Check out the recaps for SOL boys’ lacrosse teams in action Tuesday. Pennsbury/CR North photos provided courtesy of Darryl Rule of J&D Photography. Check back for a gallery of photos.
SOL National Conference
PENNSBURY 12, COUNCIL ROCK NORTH 11 (OT)
Trailing by three heading into the fourth quarter and by two with just over a minute remaining, the Falcons needed something close to a miracle if they intended to come back against a talented Indian squad with high expectations.
They got it.
Junior Jack Kalinowski scored with 1:07 remaining, and with time about to expire and just two seconds remaining, sophomore Will Taylor scored the equalizer.
“With 23 seconds left, we called a timeout,” Pennsbury coach Dean Curtis said. “We have end-of-game scenarios that we practice, and we put it in, and it didn’t work.
“It was just a broken play. The ball was bouncing around in the middle. We were trying to get it to Jack Kalinowski, but it didn’t work. The ball just bounced right. He was close to the crease and put it home with two seconds left.”
Avery Dysart turned a loose ball into the game-winner late in overtime, capping the thrilling comeback.
“Shane Siegmund had a key ground ball and quickly moved it to Avery who was able to score,” Pennsbury coach Dean Curtis said.
Kalinowski’s stellar five-goal outing led the Falcons. Avery Dysart added a hat trick. Taylor, Michael DeZutel, Ryan DeZutel and Kyle Rinehimer each added one goal.
“Ryan DeZutel won the face-off in the fourth quarter – we did not do well on face-offs today, and he scored nine seconds into the fourth quarter off the face-off,” Curtis said. “They answered, but that was a big goal.”
Falcon goalie Nico Cione had another strong outing, turning away 13 shots.
“He’s incredible,” Curtis said. “He’s such a good kid. He didn’t start playing goalie until he was a freshman in high school, and he’s going on to play in college.”
The Falcons’ coach credited several players whose names don’t show up on the score sheet.
“Reece Millman played incredibly in the midfield,” the Falcons’ coach said. “Defensively, he was just an animal.
“Defensively, Will Cusick had a really important takeaway late in the fourth quarter when we were down and we ran our end-of-game scenario to double the ball. He took the ball away in the last two minutes of the game to give us possession in order to get that 10th goal.”
The Falcons actually led 4-3 after one quarter, but the Indians came roaring back to go into halftime with a 6-4 lead. They led 9-6 heading into the final quarter when the Falcons staged their remarkable comeback.
“The kids are buying into what we’re coaching,” Curtis said. “Like everybody, the first four weeks of practice you’re working on how you want them to play. You read your kids, you know what they have, and you want them to play a certain way. They didn’t do it all that great in the first three, but they did it in the fourth quarter.
“Both offensively and defensively, we say we play as 10. When we play as one, we don’t do well. When we play as 10, we do great, and we played as 10 in the fourth quarter.
“I said to the guys before the game – ‘No one gives us a chance, and you have a great opportunity to show who you are.’ Our whole philosophy in our program is what we call E+R=O. You don’t control events, you only control your response, and our response in the fourth quarter was incredible.”
Luke Walstrom, who left the game with an injury late in regulation, led the Indians with three goals and four assists. Sammy Lewis and Dean Scalamandre both added a hat trick. Dylan Kavanaugh (one assist) and Andrew Zazoff both had one goal.
Pennsbury (2-1, 1-0 SOL) will host Pennington in a non-league game Wednesday, and Council Rock North (2-1, 0-1) will host Pennridge on Friday.
Council Rock North 3-3-3-2-0 11
Pennsbury 4-0-2-5-1 12
PENNRIDGE 7, COUNCIL ROCK SOUTH 6 (OT)
Freshman Ryan Carickhoff scored early in overtime, propelling the Rams to the hard-fought win and capping a memorable comeback.
“Hats off to the CR South kids – they came to play, and they handed it to us all night,” Pennridge coach JP Banks said. “They outworked us, they out-ground balled us. They came in with a good game plan. It was their first game of the season, and their kids played really hard. They played the better game tonight.
“To our kids’ credit, we were down 6-2 in the fourth, and we regrouped. We were able to score a couple of goals and gain the momentum. In overtime, CR South won the face-off, they got a good look at the goal, we wound up with the save, we got the ground ball, went down the field and we were able to come out with the win. I didn’t know if we had it in us to come back, but the kids did. They manned up, and we’re happy to come away with the ‘W’ today.”
Jake Stranix scored the equalizer with 1:23 remaining in regulation.
