By Scott Samuel David Weiss, Senior, Plymouth Whitemarsh High School
Until its establishment as a competitive program in 2004, Phil Chang operated Plymouth Whitemarsh boys’ lacrosse as a club to improve skills and enjoy the sport in general. Fast forward to 2011, eight seasons into its existence- already a surplus of success that includes two playoff appearances entering this season encourages more for accomplishment.
In 2009, PW finished second in Suburban One American and earned its first District One boys’ lacrosse berth as a 27th seed, dropping a tough 7-4 opening round defeat at sixth-seeded Abington. The next season, the Colonials finished second in the league, one game behind Upper Merion and Wissahickon, good for the District One’s 20th seed, but the Colonials tasted a 9-4 bitter defeat at the hands of 13th seeded Downingtown West.
However, the 2011 Colonials entered the regular boys’ lacrosse season as a team that “could be great,” considering that Wissahickon returned a strength of arms including Beau Gomez, plus Upper Merion and Upper Dublin never dropped a contest to PW at their home facilities. On the contrary, the Colonials handled Upper Dublin in Fort Washington, 6-5, clinching the Colonials’ first league title. On May 9, 2011, in the contest in at King of Prussia, PW outscored Upper Merion 8-2, in both halves en route to a 16-4 blowout victory, officially clinching the league.
Two days later (5/11/2011), the Colonials’ celebrated Senior Night with a 10-0 shutout of visiting Norristown, concluding their league season at 12-0, the first Suburban One American squad since 2009 Upper Dublin to play an undefeated league season. A non-league contest on May 13,2011, between visiting Holy Ghost Prep at PW saw PW score the game’s final nine tallies, outscoring the Firebirds 6-0 in the second half, finishing the regular season with a 14-4 victory.
Chang and his Colonials were confident in receiving a home boys’ lacrosse playoff berth, especially with a14-3 regular season record that included the undefeated league campaign. Unfortunately, bitter non-league home defeats to Chestnut Hill Academy (9-8) and Methacton (7-5), and a treacherous non-league road blemish at Shipley (7-4) could have impacted the possibility of home field in the playoffs.
When the 2011 PIAA,AAAA, District One seeding meeting for boys’ lacrosse concluded on May 15, 2011, the Colonials received the same seed as in 2011, the 20th, having to travel to Fairless Hills for May 17, 4:00 PM clash at 13th seeded Pennsbury. The Falcons might have completed a difficult 8-2 Suburban One National campaign (both defeats at the expense of Abington) and 12-6 overall record, but the Colonials did not have enough contests with “challenging” implications.
This playoff clash will be the first playoff contest between the two programs and the fifth head-to-head meeting overall. Pennsbury defeated the Colonials in all four previous meetings, but the postseason is far contrasting from the regular season.
PW in 2011 returned only one defender in Pat McKee, but senior Colin Joka, a Marist recruit, powered a squad in which he broke the PW boys’ lacrosse record for most goals scored at 169, and currently scored 185 into the cage in his four seasons entering the playoff contest. Kevin Hennessy, PW’s number one goalie, was lost after the first 2011 game on a leg injury, in which junior Andrew “Buddha” Sabia, a transfer from Roman Catholic, filled in the hole with ease, posting a goal against average of 5.76 in 16 contests. The Colonials also have missed Dylan Wixted and Connor Furst to a pair of injuries, but both are most likely available for the May 17 playoff contest.
While the Colonials finished the 2011 regular season as first-time league champs (undefeated in the league) and posted a team history best 14 wins this season, the Falcons have won postseason opening round contests in each of the last two seasons. In 2010, Pennsbury won round one as a nine seed before dropping an 8-7 overtime bummer at 8th seeded Hatboro-Horsham in the second round, ending their possibility of state action. Drew Sweetland is the Falcons’ go-to junior goalie, allowing around six goals per game. Juniors Andrew Probst and Calvin Hopkins, along with senior captain Ricky Jutkiewicz, have each posted at least one four-goal performance. Senior Josh Caven once scored an amazing six goals in a 2011 regular season contest. Juniors Ryan McDonald and Luke Matthews can also be aggressive scoring on the net.
Upon coming to a prediction, the upset alert could be issued in this event on some factors. While Pennsbury won seven against dropping two in Fairless Hills, 6-1 on the road, with the six all against league rivals, including first-time road victories at Upper Merion and Upper Dublin. Also, the Colonials have been victorious in 10 of their last 11 contests, but the Falcons dropped three contests in their previous 11. Chang has not seen one of his goalies allow double digit goals this season, but Pennsbury allowed 10 once against Abington. Joka has been an explosive force that has befuddled opposing goalies, plus watch out for sophomore Corey Kelly, who had a nefarious side-winder while tripping to the field for an improbable goal in PW’s 14-4 non-league victory against Holy Ghost Prep. One hundred fifty nine goals have been tallied by the Falcons, while the Colonials deposited exactly 200 in the cage in 2011. Weak strength of schedule or pure talent, this contest will most likely be a one or two goal difference. Possible outcome: 20 Plymouth Whitemarsh [11]- 13 Pennsbury [9]
- Log in to post comments
0
