CB East and Hatboro-Horsham were winners in Thursday’s second round of the District One 3A Tournament. CB East/CB West photos provided courtesy of Keith Clemens. Check back for a gallery of photos…CLICK HERE to go directly to the boys lacrosse gallery.
#5 CENTRAL BUCKS EAST 11, #12 CENTRAL BUCKS WEST 6
Central Bucks East hosted Central Bucks West Thursday afternoon at Patriot Stadium in the second round of the PIAA District One playoffs. The Patriots had an opening round bye while the Bucks defeated Boyertown 7-6 to advance to round two. The game was a rematch of a contest played just nine days earlier, a 10-4 East victory. The Patriots made it a season sweep of their neighboring rival.
“Playing them twice this year was very special,” senior Joe Thiroway said. “The conference has changed, and we only play each team once, so it was nice to get a second game in there. It was icing on the cake.
“They were well prepared the first time and the second time. They play hard and play with emotion, but our coaches had us prepared like always.”
The temperature at game time was 92 degrees.
“It was really hot,” Thiroway said. “That was probably one of the hottest games I’ve ever played in.
“It was bad, but we did winter conditioning in the offseason which prepares us for these types of games. We do a lot of suicides, and the gym gets pretty hot. We were well prepared. Although it was hot, you have to keep focused and execute.”
It was the Bucks who came out hot, while the Patriots started cold. In a repeat of the initial meeting between the two teams, CB West scored first, this time it was an unassisted goal by Brandon Gervais with 7:39 remaining in the first quarter. Then with just 18 seconds remaining in the quarter, Ben Saxauer scored an unassisted goal to put the Bucks up 2-0 at the end of the frame. The Bucks dominated possession in the opening quarter as they slowed the game down, were very patient offensively, and took many shots.
In the second quarter, the Patriots exploded for four goals, and defensively, they shut out the Bucks. East led at the half by a score of 4-2.
“It took a little bit (of time) to get in our rhythm and get a couple of good shots,” Thiroway said. “Once we get a couple of goals, the game starts to flow better as well as our goalie – once he gets a couple of saves, he starts to get a good rhythm going, and it takes off from there pretty much.
“(When we fall behind), we stay under control. We don’t put blame on other people. We win as a team, and we lose as a team.”
The Patriots started the third quarter where they left off. They scored four more goals in the third quarter while holding West to just two and held an 8-4 advantage after three quarters. The Patriots outscored the Bucks 3-2 in the fourth quarter and went on to win by a score of 11-6.
Offensively, the Patriots were led by Michael Ott who won a remarkable 17 of 19 face-offs. He also had 15 ground balls, two goals and one assist. The list of contributors was a lengthy one. Ryan Stout had two goals one assist, Ryan Brown also had two goals, Ryan Bullotta had one goal one assist, while Greg Scholz, Ryan Schmidt, Alec Bracken, and Colin Stein chipped in with one goal each. In addition to Ott's 15 ground balls, Ryan Schmidt scooped up four ground balls, Joe Thiroway had three, Jacob Manion and Brown had two, while Drew Bethke, Stout, Bullotta, Stein, Jake Kueny, Liam Rosenthal, and John Galow each had one.
Defensively, Thiroway led the Patriots with three caused turnovers, Brown and Ventresca had two, while Bryan McIntosh, Bethke, Stout and Bullotta each had one. East sophomore goalie, Liam Rosenthal, was outstanding in goal, registering 11 saves.
With the win, the Patriots up their record to 15-3 and advance to the quarterfinals. They will play at the fourth-seeded Spring-Ford on Saturday at 1 p.m. “They’re a very good team – their record shows that,” Thiroway said. “It will be a good matchup.”
Central Bucks West (7-2 SOL) closed out it regular season with a 13-6 record.
Central Bucks West 2-0-2-2 6
Central Bucks East 0-4-4-3 11
#6 HATBORO-HORSHAM 9, #22 WEST CHESTER RUSTIN 4
Between the end of the first quarter and the start of the second quarter, Hatters coach John Kurek asked Brian Hood if everything was alright.
The Hatters' all-league faceoff specialist had a rough first quarter on the X and as a result, visiting West Chester Rustin had controlled the time of possession. Hood assured Kurek that he had everything under control, and he went out to take the second quarter draw as an onlooker made an observation.
"Brian's always better in the second quarter."
Hood was better than better in the second frame, he was perfect. As a result of his mastery, the Hatters dominated the second quarter and their attack broke open a tie game with a 6-1 advantage in the frame for a lead they were never in threat of giving up.
"It was 1-1 after the first quarter and I talked to our faceoff guy and said 'Brian, what's going on out there?' I mean, he's our all-league faceoff guy," Kurek said. "He said 'Coach, I've got it' and what happened was, he didn't lose a faceoff in the second quarter. He gave our offense possessions, and our offense started to get in the flow of the game and that's where they found their success.
"He's off to college next year at Cabrini to face off. He worked for it. He put in the time the last few years and he's the one who gained us the possessions."
