Four SOL boys’ lacrosse team advanced to Thursday’s second round. To view photos of the Hatboro/Henderson game, please visit the Photo Gallery.
#17 CENTRAL BUCKS SOUTH 10, #16 KENNETT 4
Central Bucks South picked up its first ever victory in the PIAA District One playoffs on Tuesday night at Kennett High School.
In a tremendous display of team-oriented offense, the Titans came out of the gate strong, scoring the game’s first three goals and never relinquishing the lead. After Kennett came back to make it a 3-2 game at the end of the first quarter, CB South added a tally late in the second quarter and held Kennett scoreless to make it a 4-2 game at the half.
The third quarter saw the Titans break the game open by once again holding the Blue Demons scoreless while padding their lead with three more goals to take a commanding 7-2 lead. The Titans ended Kennett’s season by adding three more in the final period to the Blue Demons’ two goals for the 10-4 final.
“We had played them earlier in the year and they beat us 9-8,” coach Mike Sharman said. “Kennett is so good on transition. We felt like we could’ve won that game, and we corrected our mistakes and played great with a lot of heart and passion.”
Seven players scored goals for the Titans while the defense applied relentless pressure to hold the high-scoring Blue Demon offense to a season-tying low offensive output.
For CB South, a hustling Jake Henze had two goals and five ground balls while teammates Willie Pendleton and Tommy DiBrino each added two goals. Tyler Strayline led all scorers with five points on one goal and four assists while Brendan McGrath chipped in with one goal and three assists. The Titans’ balanced offense was rounded out by Ty McGee’s one goal and one assist while teammate Anthony Paone also had a goal and paired with McGee to form a highly effective face-off tandem.
Defensively, the Titans received outstanding play from Tim McCrudden and Conner Bechtel, who combined for 17 ground balls. Fellow long-poles Tim Ross and Kevin Witchey helped the Titans wreak havoc and kept the Kennett shooters off balance, allowing Ryan Kelly to make a season-high 22 saves. Midfielders Brandon Jacobsen and AJ Caputo also contributed to the defensive effort, which shut down several Blue Demon man-up opportunities and caused numerous turnovers throughout the game.
“Kelly was amazing, he made a ton of saves,” said Sharman of his U.S. Naval Academy-bound senior who surpassed the 800-save milestone. “The defense did a great job of defending the goal, they never let up an extra man goal.”
Bechtel, according to Sharman, was a standout for the Titans and has been for the entire second half of the season while their long-stick midfielder Tim Ross was successful in the center by pushing the ball upfield. Paone also was a force as he controlled the face-offs, giving the Titans the advantage in ball possession.
“Paone did a really great job,” said Sharman. “I’m really proud of him.”
The Blue Demons were led by Brady O’Neill with two goals and one assist while teammate Kevin McQuiston added two goals.
By avenging their only non-league loss of the season, the Titans now tied the program’s highest win total of 14, last attained in 2007.
“It was a fun win,” said Sharman. “One of my coaches played on the 2007 team that went to playoffs but lost in the first round. This is the first post-season victory for CB South lacrosse ever.”
The 17th-seeded Titans (14-5) will take on the district’s number on seed Radnor on Thursday night at Radnor.
“I think they’ll be extremely relaxed,” said Sharman. “We’ve got nothing to lose and everything to gain. We’ll go in to play as hard as we can and try to shock the world.”
Central Bucks South 3-1-3-3 10
Kennett 2-0-0-2 4
#12 CENTRAL BUCKS EAST
17, #21 OWEN J. ROBERTS 8
The 12th-seeded Patriots paced themselves in Tuesday’s opening round win, outscoring the 21st-seeded Wildcats in every quarter.
“We controlled the tempo of the game,” said coach Bruce Garcia. “We got off to a quick start and never really looked back. They are a well-coached team, and they have a number of good players, but everything clicked for us and clicked for us early.”
In the first quarter, the Patriots held the Wildcats scoreless while connecting for three goals of their own, and they upped their lead to 8-2 heading into halftime. In the second half, the Patriots outscored the Wildcats 9-6 to hold onto the lead for the victory.
Matt Schmidt led the Patriots offensively with a game-high 6 goals, followed by Matt Heim and Anthony Casselli who each scored four. Zach Kane added a pair of goals, and Pete Donovon (defenseman) rounded out the scoring with a single goal.
Garcia commended the efforts of Matt Milici who was credited as the Patriots “Player of the Game” after recording six assists and coming up with seven ground balls. Cole Rushworth also made significant contributions in the victory, winning 18 of the 26 face-offs.
The Patriots (15-3) advance to face fifth-seeded Garnet Valley, an 11-3 winner over #28 Strath Haven in the opening round.
“We will make a tweak on offense, and we will correct two areas on our defense and those are the only changes we will make,” said Garcia. “Other than that, we will play our game - speed and transition and not slowing anything down.”
