By Alex Frazier
Highlighting…Jon Cairone
Growing up, Abington’s Jon Cairone was a pretty good shortstop.
But in the summer prior to his freshman year, he lacerated his elbow and was benched. His cousin Andrew Charles then convinced him to play lacrosse.
“I got pretty bored sitting around watching,” he said. “I took his word and I listened to Mr. Zucker.”
Andy Zucker was the jayvee lacrosse coach, who asked him to come out for the team and fill a void as goalie.
“He said, “You’re pretty athletic and you have a history in baseball as a shortstop, so you’ll make a good goalie. Why don’t you try out for the team?”
He did.
And he’s been a starting goalie ever since, two years on jayvee and the last two on varsity.
“I never knew anything about lacrosse until I hopped into the net,” said Cairone. “I knew I wouldn’t be able to make the varsity team as a middie because the program’s really good.”
But he did think he had a good chance at playing in goal.
“I find myself to be pretty athletic,” said Cairone. “That’s probably why it was an easy transition from playing shortstop to going into the net with my reactions.”
It takes a rare athlete to want to stand in front of a ball traveling at 90 MPH, as Cairone admits.
“I’m a pretty crazy kid,” he said. “I’m the wild one out of my friends. It never crossed my mind that the ball was coming at the pace. It wasn’t too bad, really. That’s why I still play, because I liked it.”
Cairone started going to camps during the summer and got better and better.
For the past two years he has had competition from junior Jesse McGinley, but he has gotten the nod.
“Jon’s performances were better,” said Abington coach Randy McNeill. “He did a better job of stopping the ball, he did a better job clearing. Overall, the team seemed more confident with Jon in the net.”
McNeill applauded some super efforts by Cairone this year, including a 17-save game against top-ranked Conestoga.
This year, heading into the playoffs he’s made 185 saves and scored one goal in the season SOL finale against Pennsbury.
“It’s my No 1 highlight in my lacrosse career,” he said. “Hopefully I can make a couple of more highlights.”
Cairone is a two-sport athlete at Abington. In the fall he plays midfield on the soccer team.
“It was a little different for me from not running at all,” he said.
Soccer, in fact, was his No. 1 sport until 10th grade.
“That summer I went to three different lacrosse camps and committed myself to lacrosse,” he said.
Cairone would like to play lacrosse in college. At first he didn’t think it would be a possibility, so he didn’t pursue it when he was considering college choices.
“I really underestimated my ability,” he said. “I didn’t think I’d be good enough, so I didn’t try to contact anyone, which turned out to be pretty stupid. I’m disappointed in myself. Working out in the off-season actually got me there.”
As it turned out, he missed all-state by about seven votes, according to McNeill.
Wherever he ends up, Cairone plans to major in actuarial science. An actuary determines rick management for insurance companies.
“I’m pretty good with math and have a good sense of business,” he said.
If lacrosse doesn’t work out, he will probably end up at Penn State Altoona, but with the help of his coach and some Abington parents, he’s trying to find a place where he can play.
“I’d much rather go and play lacrosse somewhere,” said Cairone.
“We’re still trying to get him into a school to play lacrosse,” said McNeill. “We’d like to see him continue to play lacrosse because he loves to play, and he’s become a great player.”
District playoffs – Only one SOL team will be heading to the first PIAA state playoffs Tuesday.
• C.B. East defeated West Chester East 12-2 in the quarterfinals, but fell victim to an awesome No. 1-seed Conestoga squad that overwhelmed the Patriots 15-2 in the semis. Zack Sharman and Alex Fetterman scored East’s only goals, both in the first period. The Pioneers then shut out East for the last three quarters.
In a battle to determine the third seed on Friday night at Villanova University, Springfield-Delco defeated C.B. East 11-8. As a result, East enters the state tournament as the fourth seed from District One and will face District 12 champion and state powerhouse LaSalle at Abington on Tuesday at 5 p.m.
Abington, meanwhile, lost its bid for a state playoff spot Thursday afternoon at Harriton. Garnet Valley built a 9-5 lead at the end of the third quarter and then held off a furious Ghost rally to take seventh place with a 11-10 win.
Abington’s Greg Hill scored the 10th goal with just 39 seconds left. Joey Jones won the ensuing faceoff and the Ghosts took time with 21 seconds left. Anthony Hensley fired off a shot but it deflected off a defender and time expired.
It was the Ghost’s second straight one-goal loss.
