CB East and Upper Dublin advanced in District One AAAA lacrosse action Thursday.
#4 CENTRAL BUCKS EAST 10, #13 HOLY GHOST PREP 9
Round two of the District One Boys’ Lacrosse Tournament did not disappoint. The Firebirds of Holy Ghost Prep came to Doylestown to show the Patriots they were not going to roll over. The Firebirds Bennett Zaba scored the first of his four tallies at 11:14. CBE matched HGP when Ryan Brown scored the first of his two goals at 3:11. With just 12 seconds left in the first quarter Mike Major scored unassisted to put the Firebirds up 2-1 at the end of the quarter. The Patriots would fire 10 shots in the quarter and only have one goal to show for it.
Alex Yake started the scoring off in the second for HGP at 9:35, and the Firebirds would outscore the Patriots 4-3 in the second quarter and take a 6-4 lead into the half. The Patriots would fire off 21 shots in the second quarter and only have three goals to show for it. So far this season, each time the Patriots found themselves trailing, it resulted in a loss. Therefore, the second half would require the Patriots to come out firing on all cylinders to dig themselves out of the deficit, and the defense would need to play flawless if they wanted to advance to the next round.
For CBE, Matt Milici found the back of net first in the third then Zaba would put one in for HGP just two minutes later. Matt Schmidt added his first goal of the night for CBE, and then with just six seconds left, CBE’s Matt Brown tied it up at seven all at the end of the third quarter.
CBE’s Matt Vetter got his hat trick with 8:20 left in the fourth. But Ryan Kovak would come right back for HGP at 5:47 to knot it up at 8-8. Matt Milici scored his second of the night on a feed from Matt Vetter at 3:53 to put the Patriots up by one and then Ryan Brown scored what would become the game winner at 2:16 to put CBE up 10-8. The Firebirds would add one more as Zaba got his fourth goal of the night, but it would not be enough as the Patriots held on to win 10-9.
Jack Auteri was 13-for-21 on face offs. Sean McGovern had three saves. Dustin Buchanan (3 gb’s 5 CT’s), Tyler Butler (8 gb’s, 4 CT) and Mike Eveland (3 gb’s, 1 CT). The Patriots move on to round three where they face Avon Grove for the second time on Saturday.
Holy Ghost Prep 2-4-1-2 9
Central Bucks East 1-3-3-3 10
CB East Scoring: CB East had 10 goals on 45 shots.Matt Vetter – 3g,Matt Milici – 2g, 2a, Ryan Brown – 2g,Matt Heim – 1g, 1a, Matt Brown – 1g, 1a, Matt Schmidt – 1g. Jack Auteri - 13 of 21 on Face offs, 8 GB’s,Tyler Butler - 8gb’s, 4CT’s, Dustin Buchanan – 3GB’s, 5 CT’s, Mike Eveland - 3gb’s, 1 Ct’s
HGP scored 9 goals on 20 shots, Bennett Zaba - 4g, Mike Major – 2g, 1a, Alex Yake – 2g, Ryan Kovak – 1g, Sean McDonald - 3a.
#10 UPPER DUBLIN 7, #7 RIDLEY 6 (OT)
Nick Vernacchio’s goal 2:43 into overtime propelled the Flying Cardinals to an electrifying 7-6 upset of seventh-seeded Ridley.
“It was awesome to get something so rewarding,” sophomore Michael Sowers aid. “To beat a team like Ridley was awesome.
“When Nick hit that shot, just to see everybody rush out on the field and just to be jumping for joy with excitement – it was amazing.”
It was Sowers - who led the Cardinals with two goals and four assists - setting up Vernacchio’s game winner.
“We were trying to attack from behind,” Sowers said. “I came up top side, and Nick came off a pick. It was a great shot. He caught it in the crease and put it through the goalie’s legs.
“We didn’t draw it up, but it definitely worked.”
The Cardinals actually found themselves on the short end of a 3-1 score at the end of one quarter and trailed 5-2 at halftime. They outscored the Green Raiders 4-1 in the second half, 2-0 in the fourth quarter.
“We ended up changing the pace a little bit in the second half,” Sowers said. “In the first half, we really wanted to slow the game down, and in the second half, we changed that to a much faster pace, attacking the goal a little bit more and changing up our offensive scheme.”
The Green Raiders led 6-3 in the third quarter and still led by two with five minutes remaining. The Flying Cardinals made it a 6-5 game on a man-up goal by Evan Scott with 4:42 remaining in regulation, using a Sowers assist. With time winding down, Michael Mullen scored the equalizer with 1:16 showing on the scoreboard clock.
“It was a great defensive effort by both teams,” coach J.P. Banks said. “The goalies played well. They were kind of locking off Michael (Sowers).
“Sometimes with some of these teams, it just takes them a while to listen to what you’re saying. Sometimes you let them try their own stuff, and when it doesn’t work, they see it, and they come back. When they do the things our offensive coaches put together, then all of a sudden, they saw the results.
