SOL Boys’ Lacrosse District Wrap (5-20-17)

Central Bucks East earned a win that vaulted the Patriots into Tuesday’s district semifinals and also guaranteed the squad a berth in states. Hatboro-Horsham remains alive in its quest for a state berth, and Springfield Township saw its successful season end.

#5 CENTRAL BUCKS EAST 6, #4 SPRING-FORD 5
R.J. Miller.
It’s a name that might not have been familiar to a whole lot of CB East lacrosse fans prior to Saturday’s game, but the junior goalie – filling in for Liam Rosenthal, who was attending his grandfather’s funeral – earned game MVP honors.
“RJ Miller had seven saves, seven big saves,” coach Bruce Garcia said.
“That was awesome,” senior defenseman Bryan McIntosh said of Miller’s effort. “We had all of our trust in him, and we told him that before the game.
“You don’t start a game all year, so clearly you’re going to be somewhat nervous coming into the game, so before the game we’re like, ‘RJ, we’ve got your back.’ He stepped up to the plate.”
And it wasn’t just Miller’s saves that gave the Patriots a lift.
“There were two other times where he ran out and got the end line ball, and those were two times we got the ball back,” McIntosh said. “That was huge and gave us a lot of energy. He stepped up.”
Miller was just one player from a lengthy list of difference makers in Saturday’s dramatic win that punched the team’s ticket to the state tournament.
Ryan Brown scored the first two goals of the game, setting the tone for a first half that saw the Patriots open up a 5-1 lead.
“He was a big part of the offense and a big part of why we won,” Garcia said.
Michael Ott connected the game winner with 50 seconds remaining in regulation and dominated the face-offs, winning 11 of 15. He also had a team-high nine ground balls.
But this game belonged to the Patriot defenders.
“I tell them at the beginning of the season – ‘Yes, offense brings in people to watch the games and sells tickets, so to speak, but defense wins championships,’” Garcia said. “That’s the way I look at it.
“Not taking anything away from the offense – our offense executed exactly what they needed to do, when they needed to do it, how they needed to do it. The defense just stood up big.
“We run three long stick midfielders – Conor Larkin, John Galow and Jake Kueny.”
Bryan McIntosh, Joey Thiroway and Drew Bethke anchored the defense in front of Miller. They were pretty close to impenetrable for the majority of the game.
“We went in with a game plan where we needed to possess the ball on offense, and on defense, we needed to have complete communication because they have those two weapons – Danny Cassidy and Ryan Rosenblum, who are incredible players, so we knew we knew we needed to limit them to the least amount of shots possible and just control the game,” McIntosh said.
The game had its share of drama down the home stretch. In the third quarter, the Rams trimmed a goal off the Patriots’ halftime lead to make it a 5-2 game heading into the final quarter. The Rams scored three straight goals in the fourth quarter, including the equalizer with 2:27 remaining, but the Patriots refused to fold.
“I took the defense together and I was like, ‘Guys, we’ve got to pull this out. This is us. We just have to get the offense the ball and let them work their offense,’” McIntosh said. “They were only taking quality shots today to possess the ball and keep control of the game.
“Mike Ott was controlling the face-off X all game long. He was just dominating. It was kind of a make-it, take-it kind of game for him because we would score, he would win the face-off, and we would have the ball back on offense again.”
Ott won the ensuing face-off, and with the ball in their possession, the Patriots were content to take time off the clock. Their patience was rewarded when Ott scored the go-ahead goal with 40 seconds remaining.
Another face-off win by Ott was followed by a Patriot turnover.
“They went the other way and called a timeout,” Garcia said. “They put their number one midfielder at midfield, and when the whistle was blown, he had the ball.
“Bryan McIntosh was defending against him, and he took the ball away from him on about the 45-yard line.”
“There was a timeout,” McIntosh said. “I was like, ‘All right, I’m going to keep playing the way I was playing the whole game.
“There was 20 seconds left, and 16 (Cassidy) is going to be the one getting the shot, and he’s going to have the dodge. He’s a very good player. I couldn’t do anything crazy, any kind of crazy check, so I just played him straight up and played a good position. I got a good first poke.”
The drama was far from over as the Rams came up with the ground ball in a scramble. Again, McIntosh delivered.
“Number nine (Rosenblum) had a wide open shot,” the senior defenseman said. “I was running down the field, and I was right there.
“He was winding up to take a shot, and I checked him. (The ball) went down to the corner. Number 20, Joey Thiroway, had a phenomenal game, and we were running to the corner. I looked back and saw there were 10 seconds left. Basically, everyone on Spring-Ford’s offensive side of the field was running to that corner. We got the ground ball and sealed the game.”
The Patriots’ stole a page out of the Rams’ playbook, playing a possession game and playing it very effectively.
“Everyone stood up big,” Garcia said. “Our defensive plan was to put our long poles on their two midfielders because their game seems to be run at midfield. Doing that, we didn’t cut anybody off, and doing that, it proved to be very fruitful. It worked out very well for us.
“Offensively, we ran a possession game. We took from their game – Spring-Ford does possession game. I did exactly what they do to other teams on the other side of the ball. We possessed the ball. We were probably shooting 75 percent. We took so few shots, but six out of nine shots went in the cage.”
The Patriots return to states after a year away last season.
“We were there in 2015, and every year it’s our goal to get to states,” McIntosh said. “There’s no other reason to play the game if you don’t try to make it to states and accomplish that.”
“We expect when we start the season to get here every year,” Garcia said. “This is where we always plan on being. This is where we should be. Otherwise, I’m not doing my job.”
Central Bucks East (16-3, 9-0 SOL) will travel to Avon Grove for a rematch with the top-seeded Devils. On April 8, Avon Grove defeated CB East 8-3.
EXTRA SHOTS: Ryan Stout and Brown both had a pair of goals for the Patriots. Stout also had an assist. Michael Ott and Alec Bracken (one assist) each added one goal. Ryan Schmidt and Brant Billingsly both contributed an assist…Ott won 11 of 15 face-offs, and he also had a team-high nine ground balls. Thiroway, McIntosh and Colin Stein each had two ground balls. Stout, Brown and Ryan Bullotta had one each. McIntosh had five caused turnovers, Thiroway had four, Drew Bethke, two, and John Galow had one.
Central Bucks East 2-3-0-1 6
Spring-Ford 0-1-1-3 5