The Patriots (15-4 overall) have faced the Jaguars in the third round of the tournament in 2012 (a 6-4 loss) and 2010 (an 11-8 loss).
“Garnet Valley has done very well, and they are very well coached,” said Garcia. “We’ve played them in the past, but this is our chance to come back and beat them”
#22 WEST CHESTER HENDERSON 5, #11 HATBORO-HORSHAM 3
By Mike Prince
For Suburban One Sports
To say that it was a disappointing end to the season for Hatboro-Horsham might be an understatement.
Entering as the No. 11 seed and the favorite and with 14 wins in their past 15 games before Tuesday, the Hatters appeared destined for at least some kind of run in the district playoffs. But West Chester Henderson had other plans.
The Warriors got a fantastic effort from their goalie and controlled the time of possession for most of the game and came away with a 5-3 upset win over the Hatters in a District One Class AAAA playoff at Hatboro-Horsham High School on Tuesday evening.
“That goalie (Chase Heisman) was saving everything,” coach John Kurek said. “We shot high, we shot low, we shot right, we shot left. The zone gave us fits, and they just did an unbelievable job getting ready for us. They took away our speed and dodges. My hat is off to the coach over there.”
The first half was noticeably uneventful for both teams as Henderson took a 2-1 lead into the half. Hatboro-Horsham’s lone goal came from Ryan Higgins at the 2:44 mark of the second quarter, but just 15 seconds later, Evans helped the Warriors (11-7) to retake the lead before the half.
In the third quarter, after Connor Kreston tied the game for the Hatters, the Warriors scored twice in a row to go up 4-2. That lead went up to 5-2 before Zach Erwine scored for Hatboro-Horsham in the final 30 seconds.
“I told them to not let the season go to one game,” Kurek said. “When you look at the grand scheme of things, they are lucky to play this game. They had a great experience, they won a league championship and the ball just didn’t go our way tonight.”
In the losing effort, the Hatters were led by Jimmy Murphy’s nine shots and Matt McPoyle’s four ground balls. Erwine added six shots on goal and Ben Cellini finished with five shots and three ground balls.
The Hatters’ season ended with an overall record of 15-4. They went undefeated in 12 Suburban One Continental Conference games.
“We came out of this whole season as a family,” Murphy said. “That was our main base – stick together, work hard together, win together, lose together. It had to end sometime. The loss already hit us all. It’s an emotional time, but luckily, most of us are going on to play lacrosse in college.”
West Chester Henderson1-1-2-1—5
Hatboro-Horsham 0-1-1-1—3
#14 PENNCREST 6, #19 WISSAHICKON 5
The 19th-seeded Trojans staked out an early 3-0 lead after the first two quarters, but saw that lead erased as the 14th-seeded Lions won it with an impressive 5-0 third quarter. The Trojans outscored the Lions 2-1 in the final frame, but it wasn’t enough to regain the lead. Tommy Monaghan and Brooks Melvin chipped in two goals apiece while Luke Gomez rounded out the scoring with a single goal for the Trojans, who closed out their season with a 14-5 record (12-2 SOL).
#8 GREAT VALLEY 12, #25 CENTRAL BUCKS WEST 8
The eighth-seeded Patriots jumped out to a 6-3 lead in the first half, but the Bucks let them know they weren’t going down easily as they hung tough in the second half only to be outscored 6-5. Riley Kratzke led the attack for the Bucks with a hat trick while Corey Schott and Jim Steigerwald each added a pair of goals and Sam Piccone scored one goal. Mike Harvan turned away 18 shots for the Bucks who end their season with an 8-10 record (6-6 SOL).
Central Bucks West 2-1-1-4 8
Great Valley 4-2-2-4 12
#9 ABINGTON 15, #24 PLYMOUTH WHITEMARSH 3
The Ghosts wasted no time handling the 24th-seeded Colonials as they staked out a 5-1 lead at the end of the opening quarter and upped that lead to 10-1 at the half. The Ghosts, who who were led offensively by Brian Gallagher’s five goals, outscored the Colonials 5-2 in the second half.
Sophomore Joey Lamady had a huge game for the Ghosts with two goals, two assists, eight ground balls and an 11-0 record on face-offs. Will Dulin chipped in two goals while Hunter Jones (one assist), Gus Greenberg (two assists), Cameron Leech (one assist), Matt Gormley (one assist), John Wink and John Orirdab each contributed single goals. Austin Pifani added three assists and was 5-0 on face-offs. The Ghosts (15-4) will will travel to eighth-seeded Great Valley for a second round game on Thursday.
#6 SPRINGFIELD-DELCO 19, #27 UPPER MERION 3
Mikey Zadroga scored all three goals for the Vikings while Trevor Kupecky had an assist. Goalie Troy Minnich was credited with seven saves.
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