By Alex Frazier
Meet… Grant Nice
Coaches strive for consistency from their players.
Souderton goalie Grant Nice is a study in consistency.
“He’s been the one constant thing on this team,” said Souderton coach Todd Pettit. “We’ve had different guys on defense every year. He’s the one guy back in the net, making great saves every game. It’s been a good luxury for me.”
Last year, Nice was second team all-Continental even though Pettit thought he was the best in the conference.
In his first four games this year, Nice has made 39 saves for the 2-2 Indians.
When Nice started lacrosse in seventh grade for the Souderton Boys Youth Lacrosse Association, he played attack. That lasted about a week until the starting goalie went on vacation. Nice took over between the pipes and played so well that when the starter returned, he was moved to defense, and Nice has been in the net ever since.
“You could just tell,” he said. “It was a natural thing for me.”
From eighth grade through last summer, Nice played for Twist Lacrosse Club.
“I learned a lot in Twist,” he said. “It’s good to play all year round and keep a stick in your hands.”
One advantage that Nice has as a goalie is his size. Had he stayed with football, which he quit in ninth grade to focus on lacrosse, he could have easily been a lineman, being 5 feet 11 inches tall and weighing 245 pounds.
“A lot of people look at me and don’t think I’m going to be quick,” he said. “A lot of people take low shots but I’m a lot quicker than people anticipate. They soon learn that’s not the road to go because I’m quick down low.
“I love using my size. I just take up more of the cage too.”
“He’s quick for a big kid,” said Pettit. “He gets down on the ball really well, and he’s very good one on one. He’ll surprise you with some of the stick saves he can make, point blank. People see him as a guy that can just stop outside shots, but he’s made some fantastic one-on-one shots over the years.”
Besides lacrosse, Nice also helps out with the school TV show. He does production, anchors and helps make videos.
“I love it,” he said. “It’s a lot of fun. It doesn’t even feel like you’re in class.”
Next year Nice will attend Centenary College (NJ), a Division III program. He was recruited there beginning last fall.
“I really liked the team,” he said. “The coach was such a nice guy. He really made me feel like he wanted me, and also two kids from Hatboro who I’m friends with (Kyle Peters and Brock Mininger) are going there.”
Another factor in his decision was the possibility he might be able to start as a freshman.
“The goalie they have now is good, but I definitely think my chances are good to start right away,” he said.
“I expect him to have a good college career,” said Pettit. “He has a really good way of leveling off in the game. He doesn’t get too emotional about the good and the bad. That really helps him. He’s even-keeled.”
Nice plans on majoring in business with an emphasis on entrepreneurship.
“It’s something over time I’ve been interested in, selling retail things,” he said. “I’ve always had the dream to open up my own clothing store one day.”
Hopefully in four years the economic climate will be conducive for young entrepreneurs.
Indians on a roll – Four games into the season, Council Rock North was the only undefeated SOL team (The Indians since lost 11-6 on Tuesday night to Archbishop Wood). The Indians defeated Central Bucks South in their opener, 11-5, then followed that up with victories over Wissahickon (9-1), Upper Merion (10-7) and Holy Ghost Prep (9-7).
It was the first time Rock had beaten Upper Merion and Ghost.
“We’re feeling pretty happy with the way we started things off,” said fourth-year coach Joe Kivlen. “We’ve beaten some really good teams and some really good programs.”
Kivlen doesn’t stress winning. He just wants his players to give their best and see what happens.
The philosophy seems to be working so far.
Kivlen credits the Indians’ early success in part to four players. Senior captain Tyler Shablin scored 17 of Rock’s 39 goals even though he’s been banged up and hasn’t played a lot.
“Even when he’s out there, he has been productive,” said Kivlen.
Another senior captain, Chris Gifford, has chipped in seven goals and seven assists, but more than that, he has been an influential leader on the field.
“He’s our true team leader in terms of getting our guys mentally prepared,” said Kivlen. “He’s been an awesome captain. He does all the little things for us.”
Midfielder Bryan Attanasio has been the leader in ground balls and has been a major reason why the Indians have been able to clear the ball more successfully this year.