Tuesday Abington lost its first playback game in a heart-wrenching 13-12 overtime game against Lower Merion. The Ghosts were ahead all of the third and all but six seconds of the fourth quarter. With two minutes to go, Abington held a 12-10 lead. The Aces cut it to one and then tied it with six seconds left.
“It was an exciting game,” said coach Randy McNeill. “We took some chances at the end that maybe we shouldn’t have, and Lower Merion was able to capitalize on them.”
One minute and 30 seconds into overtime, a Lower Merion shot was blocked, and while goalie Jon Cairone was trying to clamp it, the ball squirted out to “somebody in the right place at the right time,” according to McNeill.
• In the second round, Central Bucks East broke open a 6-6 game with Unionville early in the third quarter, scoring four straight goals to go up 10-7 heading into the final period.
The Patriots went on to win 12-8. Matt Hughes scored five goals, while Adam Bitzer and Zach Sharman each contributed two goals and two assists. Chase Kulda stopped 20 shots.
Abington went up 3-0 over Owen J. Roberts and then gave up four straight. But the Ghosts bounced back to eliminate the Wildcats 13-7.
No. 8 Hatboro-Horsham ended its season with a 9-4 loss to No. 9 Garnet Valley. Jarrett Carr led the Hatters with two goals and an assist. Dino Vitelli made eight saves in goal.
• Nine SOL teams made the playoffs this year, and five won first-round games. No. 15 Pennsbury trailed No. 18 Sun Valley 3-1 but rallied to win 15-10. Kenneth Warren scored five goals and chipped in two assists.
Tim Duke scored the game winner on a pass from Eric Breuninger to lead No. 10 Upper Dublin past No. 23 Holy Ghost, 10-9. Duke finished with three goals and an assist.
No. 8 Hatboro-Horsham rallied from 4-0 and 9-4 deficits to down No. 25 Spring-Ford, 14-9. Eddie Coombs scored three second-half goals (four goals and two assists for the game). John Rombach had five goals.
In an all-SOL game, No. 6 Central Bucks East eliminated No. 28 Neshaminy 11-6. Adam Bitzer and Matt Hughes each contributed three goals and an assist for the Patriots, while Chris Brady led Neshaminy with a pair of tallies.
No. 9 Garnet Valley upended No. 24 Upper Merion, 14-5, and No. 16 Strath Haven ended No. 17 Central Bucks West’s season in a 7-6 overtime heartbreaker.
League standings – You might recall at the beginning of the season I laid my head on the block to predict the final league standings. I should know better.
I correctly predicted the champion in each conference, but from there things went downhill at least in the American Conference where I was only 2-for-8. Upper Merion surprised me with a better-than-expected showing, and PW got off to a slow start, as did Wissahickon.
My percentage was much better in the Continental, where I was 5-for-7 and in the National, where I was 4-for-6. I might have been perfect in the National except for Pennsbury and Neshaminy, which switched places.
Oh well, there’s always next year.
American Conference Final Standings
1. Upper Dublin 14-0 SOL, 17-3 overall
2. Upper Merion 11-3, 14-4
3. Plymouth-Whitemarsh 10-4, 12-7
4. Wissahickon 9-5, 10-8
5. Springfield-Twp 6-8, 9-8
6. Norristown Area 3-11, 5-11
7. Upper Moreland 3-11, 4 13
8. Cheltenham 0-14, 0-14
Predicted finish
1. Upper Dublin
2. Wissahickon
3. Upper Merion
4. Plymouth Whitemarsh
5. Upper Moreland
6. Springfield
7. Norristown
8. Cheltenham
Continental Conference
1. Central Bucks East 11-1, 16-3
2. Hatboro-Horsham 10-2, 15-4
3. Central Bucks West 9-3, 9-10
4. Central Bucks South 5-7, 6 11
5. North Penn 5-7, 5-12
6. Pennridge 1-11, 5-13
7. Souderton 1-11, 3-15
Predicted finish
1. Central Bucks East
2. Hatboro-Horsham
3. Central Bucks South
4. Central Bucks West
5. North Penn
6. Pennridge
7. Souderton
National Conference Final Standings
1. Abington 10-0, 17-4
2. Pennsbury 8-2, 12-8
3. Neshaminy 5-5, 10-9
4. Council Rock North 5-5, 8-8
5. Council Rock South 2-8, 4-13
6. Harry S Truman 0-10, 1-15
Predicted finish
1. Abington
2. Neshaminy
3. Pennsbury
4. Council Rock North
5. Council Rock South
6. Harry S Truman
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