“It was kind of a team thing,” Banks said of his team’s late-game comeback. “Jake Stranix filled in for our face-off guy and did a really nice job hustling out there.
“A couple of kids made some big plays. We were down 6-2, and they had a one-on-none, and our goalie (Kieran Banks) made a save. That got everybody a little fired up.”
Chris Fanelli’s three-goal effort led the Rams. Jack Lenox, Tom Hart, Stranix and Carickhoff each had one goal.
Kieran Banks finished with 16 saves in another standout effort in goal.
“Kieran’s had a couple of really good games for us,” Banks said. “We had a couple of freshmen ‘D’ guys that hadn’t really played.
“Chase Washington had a huge ground ball in our defensive end in overtime. (Without a season last year), you’ve got so many inexperienced teams, and everybody is just trying to find out who they are.”
Pennridge (2-1, 1-0 SOL) will travel to Central Bucks East on Wednesday, and Council Rock South (0-1) is on the road at Neshaminy on Wednesday.
Council Rock South 2-1-3-0-0 6
Pennridge 1-1-0-4-1 7
CENTRAL BUCKS WEST 11, SOUDERTON 8
Freshman Matt Jacobsen turned in a dominant performance at the face-off X, winning 15 of 18 face-offs to give the Bucks those all-important possessions.
“He’s done a great job on the face-off X for us,” West coach Matt Coverdale said. “Particularly tonight he really shined and controlled the X, which gave us a lot of possession time, and I think it helped us get the hot start in the first quarter. He was key.”
The Bucks jumped out to a 5-1 lead after one quarter and led the rest of the way. They took an 8-3 lead into halftime and still led by five heading in the fourth quarter when the Indians’ staged a late rally.
Austin Hahn’s four goals led the attack. He also had an assist and won three of five face-offs in relief of Jacobsen. Senior Connor Albrecht added three goals and an assist, and senior Jeff Woosman had two goals. Jacobsen and junior Brayden Albrecht both had one goal and two assists, and freshman Landon Albrecht added one assist.
“Austin Hahn really had a coming out party tonight as a sophomore,” Coverdale said. “We’re getting a lot of contributions from young players.
“I was really proud of the guys for their seven assisted goals. That’s something that means you’re playing good team offensive lacrosse. Matt Jacobsen and Austin Hahn – those young guys really had big nights for us.
Tuesday’s win kicked off league play for the Bucks, whose first win of the young season was a big one.
“We were really pleased,” Coverdale said. “We knew Souderton could produce. They had scored a lot of goals in their games recently – they were averaging about 10 goals a game and maybe more, so we knew we were going to have our hands full tonight with them.
Kobi Bui’s hat trick led the Indians. Jamison McDivitt had one goal and two assists. Justin Wawrzynek and John Martin Vince both added two goals.
“Souderton was coming into the game on a three-win streak and obviously has had a number of kids in the scoring box and had a couple of highlight players that we would have to make sure we accounted for in our matchups and how we were playing them,” Coverdale said. “They’re a sharp team. They’re very athletic, they’re pretty scrappy, they’re intelligent, and they see the field well.”
Coverdale credited the efforts of several defensemen.
“Cam Wassmann is a junior captain, so we put him on Kobi Bui, who we knew was a physical dodger, so we matched those two against one another, and in settled situations, he did well for a lot of the game,” the Bucks’ coach said. “We put Billy Trimbur on Jamison McDivitt. We knew that a lot of their offense really thrives on those two individuals. They’re kind of the sparkplug for a lot of their offense, so our matchups with Billy and Cam were going to be our most important ones of the night.”
Cloverdale also lauded the strong play of defensemen Reese Dalzell (on John Martin Vince) and Shane Colsher.
“Tonight we knew we were going to have to be on high alert everywhere on defense because they thrive on feeding the ball and assisted goals,” Coverdale. “We made sure we worked on that and made sure we keyed in on it in our game prep, knowing these guys do a lot of off-ball cutting and can see through the defense and find guys open.
“We charged a couple of guys with particular roles and assignments. For a good part of the game, we were able to keep them at bay. They got a strong surge in the fourth quarter and were trying to make a comeback. With us doing well on the X and the clock being in our favor at that point based on our strong start of the game made it difficult for them to climb back in it.”
West goalie Evan Hee was credited with nine saves in a winning effort.
Central Bucks West (1-2, 1-0 SOL) will travel to Abington for a 5 p.m. game Wednesday, and Souderton (3-1, 1-1) will travel to Central Bucks South on Friday for a 5:30 p.m. contest.
