The Upper Dublin boys’ lacrosse rolled to an impressive win in Thursday’s District One second round, the lone SOL survivor. Check back for a photo gallery of Keith Clemens’ photos of the UD/West Chester East game…CLICK HERE.
#3 UPPER DUBLIN 18, #14 WEST CHESTER EAST 2
The Flying Cardinals had the look of a team on a mission in Thursday’s second round game against the Vikings, turning a 4-0 lead after one quarter into a 15-1 rout by halftime, thanks to a dazzling 11-1 second quarter. If they had a point to prove after falling to Springfield-Delco by one in a controversial game a week earlier, they sent out a message in Thursday’s win.
“I think we’ve learned our lessons in our losses this year,” coach Dave Sowers said. “I sound like a broken record, but these kids have known it since they were six and seven years old not to panic – you just keep playing.
“The Avon Grove game – we fought our way back into that. A bad break at the end – they put a goal in and beat us by one. Against Springfield, we went down 5-0 because a three-minute non-releasable. They scored two goals on us. Our kids just fought back. We told them – we either learn from our losses and get better or we dwell on them. I think we did. We basically couldn’t wait to get back on the field. You lose and you lose the number one seed and fall to the three seed – we said, ‘You know what, it doesn’t matter.’ That was really what was fun. The kids came out today and said, ‘Let’s go, let’s get after it.’ It was good.”
And get after it they did, dominating play from start to finish. Michael Sowers – despite being the focal point of the Vikings’ defense – had three goals and four assists.
“They tried to lock off Michael,” Sowers said. “Our offensive coaches prepare for everything teams do against us. We’ve seen it over the years – when he was a freshman and Garnet Valley locked him off.
“Our offensive coaches they’re a step ahead. They tried to come out and lock Michael, and the others now know it. It’s not the number two show. Everybody is ready to step up, and that’s what they did.”
Michael Mullen (four goals) and Max Winebrake (four goals, one assist) both had big games.
“Max Winebrake did a great job stepping up today,” Sowers said. “Michael Mullen had four goals.
“Our midfielders – Nick Vernacchio, Connor Wall, Evan Scott and Jerry Bardol – really worked hard and opened some things up.”
Scott had a pair of goals while Wall and Bardol both added a goal and assist. Vernacchio had one goal. Jack Rapine also had a goal and an assist. Ryan Templeton added one goal while Ben Abel and Colin Asper had one helper apiece.
Rapine added seven ground balls and five caused turnovers, and Michael Gillen had six ground balls. Wall and Abel both added four ground balls. Abel also had a pair of caused turnovers, and Rocky Wright also had two caused turnovers.
Dillon Lojeski recorded seven saves in goal while Sean Bowers had three.
Upper Dublin (17-2, 14-0 SOL) will face Garnet Valley in a quarterfinal game at Harriton on Saturday. The sixth-seeded Jaguars defeated North Penn 15-5.
West Chester East 0-1-0-1 2
Upper Dublin 4-11-2-1 18
#8 CONESTOGA 14, #9 CENTRAL BUCKS EAST 6
The Pioneers raced to a 9-0 halftime lead on their way to a quarterfinal win. The two teams met earlier in the year – in the third game of the season Conestoga also had the better of play, earning a 10-4 win.
The Patriots received single goals from Mike Ott, Owen Griffin, Connor Larkin, Ryan Brown, Quinn Mackenzie and Dylan Garr. Ryan Schmit had an assist.
Ott won 12-of-23 face-offs. Goalies Liam Rosenthal (eight saves) and Ian Mauer (five saves) split time.
Bryan McIntosh led the Patriots with six ground balls while Connor Larkin had four. Griffin and Logan Nelsen both added three while Joe Thiroway had two. Nick Yerkes, Ryan Stout, Brown, Alec Bracken and Austin Prim all had one ground ball. Lark had three caused turnovers to lead the Patriots. Nelsen had a pair, and contributing one each were Thiroway, Ott, McIntosh, Prime and Drew Bethke.
Central Bucks East closed out its season with a 14-5 record. They were 10-2 en route to an SOL Continental Conference title.
Central Bucks East 4-5-3-2 14
Conestoga 0-0-1-5 6
#4 BISHOP SHANAHAN 7, #20 CENTRAL BUCKS WEST 5
The Bucks didn’t go down without a battle to a favored Eagles’ squad, rallying from a 5-1 halftime deficit to make it a one-goal game late (6-5).
Joey Rockovich had a big game, scoring three goals to lead the Bucks. Nick Werner and Will Ross added a goal apiece. Ross, Dawson Gable and Ben Karthaus each contributed an assist.
West goalie Stephen Hogan turned away 14 shots in another standout effort. Brandon Gervaise and Nick Warner each came up with five ground balls.
Central Bucks West closed out its year with a 13-7 record (7-5 SOL).
Central Bucks West 1-0-2-2 5
Bishop Shanahan 3-2-0-2 7
#6 GARNET VALLEY 15, #11 NORTH PENN 5
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