Hatboro-Horsham believes its strength comes from its combined ability instead of trying to rope together a collection of talented players. It means different guys can step up from game to game, and on Thursday, it was a pair of seniors in Matt Barella and Joe Larouche.
Larouche, a midfielder, scored two goals and assisted on five while attackman Barella netted two and assisted two. The two combined for a fantastic goal a quarter of the way through the second frame that put the Hatters up 4-2 and provided a wave of energy and momentum.
"That's just in the moment," Larouche said of their give-and-go score. "He set the pick high, he rolled down and I threw it to him. He realized he didn't have the shot so he got it back to me, I was open and I finished."
"It's really cool to see our young guys on the sideline watching goals like that and enjoying it," Kurek said. "That's a senior to a senior, they're both unselfish. Joe got free off a dodge, Matty got open off the pick and Matty went right back to Joe."
The Hatters played a lot of defense in the first quarter, but the team's long poles and defensive midfielders kept West Chester Rustin working the ball over and over instead of crashing toward the net.
Hatboro-Horsham has been a stout defensive team all season, and the unit has been on the same page since the beginning of the year.
"We've all been playing for a while and we're very invested in this playoff run," Hatters defenseman Eddie Masterson said. "We know what we're going to do before we do it, so we're all pretty connected."
Barella scored both of his goals in the second quarter, and tallies from Ian Reilly, Timmy McPoyle, Will Reimenschneider and Larouche gave the hosts a 7-2 edge at the half. Hood wasn't perfect in the second half, but he was close, making a comeback all but impossible for the Golden Knights.
Larouche and Logan Eldridge (two goals in game) scored in the third quarter to put the Hatters up six, and despite giving up a late marker to Rustin in the fourth, Hatboro-Horsham was on its way to the quarterfinals.
For the first time in their careers, the Hatters seniors have experienced a postseason win.
"It's huge, it was one of our goals this season," Larouche said. "We wanted to win the league, get a home playoff game, win a home playoff game and make a states run. Years past, we've lost in the first round of the playoffs and it's always heartbreaking, losing guys who have meant a lot to the team that you've become friends with. This year, we have a great group of guys, we're all best friends in and out of school and it just feels good to win with them."
Hatboro-Horsham (16-3, 9-0 SOL) will travel to Conestoga on Saturday for a 1 p.m. district quarterfinal contest.
West Chester Rustin 1-1-1-1 4
Hatboro-Horsham 1-6-2-0 9
#10 HAVERFORD 12, #7 NORTH PENN 11
The Knights lost a heartbreaker in Thursday’s second round.
They led 3-2 after one quarter, but the visiting Fords answered with a 5-2 tear in the second quarter to go into halftime with a 7-5 lead. The Knights outscored their visitors 4-3 in the third quarter to make it a 10-9 game heading into a final frame that saw the two teams exchange goals.
Reece Udinski spent the night doing what he does best, handing out six assists to his teammates and also scoring a goal. Eric Diamond had two goals and two assists, and Danny Payne added two goals and an assist. Nick Keim also had a pair of goals, and Stephen Rinck had one goal and two assists. Tanner Nelson, Max Lehman and Nic Conroy each added single goals.
Matthew Rinck turned away eight shots in goal.
Coach Rick Smith bids farewell to a special group of seniors – Keim, Lehrman, Nelson, Matthew Rinck, Udinski, Andrew Alexander, Mike Kohler, Will Laughlin, Nash Reynolds, Kyle Shreffler and Brandon Ullman.
“Words can’t describe how proud I am of my senior class,” Smith said. “They have been the backbone to our team this entire season, and we had a very successful year because of them.
“This group of seniors will be remembered forever, and I am so grateful for all the hard work that they put into this program over the past four years.”
North Penn (8-1 SOL) closed a successful season with a 13-5 record.
Haverford 2-5-3-2 12
North Penn 3-2-4-2 11
#4 SPRING-FORD 12, #13 UPPER DUBLIN 7
The Rams took an early lead and never relinquished it in Thursday’s opening round win. They led 4-1 after one quarter and took a 5-3 lead into halftime, going on to outscore their visitors 7-4 in the second half.
Max Winebrake led the Cardinals with four goals while Jerry Bardol, Colin Asper and Jed Hanson each added one goal. Bardol also had three assists.
Dillon Lojeski recorded 14 saves in goal for the Cardinals.
Upper Dublin closed out the year with an 8-1 record in SOL American Conference play and a 12-7 record overall.
Upper Dublin 1-2-2-2 7
Spring-Ford 4-1-4-3 12
#3 CONESTOGA 19, #14 PENNRIDGE 3
The Pioneers dominated play from start to finish, opening a 4-0 lead after one quarter and taking a 10-2 lead into halftime en route to the decisive win.
Pennridge (6-3 SOL) closed out its season with a 12-8 record.
Pennridge 0-2-1-0 3
Conestoga 4-6-8-1 19
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