Central Bucks South 6, North Penn 5
LANSDALE – What a difference a half can make.
In Tuesday’s Continental Conference game against North Penn, Central Bucks South controlled the ball for a majority of the first half. But the Bucks came away with just one goal, and trailed at halftime, 3-1.
But it was an inspired South team that returned to the field following the break. The visiting Titans exploded for four goals in the third period, rallying back to take the lead, and held off North Penn to earn a 6-5 victory.
“We came into this game really flat. I could feel it in our warmups,” said South coach Mike Sharman. “We had better possession lacrosse in that first half, but we were hitting the pipes, the goalie was making some amazing saves – we just weren’t finishing.”
Sparked by Tyler McGee, who outraced a North Penn player to a ground ball heading out of bounds and drew a penalty on the play, the momentum quickly shifted to the Titans’ side.
“Tyler McGee got an unbelievable ground ball and I think the team just exploded with confidence after that,” Sharman said. “After that, they said, ‘We can do this.’ They never gave up and they played a great third and fourth quarter.”
A.J. Caputo netted the Titans first goal of the second half, cutting the deficit to 3-2, on a bouncing shot assisted by Jake Snavely. North Penn responded just 40 seconds later when Chris Young scored off a Kyle Heinig assist to regain the two-goal cushion. But three goals in a two-minute span put the Titans ahead for the first time. Snavely scored to make it 4-3, followed shortly thereafter by a low laser from Tommy DiBrino and a high shot from Willie Pendleton to put the Titans on top.
“We had a halftime talk about how we should be playing this game and all our missed opportunities and we realized it,” said Snavely, who added three assists for a four-point game. “We came out a little harder in the second half. We focused on ground balls, we weren’t getting them as frequent as we usually do. We got a lot of them in the second half. We were definitely feeling the momentum.”
Tyler Strayline scored on a rebound early in the fourth quarter to put the Titans ahead by two. Scott Keffer brought the Knights back to within one when he scored on a rebound with 6:22 left. Though the host Knights battled fiercely to knot the game – and even had a 30-second man advantage in the final minute – they could not solve South goalkeeper Ryan Kelly, who made several big saves down the stretch to preserve the victory.
“We’re a very young team, we get a lot of guys on the field and I’m really proud of them that they came out with that heart in the third and fourth quarter to finish,” Sharman said. “You love when a team comes back from being down. It shows they have what it takes to be winners, they just have to believe in themselves for four quarters. This was not a pretty win, but it’s a win and we’ll learn from it.”
One lesson they’ll learn is the importance of starting a game strong. The Titans trailed 1-0 after the first quarter on an Adam Wreath goal (Keffer assist). South knotted the game at 1-1 when Tyler Brittin scored while falling during a cut to the front of the cage. But the goal from Brittin – who also added two assists – was the Titans’ only tally of the first half. North Penn scored twice more – a fast-break goal from Heining off a pretty lead pass from Matt McConaghy and low sidearm shot from Chris Young.
“That zone they used was hard for us to play against,” Snavely said. “We were not really used to it. So we had to start playing better against that.”
Kelly made five saves in goal for the Titans. Senior Mike Tappen turned aside 17 shots in the North Penn cage.
“North Penn is a great team and their coach does a great job,” Sharman said. “Next time we play them I’m sure they’ll be looking to change things a bit and they’re going to come out strong. We’re going to have to be ready.”
Neshaminy 8, Council Rock South 6
Matt Magdelinskas poured in six goals and Andy MacDonald registered five assists as Neshaminy pulled out an 8-6 victory over Council Rock South in Tuesday's National Conference matchup. Magdelinskas, a freshman, now has 22 goals on the season.
“We knew Matt was going to step into a varsity role for us,” said Neshaminy coach Josh Hanlon. “We didn’t know he’d have such an impact.”
Neshaminy led 3-1 at halftime. South’s Kyle Walter pulled South into a 6-6 tie with 4:30 left in the game, but Magdelinskas gave the Redskins the lead again with 2:39 to go, then added an insurance goal with 30 seconds left.
“It was a very competitive game, these are two very athletic teams,” Hanlon said. “We were very poised at the end of the game to pull it out. We’re excited. The team is showing that they can do the little things right.”
Connor Bishop and Alex McKenzie each added a goal for Neshaminy. Redskins’ goalkeeper Austin Marshall made 13 saves before leaving the game with an ankle injury. Dan Dogba finished the game and made one save during the crucial final minutes of play. Hanlon said he’d likely rest Marshall for the rest of the week (a non-league game against Perkiomen Valley and a league game against Harry S. Truman).
Nick Gugliemi led South with two goals. Walter, Colin Patterson, Dmitriy Proshlyakov, and Matt Dunleavy each added one goal. Corey Giampietro had four assists on the day.
Abington 15, Council Rock North 0
Ryan Ambler's nine-point day led Abington to a 15-0 blanking of Council Rock North in Tuesday's National Conference matchup. Ambler scored four goals and assisted on five others (and was credited with three ground balls) as the Ghosts jumped out to a 9-0 lead after one quarter and never looked back.
