Pennsbury High School Boys Lacrosse
Fairless Hills, PA
May 5, 2009
The rematch between the visiting Pennsbury Falcons boys lacrosse team and the home team Council Rock South Golden Eagles started as a defensive battle in the cold, drizzling rain. It was only until seven minutes had ticked off the clock when Pennsbury's Peter Sweeteland snagged a pass from Kenneth Warren lurking behind the cage and ripped a shot from up top, past South's goalie Sean Poritsky. Twenty seconds later freshman Luke Matthews converted a pass from fellow freshman Calvin Hopkins to close out the opening quarter's scoring with the Falcons leading 2-0.
But Pennsbury upped the ante in the second stanza by ripping off six goals to two for the Golden Eagles to open up a six goal lead. The Falcons saw three goals each from Kenneth Warren and Shawn Caven while CR South countered with tallies from Dennis Chichkin and M. Curry, giving the Falcons a 8-2 halftime lead.
In the second half, the Falcons continued their onslaught. With attackman Calvin Hopkins on the bench with an injury from a slash, reserve attackman Danny Caggia stepped in and played huge as he pumped in three goals in the quarter, and five total in the game, to drive the Pennsbury offense. The Falcons also received their scoring from Matt Mager (on a man-down goal), Evan Caterson, and Tommy Duess. The Golden Eagles got their scoring on a nicely executed fast break transition goal from Matt Finor, but the Falcons remained in charge at the end of the third quarter by a 14-2 margin.
The fourth quarter saw play slow down, as the two teams fought not only each other, but the increasingly muddy field. Caggia opened the scoring after Falcon attackman Justin Merola stripped the ball from a South defender and golfed the loose ball high in the air, where Caggia caught it and ripped the shot home. Midfielder Jake O'Hara converted twelve seconds later when Caterson won the face-off and pushed the ball quickly up-field, findng O'Hara open for the score. The Golden Eagles never stopped playing hard the entire game, with CR South attackman Bracht dodging from behind and slicing a goal into the far corner for their final goal of the game. Pennsbury put the final capper on the game when defenseman Sean Rinko stripped the ball from a South midfielder and pushed the ball up to Falcon midfielder Max Verral, who ran the fast break into the CRS end and found Dan Caggia on the doorstep for his fifth and final goal.
The game sets up a Suburban One National showdown game tomorrow May 6 at Abington, when the Falcons and Ghosts go head-to-head for the SOL National title.
The win puts Pennsbury at 11-6 for the year and 8-1 in the Suburban One National conference. Council Rock South is 2-11 overall and 1-6 in the Suburban One National conference.
Box Score
Team Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Final
Pennsbury 2 6 6 3 17
CR South(home) 0 2 1 1 4
Goals:
Pennsbury - 17; Dan Caggia 5; Shawn Caven 3; Kenneth Warren 3; Peter Sweetland 1; Evan Caterson 1; Luke Matthews 1; Matt Mager 1; Tommy Duess1; Jake O'Hara 1
CR South – 4; M. Curry 1; Bracht 1; Finor 1; Chichkin 1.
Assists:
Pennsbury - 17; Tim Considine 3; Peter Sweetland 3; Justin Merola 2; Max Verrall 2; Evan Caterson 1; Kenneth Warren 1; Shawn Caven 1; Connor Delaney 1; Calvin Hopkins 1; Dan Marr 1;Luke Matthews 1.
CR South - 1; Bollinger 1.
Shots:
Pennsbury 38, CR South 9
Saves:
Chris Shubert (Pennsbury) 2, David Cutler (Pennsbury) 1; Sean Poritsky (CR South) 10
Record:
Pennsbury 11-6 overall; 8-1 in the Suburban One National, CR South 2-11 overall; 1-6 in the Suburban One National