Hatboro-Horsham defeated CB East in a key SOL contest. Check out Monday's results.
Hatboro-Horsham 6, Central Bucks East 2
HORSHAM – This time around, 4-0 felt a lot different.
When Hatboro-Horsham met up with Central Bucks East on March 30, the Hatters jumped out to a 4-0 lead before allowing the Patriots to battle back and eventually come away with a 9-7 victory.
When the two squads met Monday evening, the Hatters once again jumped out to a 4-0 lead. But, sparked by a smothering defensive effort, the hosts denied a comeback bid and came away with a hard-fought but convincing 6-2 victory over the previously undefeated Patriots in a key Continental Conference clash.
“It all starts with our senior leaders on defense,” said Hatboro-Horsham coach John Kurek. “You take a guy like Dom DeFazio, he teaches these guys as much as the coaches do. My hat’s off to Dom and to Tyler Gelhaus, our other senior captain back there. These young guys just feed off their example.
“With our guys, it’s almost like they learn from past experiences. The kids were hungry, they said, we’ve got to learn from the film, we’ve got to learn from the experience last time and fix it. We saw our matchups and the kids just played. It was amazing.”
The Hatter defense held Central Bucks East off the scoreboard for the first 42 minutes of the game, denying cuts to the cage and forcing low-percentage shots that made for routine saves for Hatter goalie Marc Poust (eight saves).
“It was all mental, we needed to make sure we keep our heads in it, not let it get to our heads if we get the lead,” DeFazio said. “We just wanted to play solid D, straight up, fundamental defense, and we just tried to do the best we could.”
The smothering defense gave the Hatter attack all the opportunities it would need to take advantage of their chances. Junior Jimmy Murphy, one day before his 17th birthday, put the Hatters on the board with 1:21 left in the first quarter, then added a second goal with 16 seconds left in the quarter when Connor Kreston scored after taking a lead pass from Gelhaus.
Less than 30 seconds into the second period, Murphy netted his second off an assist from Trevor Downing while on a man advantage.
“On the offensive side of the ball, Jimmy’s our heartbeat,” Kurek said. “He can run with the ball, he’s very smart, his lacrosse IQ is out of this world.”
The Hatters took advantage of another man-up situation late in the period when Jimmy Durkin weaved his way through the defense and ripped a high shot past East goalkeeper Harrison Holak (11 saves) for the first of his two on the night.
The Hatters took an all-too-familiar 4-0 lead into the intermission. But with the stellar play of the H-H defense, there was no fear of a repeat performance.
“The last game we went up 4-0 on them, and we let them score four easy goals, they were all transition goals, and we wanted to stop that this game,” Murphy said. “You could tell, the defense was killing it out there, stripping the balls and everything. They were incredible. They carry us.
“Once we see the defense get up, those of us on offense know we’ve got to take it to their defense, to keep our team up. When our defense is playing so well, it definitely helps you feel relaxed. If we lose the ball on offense, you’re not stressing because you know the defense will get it right back for us.”
The Hatters kept the pressure on in the second half, scoring early in the third quarter (Trevor Downing from Jake Durkin on the man advantage) and early in the fourth quarter (Jimmy Durkin) to stake out a 6-0 lead. The Patriots finally found the answer to Poust with 5:58 left in the game when Parker Self scored. Cole Rushworth added a second goal with 3:47 remaining.
“(Hatboro-Horsham) played a very good game, they did very well,” said Central Bucks East coach Bruce Garcia, whose team arrived late and was forced into an abbreviated warm-up. “We just couldn’t get our game started. They came with their A Game and they played very well. They deserved to win, they’re well-coached and they looked good.”
With the loss, East drops to 10-1 overall, but remains atop the Continental Conference at 7-1 (21 points). The Hatters improve to 8-2 overall, and stand at 6-1 (18 points) in conference play.
“This was huge for us,” DeFazio said. “Undefeated or not, East is our rival. It’s always a great game to play.”
“This feels good,” Kurek said. “It’s good for our season, good for the seniors and it feels good to be in a situation like this on our field. Hats off the Bruce and his team, they’re an amazing program, but tonight we got a leg up and our kids just kept playing 48 minutes.
“Our guys know we can’t lose the games that are within reach of another team, we have to win now. We’re learning now how to win, making sure we win and moving on to the next opponent. And it’s one opponent at a time.”
Abington 10, Holy Ghost Prep 6
A four-goal fourth quarter proved to be the difference as Abington downed Holy Ghost Prep in Monday’s non-league matchup.Abington led 4-1 after one quarter but the teams were tied 4-4 at halftime and 6-6 after three quarters.
Matt Figueroa led the Galloping Ghosts with three goals and one assist. Max Malloy and Shane Dunn each scored twice, Ryan Ambler had a goal and an assist, Will Dulin and Matt Lomady each scored once, and Brian Gallagher added one assist. Travis O’Connor made 11 saves in recording the win for Abington, which improves to 7-3 overall (4-1 in National Conference play).
Council Rock North 8, Central Bucks West 6
Riley Kratzke connected for the hat trick and also contributed one assist for the Bucks, and Corey Schott added a pair of goals. Kyle Schecter added an assist. West goalie Lucas Janos was credited with eight saves.
The Bucks led 2-1 at the end of one quarter, but the two teams were deadlocked 3-3 at the intermission. The Indians won it with a 5-2 outburst in the third quarter.
Lansdale Catholic 15, Upper Moreland 9
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