Check out the results for SOL boys’ lacrosse teams in action Friday.
COUNCIL ROCK SOUTH 12, PENNSBURY 3
By Mike Prince
Several days ago, Council Rock South found itself in the midst of a three-way tie for first place in the National Conference. Nearly four weeks ago, the Hawks found themselves on the losing end of a game against Pennsbury.
Fast forward to Friday when Council Rock South came out as a completely different team, completely having its way with visiting Pennsbury while coming out victorious by a score of 12-3 in a game that leaves the Hawks all alone in first place.
Brandon Follis scored four times (for the second consecutive game) for the Hawks, who went up 4-1 after one quarter and never looked back, going up 7-1 entering the fourth.
"Today was our team's best performance," CR South coach Mike Murray said. "I challenged the attack to take it strong to the cage and they responded. The defense played great as well. Pennsbury has several dangerous players, and we were able to neutralize their top guns for an extended period on time.
Follis added two assists, while Peter Mignacca had a big day, scoring twice to go along with three assists. KJ Sweeney assisted on four Hawks goals. Jared Gambino added a goal and an assist, while Brian Kerwick, Chase Patterson, Brendan Patterson, Joe Scannapieco and Ben Daniels all scored goals for the Falcons.
"Today, we executed. We just ran out of steam in the last game (against Pennsbury)," Murray said. "Our players didn't want to leave anything to chance and they came out smoking hot in all phases of the game."
Patterson also secured eight face-off wins. Defensively, the Hawks were led by Karl Martin, Dom Schlupp, Ben Daniels and Patrick Rafter. Goalkeeper Adam Reifer was stellar in net, earning the win for CR South.
The win improved CR South's record to 8-5 overall and 5-1 in conference play, now ahead of Pennsbury, which dropped to 6-5 and 4-2, respectively.
"Putting it all together for today's game was great," Murray said. "We are peaking at the right time. We still have four more league games, so we are just looking to our next game versus Abington. They typically have a strong team, so we expect them to play us hard."
Pennsbury 1-0-0-2—3
Council Rock South 4-2-1-5—12
ABINGTON 10, COUNCIL ROCK NORTH 6
The Ghosts and Indians battled to a 1-1 tie after the first quarter, and in the second quarter, the Ghosts began to seize control of the game, keeping the Indians off the scoreboard and going into halftime with a 4-1 lead on their way to the big win.
John Petriccione had a big night, leading the Ghosts’ attack with five goals. Ryan Tuffy contributed three goals and two assists, and Casey Hesdon had one goal and four assists. Kevin Fitzgerald added one goal and one assist, and Nate Rose chipped in one assist.
Goalie Connor Reed turned in a stellar 23-save effort in goal for the Ghosts.
“Connor Reed led the defense,” said Abington coach Peter Burns, also crediting Hayden O’Hara, Kevin Fitzgerald, Connor Sullivan and Joe Lindley.
For the Indians, Connor Sullivan, Beckett Thompson and Ben Hoeffer each had two goals, and Colin Slaucheff added one.
Abington (3-8, 3-3 SOL) will travel to Upper Merion on Saturday for a 1 p.m. contest. Council Rock North (3-6, 3-3) will host Harry S Truman on Tuesday.
NORTH PENN 6, CENTRAL BUCKS WEST 5
The visiting Knights needed some late-game heroics to escape with the important win on Friday night. With 30 seconds remaining, Nick Keim turned a Nic Conroy pass into a goal, breaking a 5-5 tie and propelling the Knights to the hard fought win.
“The kids are playing well,” coach Rick Smith said. “It was a fun game tonight, and we were lucky at the end of the game we had the momentum on our side and we scored with less than 30 seconds left. It worked out in our favor tonight.”
The Knights found themselves staring at a 4-1 deficit midway through the second quarter. Smith called a timeout, and things were never the same.
“We brought the boys in and talked, and they turned it around,” the Knights’ coach said.
The Knights went into halftime on the short end of a 4-3 score, and they took a 5-4 lead into the final quarter. The Bucks came back to knot the score, but the Knights – who allowed just one goal in the second half – would not be denied.
“I think the biggest change was we started winning the fundamentals,” Smith said. “We started catching and throwing, we starting picking up ground balls, we started communicating on defense.
“CB West is a really good transition team, and they were beating us in the first quarter and a half. They were literally outsprinting our guys into the hole, and they were getting some transition shots against us.
“Our guys made mistakes, but we rebounded, we bounced back. When the momentum is on your side, the guys run with it.”
Owen Kelly – assigned the task of containing the dangerous Will Ross – once again played a major role in the Knights’ defensive scheme.
“Owen Kelly always draws the best attackman for the other teams, and he just did a really, really good job on (Ross),” Smith said. “Our short stick defensive middies – Sam Dardzinski and Will Laughlin – also played very well. They played really good short stick defense for us. It was a defensive battle tonight.”