Brian Gallagher and Matt Lomady each scored twice, Austin Pifani and Konrd Thallner each had one goal and three assists, and Shane Dunn, Max Malloy, Matt Figeroa, Will Dulin, Joe Lomady and Cory Leech each chipped in with one goal. Travis O'Connor made six saves in three quarters of work. Brien Cullen completed the shutout with three saves in the final quarter.
Pennsbury 17, Harry S. Truman 0
Andrew Probst scored four goals and added one assist as Pennsbury improved to 5-1 overall (2-0 in league play) with a 17-0 win over Harry S. Truman (0-6, 0-2) in Tuesday's National Conference game.
Pennsbury led 5-0 after one quarter and 11-0 at the break. Drew Sweetland (1 save) and Phil Jutkiewicz (2 saves) shared time in goal to record the shutout. The high-powered Falcons outshot the inexperienced Tigers by a 40-5 margin.
Ryan McDonald and Christian DeVaul each had a hat trick for Pennsbury. Evan Caterson and Mike Costantini each scored two, and Sean Heilferty, Colin Sullivan and Matt Anderson each added one.
Sean McDonald registered three assists for the Falcons. Calvin Hopkins had two and Lyle Arvanites added one.
Upper Dublin 14, Norristown 3
Upper Dublin led 5-0 after one quarter and rolled to a 14-3 victory over Norristown in Tuesday’s American Conference game.
Drew Potts led Upper Dublin (4-1 overall, 2-1 league) with three goals and two assists. Leighton Young had a hat trick, Liam Duke had a goal and three assists, Zach Hanson scored once and added two assists, Brian Lunney and James Duerr each had a goal and an assist, and Pete Vernacchio, Will Lunney, Gersi Hoxha and Jake Keiserman each added one goal.
Sean Calhoun led Norristown (2-5, 0-4) with two goals. Jesse Prante and Eric Sylvester each added one.
Jack Deragon (1 save), Robby Moran (8 saves), Chris Day (5 saves) split time between the pipes for the Cardinals. Mike Malloy turned aside 11 shots in goal for the Eagles.
Wissahickon 10, Upper Moreland 7
Wissahickon led 7-3 at halftime and held off Upper Moreland to take a 10-7 victory in Tuesday’s American Conference matchup.
“It was a close game,” said Upper Moreland coach Mike Liberona. “We made some mistakes and they held possession, and our guys pressured too much. It ended up costing us.”
Among the Trojans’ scorers, Brooks Melvin and Patrick Magdalinski each had two goals and an assist, and Matt Blank scored once. Tom Monaghan added one assist.
Billy Costello led the Golden Bears with two goals and two assists. Talon Blickley had two goals and an assist, Ellis Fattizzi scored twice and Matt Foley had a goal and an assist. Goalkeeper Matt McGlinsey made 14 saves in goal for the Bears.
“We’re looking to get over the hump,” Liberona said. “We’ve never beaten Wissahickon. The biggest thing is to change the culture at Upper Moreland, getting the kids to believe. And they’re buying into the system. Sometimes they just psyche themselves out looking at some of the names on the other teams. But the effort is there, they’re working hard, and we’re getting better.”
Central Bucks East 10, Central Bucks West 2
Central Bucks East led 5-0 at halftime as the Patriots earned a 10-2 victory over their neighborhood archrivals Central Bucks West in Tuesday night’s Continental League game.
Parker Self led East with two goals and three assists. Chris Vetter and Ethan Debuque each scored twice, and Jeff Kuhn, Matt Heim, Brian Garcia and Anthony Casseli each added one goal. Chris Schneeklof won 12 of 15 faceoffs for the Patriots. Zach Kane was credited with six ground balls and Casseli, Tyler Butler and Pete Donovan had three ground balls each.
Riley Kratzke and Travis Miller each scored one goal for West. Kratzke scooped up five ground balls and Kyle Schecter had three.
Hatboro-Horsham 9, Pennridge 3
Hatboro-Horsham held Continental Conference foe Pennridge off the scoreboard in the first half en route to a 9-3 victory in Tuesday night’s game.
Trevor Downing led the Hatters with four goals, and his brother, Pat Downing, added three. Jimmy Murphy and Jimmy Durkin each added one goal. Jake Durkin had three assists, Connor Kreston had a pair of helpers, and Murphy and Jimmy Durkin each had one assist. Steve Palo was credited with five ground balls. Mark Poust made eight saves in goal for the Hatters, who improve to 3-2 overall, 2-1 in league play. Pennridge falls to 2-3, 0-3.
Archbishop Wood 14, Souderton 7
Ridge Schultz and Cameron Trick each scored two goals and Tyler MacDougall added one, but Souderton was unable to stop Archbishop Wood, which picked up a 14-7 victory over the Big Red in Tuesday's non-league matchup.
Trevor Zwaan, Tyler Huggins and Drew Nice each registered one assist. Griffin Leatherman made six saves in goal for Souderton, which falls to 2-4 overall.
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