Check out the recaps for SOL boys’ lacrosse teams in action Tuesday. Pennridge/Souderton photos courtesy of Michael Rice, and Wissahickon/Springfield photos provided courtesy of Kim Supko. Check back for galleries of both games: https://solsports.zenfolio.com/f1055694815
National Conference
Pennridge 15, Souderton 8
Things could have gotten away from Pennridge in a hurry.
For much of the first half, the visiting Rams were on the defensive. With their offense not able to find much consistency, the defenders had the tall order of trying to keep things in reach by the time the halftime horn went off, and that wasn’t an easy task with the Indians’ attackmen peppering their goal.
What prevented most of those shots from turning into goals was Tyler Vandermark, the Pennridge senior goalie refusing to let his team fall behind.
“We played a lot of defense, but we were up to the task,” Vandermark said. “Our offense, they’ll finish it when we have it. That’s all it really is, if we have good possessions and finish on those possessions, it’s going to be a good game for (us).”
Vandermark made a remarkable 23 saves, most coming in the first half but the senior not losing any edge after halftime, keeping his guys in it until the offense got on track. Although Pennridge had 1-0 and 2-1 leads, it was ultimately the hosts who finished more possessions for a 5-3 halftime lead.
“Tyler Vandermark kept us in the game in the first half,” Pennridge coach Chris Pianko said. “He had 23 saves but a ton in the first half that gave our offense time to settle and get rolling.”
Despite trailing by two, the Rams knew it could have been worse. Instead, they had a locked in goalie who was in step with his defenders from the opening faceoff.
“We knew the avalanche was coming,” Vandermark said. “We figured it out in the second half, our offense played phenomenal. That’s all it was, we just had to loosen up the grip on the stick, you can’t grip it too tight and get worried in a game like this.”
Will Howley set the tone defensively in a tough matchup while Colin Manville, Tyler Borneman LSM Andrew Horensky and a conglomeration of midfielders like Matt Kriney, Kevin Matthews and Cooper States played stout defense.
“Will Howley had a great game defensively against their best attackman and helped set the tone on the defense for the game,” Pianko said.
Attackman Frankie Fanelli, who helped open up the offense with four goals and two assists all in the second half, noted the impact Vandermark had on the outcome.
“Tyler Vandermark and our defense stood on their heads all night,” Fanelli said. “When we have a defense and goalie like that who we can rely on, we feel like we’re never out of a game.”
Tuesday’s win secured no less than a share of the SOL National title for Pennridge. The Rams can take it outright if they down Council Rock South on Wednesday, but regardless it was still a major accomplishment for the team to go back-to-back as conference champions.
“This is the greatest group of guys I could have asked to play with,” Vandermark said. “I’m real happy to do it. We have great coaches and great brothership here, it’s good for the program, there’s a lot of talent on this team so I love seeing it for the program.
“It’s been (CB) East and West’s conference for a while, so it’s nice to see Pennridge go back-to-back.”
After getting just three goals from Ryan Carickhoff in the first half, the Rams got going after halftime. Pennridge opened the third quarter with four straight goals, two of them coming from Fanelli, and after John Martin Vince scored to snap the run and cut the lead to 7-6, the Rams ended the quarter with three goals in less than a minute.
A 7-1 advantage in the third flipped a 5-3 deficit to a 10-6 lead.
“We came out slow, our stick skills weren’t the best but we knew we were only going up from there,” Fanelli said. “We got in the right mindset and went from there. Once we get momentum going, I feel like we can go for a while and make a run.”
The three goals to end the third turned into a 7-0 spree as the Rams tacked on four more in the fourth quarter. Fanelli connected with his brother Rocco twice, each assisting the other, while Carickhoff added three second half goals to end with a game-high six tallies.
Levi Souder added two goals and an assist, Rocco Fanelli had a goal and two assists, Matthew Seiler had a goal and two helpers and Kriney added two assists. Cole Nitterour, who won 12-of-25 faceoffs, had the Rams’ final tally.
“We took great shots instead of good shots,” Frankie Fanelli said. “Our shot selection continued to improve as we got into the game. Once our offense gets going, we can be a dangerous team and compete with the best.”
Vince led Souderton with five goals. Brody Anderson, Seth Grossman and Max Ryon each had a goal and an assist for Souderton. Grossman also had three ground balls, Anderson had one caused turnover and five ground balls and Ryon had two ground balls.
