Central Bucks East boys’ lacrosse saw its successful season come to an end in Saturday’s second round of the PIAA State Tournament.
BRYN MAWR – Ask Bruce Garcia what drove this year’s Central Bucks East lacrosse team to a spot in the history books, and the Patriots’ coach has an immediate answer.
“The guy next to them,” he said after Saturday’s 8-3 season-ending loss to Springfield-Delco in the second round of the state tournament at Harriton High School.
And it was a team effort that vaulted the Patriots to a co-championship in the SOL Continental Conference, a fourth place finish in the District One Tournament and a spot in the Elite Eight in the state tournament.
“If you look back in retrospect on our season, you look for who was the key player – well, there were a lot of them,” Garcia said. “There wasn’t any one particular person in any one game. All 33 or 34 of them won this whole season.”
Saturday’s contest was the second time the two teams met in the postseason. The Cougars defeated the Patriots 12-6 in a district semifinal game and went on to capture the District One title. In that game, senior Lucas Spence torched the Patriots’ defense for nine goals. Part of the Patriots’ game plan was to contain Spence, and the Patriots were effective, limiting the dangerous attackman to just one goal.
“After that game, we knew seven goals was way too many for one player,” East senior Dustin Buchanan said. “Our mindset was to lock him off, and we did a really good job.”
While Spence may have been silenced, teammate Mike Gerzabek picked up the slack. The junior attackman scored five goals – including the first four for the Cougars.
“Our mindset was too on (Spence) because all their players are good,” Buchanan said. “Other kids can score goals. I think we were too worried about him, and other teammates were making the plays he wasn’t making.”
After East goalie Sean McGovern turned away back-to-back shots to open the game, Gerzabek reeled off three straight goals to give the Cougars a 3-0 advantage with 5:34 remaining in the first period. Ryan Brown (Michael Ott assist) put the Patriots on the scoreboard with a goal off the ensuing face-off, and it was a 3-1 game at the end of one period. McGovern had five saves in the opening frame to keep the game close.
The Patriots trailed by just one (3-2) after Brown turned a Matt Vetter pass into a goal at the 8:17 mark of the second period. The Cougars – with a tenuous 4-2 lead – were holding for one shot when the Patriots came up with a turnover with 37 seconds remaining. Just as quickly as they’d gained possession, the Patriots lost it, turning the ball over at midfield. Kyle Long scored with 11 seconds remaining to send the Cougars into halftime with a 5-2 lead.
“That kind of just killed us a little – it killed our mojo going in,” Brown said. “When they scored that, we had to pick ourselves back up at halftime.”
The Patriots endured a scoring drought of close to 32 minutes, and by the time Brown – who had all three of his team’s goals – scored on the rebound of a goalie save with 30 seconds remaining in the fourth period, the Cougars had an 8-2 lead on their way to the big win.
“They showed up better than us, they played better than us today,” Buchanan said.
McGovern turned away 14 shots in a strong outing.
Freshman Michael Ott won 5-of-10 face-offs.
Owen Griffin led East with three ground balls and two forced turnovers while Austin Prime had two ground balls and two forced turnovers. Ryan Brown had two ground balls and one caused turnover, and Mike Eveland had two caused turnovers and one ground ball. Contributing one ground ball and one forced turnover were Buchanan, Matt Brown, David Gressgott and Bryan McIntosh. Logan Nelson and Brad Walentukonis each had one ground ball while Matt Krumenacker had one forced turnover.
“You know what – defense is allowed to give up seven to eight goals,” Garcia said. “Offense has got to score eight goals.”
The Patriots closed out the season with a 19-5 record (11-1 SOL).
“It’s really hard,” Brown said. “My brother (Matt Brown) is a senior. I have known all these guys since first grade. I’ve always looked up to these guys, and it’s really hurtful (to see it end).”
When asked the highlight of the season, Brown mentioned the Patriots’ overtime win over Avon Grove and their upset of top-seeded Garnet Valley.
“I think the real highlight was just spending time with these guys,” he said. “We’re all friends, we all hang out after school, so it’s really nice.”
While their high school careers ended, many of the team’s seniors will continue their lacrosse careers at the collegiate level.
“At one point, one out of eight seniors would go on to play Division One,” Garcia said. “It was one out of 10 that went on to play Division II or III.
“Now it’s 50 percent the last couple years go on to play Division One, and we have nearly 90 percent of our senior class going on to play Division I, II or III lacrosse.
“We said to (Superintendent) Dr. (Robert) Laws in 1998 when we were looking to make this a varsity sport that this sport will open the doors to universities that some of these kids might not otherwise get into. Lacrosse will be that gateway.
“You look at the list of schools – BU, Dartmouth and (the like) – I don’t know if they would have gotten in without lacrosse. We have to thank the school board in 2000 for opening the doors and allowing us to become a varsity sport. That’s 17 years ago, but I don’t forget it.
“It has become a program. There is a huge parents group that has been so supportive of the program and helps in every way. It is a program.”
A program that reached new heights this season when it advanced to the state quarterfinals.
Central Bucks East 1-1-0-1—3
Springfield-Delco 3-2-2-1—8
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