By Alex Frazier
The Suburban One League is beginning to stand with the big boys. For the first time this year, three SOL teams qualified for the PIAA State Lacrosse Championship.
Hatboro-Horsham and Abington made it for the first time (although Abington and C.B. East have previously qualified for the state tournament before it became endorsed by the PIAA).
Central Bucks East was playing in its second straight PIAA tournament.
All three teams, unfortunately, didn’t make it past the first round.
• Abington was the No. 2 seed entering districts. Following a first-round bye, the Galloping Ghosts hammered Avon Grove 16-7 in the second round and defeated No. 7 Radnor 16-13 in the quarterfinals. But the run stopped there when eventual district champ No. 3 Conestoga cruised to a 13-5 win.
“Conestoga came out and smacked us in the mouth,” said Abington coach Randy McNeill. “They’re a great team. They beat us in every aspect of the game. When you get in the playoffs and you don’t play that many tough games during the season, those games take an effect on you.”
The fact that it was prom day didn’t help.
In the game for third, No. 5 Garnet Valley nipped the Ghosts 12-11.
“I don’t think the kids were really into it,” said McNeill. “We blew a four-goal lead with six minutes to go just from lack of possession.”
In the first round of states, Abington drew District 12 and two-time defending state champion LaSalle in the first round.
It turned out to be a barnburner.
In typical fashion, the Ghosts fell behind 3-1, but rallied to take a 6-4 halftime lead. They maintained that differential at the end of the third with an 8-6 lead, which they stretched to 9-6 in the fourth. But the Explorers tied the score at nine. Abington went up by one, but LaSalle answered and then with 1:35 left to play notched the go-ahead and winning goal to end Abington’s season.
“We played well,” said McNeill. “We had trouble winning faceoffs, which has been a problem in the playoffs. That’s when LaSalle started coming back when they controlled the ball.”
Ironically, it was LaSalle that ended C.B. East’s season last year in the first round of states.
Despite the early exit from states, the Ghosts still had an excellent season. They won the National Conference and suffered only one defeat during the regular season, that to Inter-Ac power Germantown Academy.
“It was a great season,” said McNeill. “Our playoffs were what I anticipated them to be, except for the first-round exit from the state playoffs. That’s not exactly how we wanted to go out.”
The Ghosts were characterized this year by an explosive offense.
All-state senior attackman Joey Jones and sophomore Ryan Ambler each scored over 100 points. Nick Pisko, the third attackman, complemented the other two as a role player.
When it came to scoring, no opponent could ignore the midfield trio of Rich and Matt Rambo and Anthony Hensley. The three of them accounted for well over 200 points.
Senior Rich Rambo and freshman brother Matt both made all-state.
“That was great all those guys were able to make contributions,” said McNeill.
Defenseman Paul Berger and goalie Jesse McGinley anchored the defense.
The Ghosts averaged 16 goals a game and gave up only six per game.
McNeill is looking for another successful season next year, although he loses nine seniors, among them four, four-year starters, two of whom were all state.
“Defensively we’ll be very solid,” said McNeill. “We only lose two of our seven poles. We won’t be as explosive as we were this year, but we’ll be able to hold our own.”
• Central Bucks East made its second consecutive state playoff appearance this year.
The Patriots were seeded fourth in districts. One of their biggest wins came in the second round with a 6-5 victory over Downingtown West. In the quarters they lost to eventual third place Garnet Valley, 11-8.
“We had a late fourth period penalty,” said East coach Bruce Garcia.
Fighting for their playoff survival, the Patriots faced Hatboro-Horsham for the third time this year. They won the rubber match 9-5.
“Emotionally that was a good win for us,” said Garcia. “Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough to carry us through the next two games,”
In the game for fifth the Patriots dropped an 11-10 decision to Lower Merion.
“That was interrupted by three rain delays in the first half and the second half was put off to a second day,” said Garcia. “We run a lot on emotions and the delays certainly did not help us.”