Peyton Bannak won 13 of 22 faceoffs and also had 11 ground balls. Also contributing for the Indians were Sean Landis (1 assist), Jaden Knize (1 assist, 1 GB), Ben Fadden (1 assist), Trey Bui (1 GB), Ryan Rothenberger (2 CTO, 1 GB), Jackson Hirschman (1 CTO) and Sean Ryon (1 GB).Shawn Martin won 1 of 2 faceoffs and had one ground ball. Matt Malanga had 13 saves in goal and two ground balls.
The Indians can still share conference honors with CB East and Pennridge with a Rams loss.
Pennridge (14-2, 8-1) visits Council Rock South at 7pm on Wednesday. Souderton (12-5, 8-2) travels to Lansdale Catholic at 3:45 on Thursday.
Pennridge 2-1-7-5 15
Souderton 2-3-1-2 8
Central Bucks East 12, Pennsbury 3
Central Bucks East took care of its end of business. Now it’s time to play the waiting game.
With their 12-3 victory over Pennsbury on Tuesday, the Patriots complete the regular season at 8-2 in National Conference play (11-6 overall), tied with Souderton in the league standings. But Pennridge – at 8-1 – can win the title outright if the Rams win their season-ending game against Council Rock South Wednesday.
The Patriots left no doubt in securing this season-ending victory, pouring in five goals in the opening quarter and taking an 8-1 lead into halftime.
In all, nine East players contributed to the scoring, with Thomas Williams scoring three goals and grabbing two ground balls. Blake Bishop had two goals, one assist, and five ground balls. The Patriots also received scoring from Michael Smallwood (1 goal, 2 assists, 2 GB), Patrick Coleman (1 goal, 1 assist, 2 GB), Mathew Bowen (1 goal, 1 assist), David Crespo (1 goal, 1 assist), David Brown (1 goal, 2 CTO, 4 GB), Adam Volm (1 goal, 1 CTO, 1 GB), and Luke Walters (1 goal, 2 GB).
Helping to secure possession throughout the field for East were Ben Bridegum (2 CTO, 6 GB), Tristan Smith (2 CTO, 2 GB), Frankie Pacitti (1 CTO, 2 GB), Jackson Jagoda (1 CTO, 1 GB), and Dean Blackwell (1 CTO).
Trent Becker scored two goals to lead Pennsbury, Chris Lynch added one, and John Curtis had an assist. Bradley Hill was a stellar 17-for-18 on faceoffs and grabbed 14 ground balls.
Jaden Beach made four saves for the Falcons
Pennsbury falls to 4-6, 7-10, and will close out the season with a nonleague game at 7 pm Thursday hosting Holy Ghost Prep.
Central Bucks East 5-3-2-2 12
Pennsbury 1-0-1-1 3
Central Bucks West 18, Council Rock North 6
A stellar day in the face-off circle and six-point efforts from Michael Rafalowski and Matt Jacobsen propelled Central Bucks West to a key 18-6 win over Council Rock North in Tuesday’s National Conference game.
The Bucks were nearly perfect in the circle, with Jacobsen winning 15 of 16 draws, Kevin Mallon taking 8-of-8, and Ben Greenspan winning 1-of-1.
In the offensive end, Jacobsen scored five goals and assisted on one, while Rafalowski scored two and dished out four assists. Aidan Kimberly scored three and had two assists, Alex Greenspan scored three and added one assist, Colton Albrecht had two goals and two assists, and Garin Mangeot, Ben Greenspan, and Brad Mulreaney each added one goal.
Kanen Patel made four saves as the Bucks improved to 6-3 in National Conference play, 13-3 overall.
Central Bucks West 4-6-4-4 18
Council Rock North 1-3-2-0 6
North Penn 13, Harry S Truman 3
North Penn picked up its second National Conference victory of the season on Tuesday, downing Harry S Truman 13-3.
For the Tigers. Chris Glover (3 GB, 1 CTO), Nate Cornell, and Joe Scheller each scored one goal. Connor Freer added one assist for Truman, which also saw strong efforts from Chase Tuttle (3 GB, 5 CTO), Rob Eldredge (2 CTO), and Ben Sherry (3 GB, 1 CTO). Tommy Bryson made 18 saves (58% SVP) and scooped up one ground ball.