Luke Homan led the Knights with two goals and one assist and Keim had a pair. Adding one goal each were Reece Udinski and Steve Rinck. Conroy and Jake Diamond both had one assist.
For the Bucks. Joey Rockovich, Ben Sexauer, Shane Early, Colin Horton and Jake Carey each scored one goal. Rockovich also had an assist.
Nick Werner led the Bucks with six grounds balls, and Andrew Santacecilia won 6-of-12 face-offs.
CB West goalie Steve Hogan was credited with 16 saves while North Penn’s Matt Rinck had 11 saves.
“Honestly, CB West’s goalie Hogan and our goalie, Rinck, played a phenomenal game,” Smith said. “Both of those guys stood on their heads for both teams.
“Both teams were well represented. It was a lot of fun to coach tonight, a lot of fun to see the players, and really, that’s what it’s all about.”
North Penn (10-1, 5-1 SOL) will travel to Central Bucks East on Monday, and Central Bucks West (11-3, 6-2) will be on the road at Hatboro-Horsham on Tuesday.
“Every game is a battle,” said Smith. “We have CB East on Monday, so we have two days to rest and recover.
“Next week is huge week for us. We have four league games, and talk about testing our character – our guys are going to go through the wringer next week. I’m telling our guys to take it one game at a time. We have a lot of lacrosse left against a lot of good teams. If we can remain competitive in all of our games, we’ll be okay.”
North Penn 1-2-2-1 6
Central Bucks West 3-1-0-1 5
PENNRIDGE 11, SOUDERTON 7
The visiting Rams sprinted to a 5-1 lead after one quarter and took a 7-2 lead into halftime on their way to the conference win.
Bobby Maher led the Rams with four goals and two assists. Sean Fechter had two goals and three assists while Kyle Fanelli added two goals and two assists. Nick Fanelli added two goals, and Ryan Garner had one goal and two assists. Chris Warner added an assist.
Pennridge (6-6, 3-6 SOL) will host North Penn on Tuesday, and Souderton (2-10, 0-9) will travel to Methacton for a non-league contest.
Pennridge 5-2-2-2 11
Souderton 1-1-1-4 7
SPRINGFIELD TOWNSHIP 10, UPPER MORELAND 1
The Spartans led 2-0 after one quarter and then seized control of the game with a 6-1 second quarter to go into halftime with an 8-1 lead on their way to the win.
Brendan Costello scored for the Golden Bears, who received a 13-save effort in goal from Gage Reagan.
Springfield (4-8, 3-6 SOL) will host Academy of the New Church in a non-league game Monday while Upper Moreland (4-7, 3-7) will be on the road at Upper Merion on Monday.
Upper Moreland 0-1-0-0 1
Springfield 2-6-1-1 10
CENTRAL BUCKS EAST 13, CENTRAL BUCKS SOUTH 5
NESHAMINY 15, HARRY S TRUMAN 5
Thursday, April 28
UPPER DUBLIN 16, PLYMOUTH WHITEMARSH 3
The Flying Cardinals led 4-0 after one quarter and took an 8-1 lead into halftime. They outscored the Colonials 6-1 in the third quarter on their way to yet another decisive conference win.
Michael Sowers (three goals, six assists) and Michael Mullen (eight goals, two assists) – living up to their ‘terrific two’ billing – were all but unstoppable in Thursday’s win. Max Winebrake added a pair of goals, and Nick Vernacchio had one goal and two assists. Contributing one goal each were Evan Scott and Conor Wall.
Jack Rapine, who won 16-of-18 face-offs in a dominant performance, led the Cards with 15 ground balls. Ryan Templeton had six ground balls and Michael Gillen, five ground balls.
UD goalie Dillon Lojeski was credited with eight saves.
For the Colonials, Alex Savarese, Zack Zygmunt and Austin Betterly each had one goal. Betterly also had a pair of assists.
Upper Dublin ( 12-0, 10-0 SOL) will host Avon Grove in a non-league battle on Saturday night at 7 p.m. Plymouth Whitemarsh (8-3, 8-2) will be on the road at Springfield on Tuesday.
Upper Dublin 4-4-6-2 16
Plymouth Whitemarsh 0-1-1-1 3
HATBORO-HORSHAM 15, HOLY GHOST PREP 6
The Hatters owned this one from start to finish, opening up a 4-1 lead after one quarter and extending that to 10-2 by halftime. The Firebirds never threatened as the Hatters rolled to the non-league win.
Logan Eldridge, Bryan Remailey and Owen Winter each had four goals and one assist to lead a balanced Hatter attack. Chris Koch added a single goal, and Pierre Armstrong had five assists.
Hatboro-Horsham goalie Joe Larouche was credited with seven saves in the win.
Hatboro-Horsham (6-5, 5-2 SOL) will host Springfield-Delco in a non-league contest Saturday at noon.
Holy Ghost Prep 1-1-2-2 6
Hatboro-Horsham 4-6-3-2 15
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