They fight back, and they believe in what we’re doing.”
Nicholas Vernacchio scored the equalizer with 4:40 remaining. Twenty-six seconds later Siwinski connected on the game winner. The Cards’ defense held the rest of the way.
“Bobby (McPeak) made a couple of really big saves at the end of the game, and our offense played really, really well in the second half,” Banks said. “They did a really nice job.”
What changed in the second half?
“It’s really feeling teams out and finding out what’s working for us,” Banks said. “Michael Sowers saw what he sees all the time – a long pole locking him off. Our other kids did a really good job of either getting him the ball or playing five-on-five. Our offensive coaches – coach (Ryan) White and coach (Haldy) Gifford – did a great job of getting the boys in positions to succeed.”
Banks went on to acknowledge the strong play of sophomore Jack Rapine.
“Jack really controlled the middle of the field,” the Cardinals’ coach said. “They have a phenomenal face-off kid, and we actually used Jack at the face-off for just about the entire night to neutralize him and to give us an advantage on possessions. He did a great job. The kid would win the face-off, and Jack was going after him to take it away. It gave us some extra possessions, it gave us some extra opportunities.
“We’ve seen them score a lot of fast break goals off the face-off, and we were able to negate that. They have a phenomenal freshman who’s going to Virginia, Matt Moore. We matched Jack up with him, and he held Moore to one goal on a long outside shot. He’s been great for us all year. He’s just such a solid player.”
The Flying Cardinals will face Penncrest – a 13-12 winner over Central Bucks East – in a playback game for fifth place and the final playoff berth. The game will be played Thursday at Harriton at 4 p.m.
Upper Dublin 2-1-5-2 10
#1 PENNCREST 13, #4 CENTRAL BUCKS EAST 12
(Submitted article by CB East)
The 2014 CB East boys lacrosse saw its season end Wednesday night in Media, Pa as the #1 seed Penncrest Lions defeated the #4 seed CB East Patriots 13 - 12 in overtime in the first round of the playbacks to gain entry into the state lacrosse tournament.
This game was the most intense game of the 2014 Season for players, friends and fans. The score was tied on eight different occasions, and the lead changed hands on nine occasions! When the Lions went on a three-goal run at the end of the first and into the second quarter after CBE was called on an illegal stick resulting in a man down situation for three minutes, the Patriots would answer back with a run of their own and clawed their way back to tie the score at six all at the half.
In the third quarter, Matt Schmidt and Brad Walentukonis each scored, putting the Patriots up by two, but the Lions would come back and score two of their own to tie the score again at 8. In the fourth quarter, Ryan Brown put CBE back up on top at 11:37, but the Lions would tie it at 9-9 and then take the lead again at 9:24. Matt Vetter put in another goal at 6:37 and tied it up again at 10, and then he would score a go-ahead goal at 2:28 to put CBE up 11-10.
That lead did not last long as Penncrest scored just 28 seconds later to tie it at 11 with 2:00 remaining in regulation. Then with just 38 ticks left on the clock, Matt Schmidt scored on a feed from Ryan Brown putting the Patriots up 12 -11 with 38 seconds left on the clock. CB East lost the critical face-off, and Penncrest tied the score at 12 with just 23 seconds left in regulation, sending the game into sudden victory overtime.
CB East won the face-off and called a timeout to work on a play. East's Matt Brown got off a shot but the Lions goalie came up with the save. The Lions cleared the ball and called their only timeout in the OT to work on a play. Out of the TO, East defended the play well, causing the Lions to re-set the play. On a screen, Logan Robert got his hands free and fired off a 20-foot right handed rocket that found the back of the net to end the contest 13-12 Lions. It has been another great year of lacrosse for CB East and a memorable one for all the players and seniors. Thanks for a great year boys!
Central Bucks East 2-4-2-4-0 12
Penncrest 3-3-2-4-1 13
CB East Scoring:CB East had 12 goals on 27 shots.Matt Vetter – 3g, 1a,Matt Milici – 4g, 1a, Matt Heim – 1a, Matt Schmidt -3g, Ryan Brown - 1g, 2a, Matt Brown - 1a, Brad Walentukonis - 1g. Jack Auteri – 12-of-26 on Face offs, 7 gb’s. Sean McGovern had 20 Saves
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