“It was a real gut check for our team. We have some seniors, but we’re pretty young. To come back against such a great program - Coach (Kevin) Ellers does such a great job, and to come back against a team like that shows the character of our team.”
Banks went on to laud the performances of some of the players whose names don’t show up in the box score.
“Jack Rapine just did a great job controlling the game between the midfield,” the Cards’ coach said. “Our defensive unit with Henry Winebrake, Ryan Stover, Will Lunney and our goalie, Bobby McPeake, just did a great job really locking down in the second half. We only gave up one goal in the second half.
“Our short stick D-middies Ben Abel and Connor Wall – both sophomores – just did an awesome job defensively and on ground balls tonight, clutch ground balls at key times. They really put up a great fight out there, and eventually, the offense was able to score enough. The defense really held us in that game until the offense settled in.”
In addition to Sowers, Mullen finished with two goals while Scott, Vernacchio and Zach Hanson each had one.
“It’s a great win,” Banks said. “Any time you get to play a quality opponent from the Central League and you can walk away with a win like that is a great night.
“Every game this season – we’ve been taking it as a series of one-game seasons. We just wanted to come out and be able to show that we belonged on the field with Ridley.
“It’s a shame either team has to lose a game like this one. Every kid on that field threw everything they had out there for 48-plus minutes.
“For our program, it’s great to be able to get these wins. We have an opportunity to see Bishop Shanahan, which has had an incredible season. It’s exciting, it’s really exciting for the kids.
“Just the fact that they know (they have done this) twice against Central League teams – against Conestoga, as well, we were down 6-3, and we gutted it out and got back in it. It would be nice if the boys came out and made it a little easier on the coaching staff, but we’ll take it the way it is.”
The Cardinals will face second-seeded Bishop Shanahan on Saturday at Harriton High School.
Upper Dublin 1-1-2-2-1 7
Ridley 3-2-1-0-0 6
#8 SPRINGFIELD (DELCO) 11, #9 ABINGTON 6
Brian Gallagher connected for a hat trick to lead the Ghosts while Cameron Leech added two goals and Joey Lomady, one goal. Blake Friedman was credited with 14 saves in goal.
Abington 2-1-3-0 6
Springfield2-2-7-0 11
#2 BISHOP SHANAHAN 13, #15 WISSAHICKON 2
Luke Gomez contributed a goal and an assist while Neal Guaglianone added a goal to account for the Trojans’ scoring. Goalie Jack Myers was credited with 10 saves.
CHELTENHAM 4, FRANKFORD 3 (Wednesday, May 14)
The Panthers wrote a happy ending to their season with a 4-3 non-league win over Frankford on Wednesday. Thomas Hipwell led the Panthers’ attack with three goals and one assist. He also had six ground balls and was 5-of-10 on face-offs. Antonio Ringgold added a single goal. David Friedman was credited with two saves in goal.
Girls
#2 SPRINGFIELD (DELCO) 18, #15 CENTRAL BUCKS WEST (6)
Meghan Tillger and Jacq Fitzgerald scored a pair of goals while Elena Romesburg had two assists. Sarah Gebre and Amanda Gundlach each added single goals. Bryn Boylan had one assist. Goalie Molly Naylor was credited with seven saves for the Bucks.
“We didn’t come out to play today,” coach Tara Schmucker said. “I think intimidation got the best of us today, and we could never recover.
“However, I am really proud of our team for making it this far. We had a great season, and this game cannot take away from that. Certainly I am disappointed because I definitely think we could have given a better game and I don’t think this represents how we played this season, but we have youth that have gained experience, upperclassmen that have learned more about mental toughness and seniors that should be proud of helping the program grow.”
The Bucks closed out the year with a 15-5 record overall (7-2 SOL).
#7 CONESTOGA 19, #10 HATBORO-HORSHAM 6
The night belonged to the Pioneers, who scored early and often on their way to the decisive win.
“It was definitely the draw control,” senior Jane Henry said. “We only had a handful, and that started the whole thing.
“The couple times we did get it we were able to go down and score, but they had almost all of them. Once they had momentum, they just rolled with it. We couldn’t break it.”
The Pioneers wasted little time before gaining that momentum, opening up a 3-0 lead less than three minutes into the game. They went on to open up a 7-1 lead after a goal by freshman standout Liz Scott, who led the Pioneers with four goals and one assist.
Goals by Rachel Rausa and Katie McKay (Maria Guerra assist) made it an 8-3 game, but the Pioneers closed out the half with three unanswered goals to go into the intermission 11-3. The Hatters would get no closer the rest of the way.
“No excuses,” coach Duncan Swezey said. “At the end of the day, we got here. A lot of teams didn’t get here. I don’t think the score depicts the quality of the team by any stretch of the imagination.”
McKay led the Hatters with two goals while Guerra had a goal and an assist. Also adding single goals were Rachel Rausa, Syd Rausa and Kaitlyn Wallace.
The Hatters closed out their season with a 15-5 record (9-0 overall).
Hatboro-Horsham 3-3 6
Conestoga 11-8 19
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