Eight SOL boys’ lacrosse teams will be in action when the District One Tournament begins Tuesday.
By Mike Prince
Tuesday marks the start of the District 1 boys’ lacrosse playoffs with a total of eight teams from the Suburban One League set to take on their respective opponents. The playoffs will feature teams like Central Bucks East, which had a remarkable final stretch of the season to win the Continental Conference, and Council Rock South, which won the National Conference for the first time in program history and will play in its first ever district playoff game when the Golden Hawks visit Bishop Shanahan.
Upper Dublin will also be looking for district playoff success after only losing two games. The Cardinals lost by a single goal to both Avon Grove and Springfield-Delco, while finishing 14-0 in conference play. The "Terrific Two" duo of Michael Sowers and Michael Mullin put up incredible numbers for the third-ranked Flying Cardinals are the lone SOL squad with an opening round bye.
Winning is nothing new to Upper Dublin, but still being alive after the regular season finale is a brand new world for Council Rock South coach Mike Murray and the entire program. Murray, in his first season with the Golden Hawks, coached his team to a 12-6 overall record and just one loss in 10 conference games.
The regular season success led CR South to its first ever district playoff berth, and it was made possible on both sides of the field.
Brendan Patterson won more than 80 percent of his face-offs for the Hawks, while fellow senior Adam Reifer stood tall in net and helped lead a fantastic defense all season long. CR South's long stick midfielder, Patrick Rafter, stood out in his sophomore year and played an integral role in the team's success.
"For us, obviously Brendan sets the tempo for us with his incredible face-off success, and there are many players responsible for our success this season," Murray said. "I was very excited for the players to win the conference and make the playoffs. We have a lot of kids who have played together since youth league, and they've had a lot of ups and downs over the course of their careers, so I am very happy for them to finish on a high note.
“We are absolutely looking forward to and ready for the playoffs. We're more concerned on how we're going to play, so we are working on our execution and we're going to try to test (Shanahan) and move the ball around and make them beat us."
CB East had a strong finish to the season en route to its conference championship. After losing by one goal to Central Bucks West and North Penn earlier in the season, the Patriots defeated the Knights, 9-6, and the Bucks, 14-2, in the final week of the season to reclaim first place.
Led by senior captain Owen Griffin, the Patriots finished the season 13-4 overall and 10-2 in the conference, and earned a home meeting on Tuesday with conference foe Hatboro-Horsham.
"We know we just have to take it one game at a time right now and not overlook anyone," said Griffin, who contributed 37 goals and 21 assists (58 points) as well as 57 ground balls. "We are playing a very good Hatboro-Horsham team and we played them twice this year and they were not easy wins. I think we have to control the ball and win the face-offs to be able to win this game."
Going into the playoffs on a seven-game winning streak should help CB East's playoff chances as well, according to Griffin.
"We’re starting to get our momentum back," he said. "I think we are just now learning to click and feel comfortable with each other, so I think we'll really do well in the playoffs."
Tuesday, May 17
#22 Plymouth Whitemarsh at #11 North Penn
#24 Hatboro-Horsham at #9 Central Bucks East
#29 Council Rock South at #4 Bishop Shanahan
#20 Central Bucks West at #13 West Chester Henderson
#26 Wissahickon at #7 Haverford
#27 Pennridge at #6 Garnet Valley
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