Check out the recaps for SOL boys’ lacrosse teams in action.
Non-league
Central Bucks West 8, Springfield Twp 7 (OT)
Things are clicking at just the right time for the Bucks.
A night after an emotional win over rival Central Bucks South, West endured a number of challenges against a tenacious Spartans team. It was captain Connor Albrecht who came through with the overtime winner.
“We called timeout when we got the ball off the faceoff right away,” Albrecht said. “The play call was for me to run behind the net to try and lose my man so it would force an opening up top. When I did that, I jogged down to X, and when I spun, there was no slide, so I ended up just turning the corner and shot it. It was probably 30 seconds into overtime.”
Albrecht is no stranger to extra time heroics this spring, scoring the OT winner against Pennridge earlier this season but is still relatively new to the experience.
“I had never scored an overtime winner before this season. There’s no better feeling,” the captain said.
The victory was the fourth in a row for West, which is trying to lock down a spot in the District 1 Class 3A playoffs starting next week.
“Even when we were winning games and we were celebrating, I think our mentality was a little bit off, but in the (Central Bucks) South game, we all played our hearts out,” West’s Jeff Woosnam said. “A lot of our players go way back with those guys, and it was just big for us, especially being our last home game. That also gave us a lot of motivation. That was my last time playing at War Memorial. It was a lot of fun.”
Tuesday’s 7-6 victory over the Titans was draining for the visiting Bucks, and it showed early as the Spartans jumped out to a 3-0 lead. Springfield shut out the Bucks 1-0 in the first and scored two goals in the second frame before the Bucks rallied with four consecutive goals.
Woosnam, who led the Bucks with a hat trick and assist, credited the Spartans for not letting the Bucks off easily.
“Coming off of last night’s win – it was a difficult one for us, but we all played really well,” Woosnam said. “I feel like we kind of dropped off a little bit today. We definitely expected a lot more from that, and we didn’t expect to go into overtime with those guys, but they played their hearts out.
“I guess we were a little fatigued from yesterday, and maybe we were a little bit overconfident, but we got back into it. We picked ourselves up, and we came back from 3-0, and that was a great feeling.”
Springfield rallied to tie the game 4-4 at the half and the Spartans came back again in the fourth quarter, scoring the tying goal with about two minutes left. The Bucks had a chance to win the game in regulation, but couldn’t get a good shot against Springfield’s defense.
“Then we went into overtime, which was pretty frustrating,” Woosnam said. “Our team captain (Albrecht) stepped up. He was getting shut off for most of the game. It was a difficult game for the attack, but he stepped up and put the ball in the net. It was good to see.”
Matt Jacobsen scored two goals and went 12-of-14 on faceoffs for West, which was 17-of-19 overall on the faceoff X. Cole Graeff and Austin Hahn each tallied a goal, Hahn had two assists and Woosnam, Cole Albrecht and Brayden Albrecht offered helpers.
Evan Hee made 12 saves in goal for West.
“Especially coming off a four-game win streak going into playoffs, we have a lot of momentum right now. The guys are really motivated so we’re excited,” Connor Albrecht said.
Central Bucks West closed out its regular season with a 9-8 mark overall. The Bucks are 6-4 in SOL action. Springfield Township finished its regular season with a 7-9 record overall (4-5 SOL).
CENTRAL BUCKS WEST 0 4 2 1 1 – 8
SPRINGFIELD TWP 1 3 2 1 0 – 7
Pennridge 14, Boyertown 13
The Rams survived a furious Boyertown rally in the fourth quarter to pick up a vital win Wednesday.
Both teams were battling for a spot in the District 1 playoffs
Pennridge used a 2-1 advantage in a slow second quarter following a 4-4 deadlock in the first to take a narrow halftime lead. The Rams dominated the third quarter 6-1 and seemed well on their way to a victory before the Bears roared back.
Boyertown exploded for seven fourth quarter goals, but a pair of goals by the visiting Rams were enough to survive the comeback bid.
Senior Chris Fanelli had a huge day to lead Pennridge, ripping the back of the net for eight goals while assisting on three others.
Jack Lenox had a role in five goals, scoring twice and playing set-up on three others. Ryan Carickhoff scored twice while Jake Stranix and Luke Lenox each tallied a goal and Tom Hart and Matt Fleisch recorded assists.
Kieran Banks made 15 stops in goal to help Pennridge hold on for the win.
The Rams (9-8, 5-5 SOL) will visit Kennet at 4 p.m. Friday. Kennett had a 15-0 record and was No. 1 in District 1’s Class 3A rankings Wednesday night.
PENNRIDGE 4 2 6 2 – 14
BOYERTOWN 4 1 1 7 – 13
Hatboro-Horsham 8, Neshaminy 6
The Hatters grinded out a win on Wednesday by building a lead then fending off a Neshaminy comeback bid. Sam Fink led Hatboro-Horsham with a hat trick and assist.
After taking a 2-1 lead at the end of a quarter, the Hatters won the second 4-0 and took the third 2-1 for an 8-2 advantage going to the final frame.
Despite four goals from Neshaminy, the Hatters defense was able to prevent the comeback from reaching completion.
Brendan Kirn made 14 saves for Hatboro-Horsham while Dylan Fesmire had a strong game defensively, causing three turnovers and collecting two ground balls. Alex Cerminara did a little bit of everything, scoring twice, causing a pair of turnovers and grabbing a ground ball.
Jaden Mariano had two goals and an assist for the Hatters while Justin Focht had a goal and two ground balls and David Benjamin assisted on two scores. Connor Davis collected seven ground balls.
For the Redskins, Liam Ames led the way with a hat trick and one assist. Lucas Maher added a goal and two assists while Ethan Roney and Colin Heltzel both had one goal. Jack McVey contributed an assist.
Ryan Rickards recorded eight saves.
“We played a sloppy first half and were down 8-1 in the middle of the third quarter,” Neshaminy coach John Donato said. “But typical of this group throughout a challenging season, they continued to battle.
“Our team defense picked up the intensity. Kieran Meehan at X, with help on the wings from Bobby Blum and Logan Backhaus, started to win some faceoffs, and with those possessions, our offense started to get movement and finished on some opportunities, cutting the lead to 8-6. With that positive momentum, it would have been great if we had an extra quarter to play, but that was not to be the case. Credit Hatboro-Horsham for finishing out the win.”
Hatboro-Horsham (7-10, 6-4 SOL) will travel to William Tennent on Friday, and Neshaminy (3-14, 1-9) will be on the road at Conwell-Egan for a non-league game Thursday.
HATBORO-HORSHAM 2 4 2 0 – 8
NESHAMINY 1 0 1 4 – 6
New Hope-Solebury 9, Father Judge 6
The visiting Lions won their second non-league game in as many days, bouncing back from an emotional win over Holy Ghost Prep 24 hours earlier to defeat Father Judge. Tuesday’s win was the program’s first ever win over Holy Ghost.
The Lions took a 4-3 lead into halftime and then outscored their hosts 5-3 in the second half.
Kyle McLaughlin’s hat trick led the Lions. Jace Caponegro, Nate Donohoe and Malcolm Raupp each had two goals. Bryan Dougherty and Ian MacDonald both had four ground balls to lead the defense.
Tanner Richmond was once again stellar in goal with 17 saves.
New Hope-Solebury closed out its regular season with a 7-10 record overall. The Lions were 2-8 in SOL play.
NEW HOPE-SOLEBURY 1 3 3 2 – 9
FATHER JUDGE 2 1 0 3 – 6
Council Rock South 14, Plymouth Whitemarsh 11
About the Author