“He’s been a speedster middie for us,” said Kivlen. “He was an unexpected kid that we had step up.”
Finally, junior goalie Mark McDonald has been an anchor in times when the defense in front of him has bent.
“He’s probably one of our most athletic kids,” said Kivlen. “When he gets that ball in his stick, he’s sometimes taking off down the field.”
As much as those four players have contributed in a strong start, they are only a part of the puzzle. In the first game against C.B. South, Kivlen and his staff noted how many contributions they got from a host of different players.
“It’s a long season,” said Kivlen. “We’re keeping our feet grounded and we’re keeping things in perspective. All the guys are stepping up and playing well. Our team’s really close. They’re a pretty tight team, the chemistry is good and they’re having fun.”
Trojans help community – For the past four years the Wissahickon lacrosse team has volunteered its time on a Saturday morning from 8 a.m. to 12 noon to work in the Whitpain Township parks. The first two years it was at Wentz Run Park, and last year and this it was at Prophecy Creek Park.
“It’s a great bonding experience all four years, because we do it pretty early in the season,” said Wissahickon senior captain A.J. Anderson. “We really come together as a team there.”
The team raked leaves, planted shrubs, mulched flowerbeds and moved small boulders to help stabilize the banks of an island on one of the ponds.
The community is appreciative of their efforts.
“Especially at Wentz Run, the path we helped mulch both years is something the community definitely sees because a lot of the recreational sports are down there, so you walk through there a lot of the time,” said Anderson. “The coaches have heard feedback and (so have) a lot of my friends.”
At Prophecy Park this year there was talk about turning a building into a banquet hall.
“They were really needed our help and we were happy to be there,” said Anderson.
Around the league – In an early matchup of playoff-bound teams, Central Bucks East nipped Pennsbury 7-6 on Warren Kuhn’s overtime goal.
East had taken an early lead, but the Falcons soared back to tie it.
“I don’t believe we ever lost sight of winning that game,” said C.B. East coach Bruce Garcia. “We do very well at faceoffs with Sean Reilly. We put two short sticks on the faceoff, so we had no intention of going on defense. We were planning on picking that ball up and going down on the offensive end, picking our time and just shooting. It just so happened to be 30 seconds into overtime.”
Even though it was a non-conference game, it was still very important to both teams in terms of playoff seeding.
“We’ll probably see them again,” said Garcia. “It’s so we have a head-to-head contest before we go into the seeding meetings.”
Garcia had nothing but praise for Pennsbury.
“They are a very good team,” he said. “They had two good defensive poles and they have (Ricky) Jutkiewicz at midfield, a very nice player and a good person.
“It was one of those games that it was unfortunate that somebody had to win and somebody’s got to lose.”
The Patriots got off to a shaky start with a 10-8 loss to Allentown Central Catholic. Garcia scheduled ACC knowing they would be a fast and improved team from last year. It certainly didn’t help that East lost starting midfielder Brenden Coleman to a torn ACL in the third quarter.
“Are they good? Yes,” said Garcia. “Are they better than Pennsbury? No. Pennsbury is a much more difficult opponent. We learned something from them that game. If we played them again, maybe the outcome would be different.
• Plymouth Whitemarsh is off to a 4-1 start. The Colonials’ only setback was to Chestnut Hill Academy, a team coach Phil Chang was disappointed to lose to, especially since PW dominated much of the possession and play.
“It was a tough loss for us,” said Chang. “That night that goalie had about 20 saves. He stoned us. He made the difference.”
The Colonials also have an outstanding goalie. Andrew Sabia transferred from Roman Catholic and will be a big help this year.
In a huge early win over conference rival Wissahickon, Sabia had 11 saves to help the Colonials to a 7-1 win.
“Our goalie had a big day,” said Chang. “In the second half he made 7-8 solid saves. We didn’t have much offense, but he really shut them down.”
With Upper Merion’s 8-7 win over Upper Dublin, the Vikings are on a collision course with PW for the lead league. The two teams will meet on April 15 at 3:30 p.m. at PW.
SOL Top 5
1. Central Bucks East
2. Pennsbury
3. Abington
4. Council Rock North
5. Central Bucks West
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