In the state tournament, they faced an even greater foe in Springfield Delco, which was seeded first in districts and finished second.
Although East trailed by just two goals (6-4) at the half, the Cougars pulled away in the second half to win 11-5.
“We couldn’t recover from that two-goal deficit. It just grew from that,” said Garcia. “They’re a very good team and very well coached. They took advantage of our soft spots. They scored at will.”
Garcia noted that the team received contributions from many players this year, among them senior midfielders Rob Farrall (captain), Conor McSherry and Brenden Coleman.
Junior Sean Reilly came up with his share of faceoffs.
“He always came ready to play,” said Garcia.
On attack, senior captains Alex Fetterman and Brian Urban performed consistently all year. Junior attackman Matt Brodzik was a perfect complement to them.
“He finishes that attack,” said Garcia. “A good part of our success this year offensively comes from him.”
The defense held up its end of the field.
Senior captain Weston French and senior brothers Nicholas and Kyle Andress, along with Zac Bitzer, who was hampered by an injury, played real well.
“It was a very positive year,” said Garcia. “Any time you can win your conference and win the important games, and the important games for us were Downingtown West to get us into that final eight.”
East is hoping to continue its state appearance streak next year, only move past the first round.
“We’ll be really strong next year,” said Garcia. “We seem to balance every year with who’s coming out and who’s coming in. We’ll bring up a lot of players from the junior varsity (only one loss to Hatboro-Horsham). They’re well prepared.
“We’ll look forward to it next year and see if we can do a little bit better and move on.”
• Hatboro-Horsham has made steady progress over the past few years and was rewarded with its first trip to the PIAA tournament.
But that wasn’t the only reward.
“One of the teachers came up to me and said we electrified the school,” said coach Dave Sowers. “She said she hadn’t see that kind of school spirit following a sport since the Matt Carroll days of basketball. All that added to making it a special journey.”
The Hatters were seeded eighth in the district tournament and finished seventh, the last team to qualify for states.
They defeated No. 25 Bishop Shanahan 9-7 in the first round and then edged No. 9 Pennsbury 8-7 in overtime in the second round.
“In the opening round game we drew a tough seed,” said Sowers. “Bishop Shanahan wasn’t going to be a walkover.”
In a less-than-average performance during regulation, the Hatters showed their character by dropping Pennsbury in overtime.
In the quarterfinals, they nearly upset top-ranked Springfield before falling 7-6.
“It was probably one of the greatest games of our season,” said Sowers. “That was a win for our program. We matched them blow for blow.”
In the consolations, they fell flat against archrival C.B. East, losing 9-5.
“They were spent,” said Sowers. “I knew after the Springfield game we didn’t have much energy. We just weren’t even there.”
But they regrouped against No. 7 Radnor for the last playoff spot.
Down by four or five goals at one point, the Hatters battled back one goal at a time until in the second overtime, Kyle Schwarz tossed in the game winner.
Unfortunately, they matched up against district champion Conestoga in the first round of states, falling 17-2.
“That was a phenomenal team,” said Sowers. “Our kids didn’t have much in the emotional tank. Conestoga was going at 90 MPH and we were going at about 40. It wasn’t a pretty sight.”
In keeping with his “team-first” philosophy, Sowers hesitated to point out the accomplishments of any individual, but did say, “I can’t pull one kid out more than another. I can go from Eddie Coombs, who’s our heartbeat, to Michael Meehl, who is a senior who doesn’t see much time, and Michael Meehl means the same to that team as Eddie Coombs. That’s what this team brought.”
The Hatters finished their season at 18-6.
“These were very talented kids,” said Sowers. “I love them like they were my own sons.”
Sowers was particularly complimentary of the parents.
“For me the joy of this season was not only the kids but the group of varsity parents,” he said.
Though no SOL team has made it past the first round of states, it’s just a matter of time. Each year the Suburban One league makes strides.
Final SOL Top Five
1. Abington
2. Central Bucks East
3. Hatboro-Horsham
4. Pennsbury
5. Upper Merion
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