The Knights (2-8 National Conference, 5-10 overall) close out the season with two nonleague games – at Pope John Paul II at 3:45 pm today, then at home against Phoenixville at 7 pm Friday. Truman (0-10, 3-13) will visit William Tennent at 6 pm Thursday.
North Penn 3-5-3-2 13
Harry S Truman 1-0-2-0 3
American Conference
Quakertown 8, Abington 6
Herb Arnold made nine saves as Quakertown pulled out a huge 8-6 victory over Abington in Tuesday’s American Conference game.
On the other end of the field, Mason Borzio led the Panthers with two goals and two assists. Jackson Lesinski and Alex Jalboot each scored twice, Evan Mooney had a goal and two assists, and Jacob Mosser added one goal.
With the victory, the Panthers improve to 3-6 in American Conference play, 6-11 overall. They will close out the regular season when they host Upper Dublin at 4 pm today. The Ghosts close out the season at 5-5, 5-13.
Wissahickon 8, Springfield Twp 6
The Trojans won a tightly contested conference battle, outscoring their visitors 6-4 in the opening half and holding on for the Senior Night win.
Leading a balanced attack were Paul Harrison (2 goals, 1 assist, 2 ground balls), Blake Zimmerman (2 goals) and Noah Stomsky (2 goals, 1 assist, 2 ground balls). Charlie Stehlik added a three-point game with one goal, two assists and four ground balls.
Also, for the Trojans, Chase Comer added a goal and an assist. Austin Myers had one assist and three ground balls, Logan Bruno contributed two ground balls and one caused turnover, Charlie Hussa had two ground balls, Danny Hussa scooped up four ground balls and had two caused turnovers, Quinn McClintic had two ground balls, and Cole Lilienfeld had one ground ball.
Kyle Krump finished with seven saves on 13 shots in a winning effort in goal for the Trojans.
For the Spartans, Tommy Coppol had four goals, and Adam Fluehr and Matt Capoferri each contributed a goal and an assist. Carter Weiss was credited with seven saves.
Wissahickon (12-5, 8-2 SOL) will travel to Central Bucks South for a non-league game Thursday, and Springfield Twp (13-4, 7-3) will be on the road at Harriton for a non-league game Thursday.
Springfield Twp 2-2-0-2 6
Wissahickon 3-3-1-1 8
Plymouth Whitemarsh 16, Cheltenham 2
The Colonials won their tenth consecutive win on Tuesday, beating host Cheltenham in league action. Plymouth Whitemarsh received goals from Dylan Ippolito (3G, 1CTO, 2GB), Hayden Domers (2G, 2A, 1CTO, 1GB)
Ben Backenstose (5G, 1A), Caiden Lesczcynski (1G, 2A,1GB), Sean Herron (3G, 1A), Kai Silverman (2G, 1CTO), and Owen Cababe (1G). The defensive effort was led by Isaiah Bainbridge (2CTO, 8GB), Frank Lynch (2CTO, 5GB), Chase Welliver (1CTO, 2GB), Connor Rarrick (1GB), Chase Rarrick (1CTO, 3GB), Alex Frangiosa (2CTO, 5 GB), and Pat McLaughlin (1CTO, 1GB). Goalie Mason Best had 3 saves and a ground ball and goalie Brian DeVitis had 2 saves. Freshman FOGO Fadl Green went 9-for-13 on faceoffs,
Upper Moreland 14, William Tennent 7
Monday, May 6
Springfield Twp 7, Shipley School 5
Jack Vecchione had a hand in five of Springfield’s seven goals – scoring four goals and added one assist – as the Spartans earned a 7-5 win over Shipley School in Monday’s nonleague game.
Tommy Coppol scored once and assisted on three others, Adam Fluehr had a goal and an assist,
Jack Brandreth scored once, and Matt Capoferri and Jake Sullivan each registered one assist.
Colin Pennington won 12-of-15 face-offs for the Spartans, and Carter Weiss patrolled the net, making nine saves to earn the win.
The Spartans (13-3 overall, 7-2 American Conference) will visit Harriton at 7 pm Thursday in the Spartans’ regular season finale.
Springfield Twp 2-1-3-1 7
Shipley School 1-3-0-1 5
About the Author