Central Bucks West 5-3-1-2 11
Souderton 1-2-1-4 8
NORTH PENN 11, NESHAMINY 4
The Knights, who led 1-0 after one quarter, erupted for six goals in the second quarter to blow Tuesday’s game open.
Dakari Luby had a hand in six goals, scoring four and assisting on two others. Jake Dolan added three goals and one assist while Connor Toussaint added two goals and one assist. Contributing one goal each were Declan Lanier and Lars Homan. Danny Myers, Caleb Moister and Dom Zaffino each chipped in one assist.
Neshaminy, according to coach John Donato, was without two of its lead attackers, and in their absence, freshman Jack McVey stepped up, connecting on a hat trick. Ayden Emi added a single goal and Lima Ames and Patrick Courtney both assisted on a pair of goals.
“The score was 1-1 going into the middle of the second quarter but (we) then allowed a 6-0 run, going down 7-1 at the half,” Donato said. “The team stayed competitive and fought hard in the second half through to the final horn.”
Matt Kuhn was credited with 12 saves in goal in a winning effort for the Knights.
North Penn (3-1, 1-0 SOL) will be on the road at Council Rock South on Friday, and Neshaminy (0-3, 0-2) will host New Hope-Solebury on Thursday.
Neshaminy 0-1-1-2 4
North Penn 1-6-3-1 11
CENTRAL BUCKS SOUTH 16, HARRY S TRUMAN 1
The Titans raced out of the starting gate to a 7-0 lead after one quarter and never looked back on their way to the win in Tuesday’s conference opener.
Evan Jacobsen’s two-goal, three-assist effort led a balanced Titan attack. Liam Brittin added three goals and one assist while Brady Hinkle had two goals and two assists. Nick Fareno contributed a pair of goals, Reese Levinson added a goal and an assist while Cole Cenci and Nick Migliore each had one goal.
Will Ratcliffe added one goal, one assist, one forced turnover and four ground balls. Logan Dunn added one goal and three ground balls, Jason Chrstianson had one goal and two ground balls, and Chris Moore had one goal and was 3-for-3 on face-offs. David Humphreys had four forced turnovers to lead the Titans. He also had one assist and three ground balls. Christian Manibo was credited with three forced turnovers and three ground balls. Owen McCrory had two forced turnovers and two ground balls.
Central Bucks South (1-1, 1-0 SOL) will host Souderton on Friday, and Harry S Truman (0-2, 0-1) will travel to Central Bucks East on Friday.
Central Bucks South 7-3-4-2 16
Harry S Truman 0-1-0-0 1
SOL American Conference
UPPER MORELAND 13, HATBORO-HORSHAM 6
The Golden Bears opened conference play with an impressive win over their neighboring rival. Ryan Olexa led the Bears’ attack with three goals and three assists. Owen Dunleavy also had a hat trick and chipped in an assist. Joe Messina had a hand in five goals, scoring twice and assisting on three others. Logan Taylor added two goals and an assist, and Justin Drinkwater also had a pair of goals. Zach Rudgunas added one goal while Matt Tiernan and Joe Zarczak had one assist each.
For the Hatters, David Benjamin led the way with two goals and two assists while Min Lee had a pair of goals and one assist. Sam Fink (one assist) and Alex Carminara both added one goal. Tyler Kim and Jaden Mariano each chipped in an assist. Dylan Fesmire led the defense with three ground balls and four caused turnovers. Goalie Brendan Kim was credited with five saves for the Hatters.
Upper Moreland (3-1, 1-0 SOL) will travel to Council Rock North on Monday. Hatboro-Horsham will host Upper Dublin on Friday.
SPRINGFIELD TOWNSHIP 15, QUAKERTOWN 1
Luke Gozzard’s hat trick led a balanced Spartan attack in Tuesday’s season-opening win. Austin Maggioncalda, Jaxon Weiss, Trey DuBose, Alex Vecchione and Jack Hasson each scored a pair of goals. Cameron Dennis and Thomas Coppol both had one goal.
Dan Litvinchuk accounted for Quakertown’s lone goal.
“Springfield came out firing and we struggled to play at their tempo,” Quakertown coach Jay Donis said. “One bright spot was our goalie, Paul Lancos, who made 10 saves throughout the contest.”
Springfield Township (1-0 SOL) will travel to Plymouth Whitemarsh on Friday, and Quakertown (1-2, 0-1) will host Abington on Friday at 6 p.m.
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