Pennsbury High School Boys Lacrosse
Fairless Hills, PA
May 2, 2009

Pennsbury / Holy Ghost Prep has been a heated rivalry for the past six years, with Holy Ghost having won four of the past five meetings. Many of the players are friends and former youth lacrosse teammates, which makes 'bragging rights' the stakes of the game. This year, Holy Ghost has had an outstanding season with wins over some top teams and an impressive 13-1 record. To add to the excitement, the game was Pennsbury's Senior Night, with a large turnout and was being played under the lights at Falcon Field. With all the dramatic elements in place, it only remained for the game to live up to its expectations, and it did not disappoint as the underdog Pennsbury Falcons defeated the high-flying Holy Ghost Prep Firebirds by a score of 9-7.

Pennsbury came flying out of the gate in the first quarter when Falcon attackman Kenneth Warren grabbed a Ryan McDonald pass and rifled it past HGP goalie Andrjko Andrusko at the two minute mark for the game's first goal. A minute later, midfielder Evan Caterson found a ground ball in the middle of a scrum in front of the Firebird net and golfed it past Andrusko for the Falcon's second goal. The Firebirds struck back when attackman Colin Becker found fellow attackman Andrew Cacchio open for a rip from the left side, which beat Pennsbury goalie Chris Shubert for Holy Ghost's first goal. The Falcons answered with a goal off the subsequent faceoff, when Matt Mager sprinted past the HG defense on a fast break and found Shawn Caven alone in front of the net. Caven caught the ball and spun, but waited until the goalie committed himself, then placed the ball over the outstretched goalie stick and into the back of the net. Pennsbury capped the first quarter scoring when HG goalie Andrusko made a save on a behind the back shot by Kenneth Warren. Falcon midfielder Connor Delaney caught the rebound in the air and sliced it into the goal for a 4-1 Pennsbury lead.

Pennsbury dominated the second period as well with attackman Peter Sweetland scoring on a man up goal while Prep's Chris Marrone was in the penalty box for a three minute stick violation. Ghost answered back when they forced a turnover on a Pennsbury clear attempt and Andrew Cacchio fed Colin Becker for the man-down goal. Pennsbury struck back at the seven minute mark when Peter Sweetland fed freshamn Calvin Hopkins in traffic in the middle. Hopkins caught the pin-point pass, turned and shot a high-to-low goal past the HGP goalie. Both teams played tough, take-away defense for the rest of the half, until the the 15 second mark, when the Falcon's Calvin Hopkins intercepted a clearing pass from Holy Ghost's goalie Andrusko and rifled it back to Shawn Caven as Andrusko ran back to the crease. Caven grabbed the pass just as Andrusko re-entered th crease, faked low and then lofted the ball over Andrusko's head and into the goal for a stunning 7-2 Pennsbury lead at halftime.

But at the start of the second half, it quickly became clear that the Firebirds were determined to prove that they had earned their 13-1 record. Playing pressure defense and ball-control offense, they blanked the Falcons in the third quarter and responded with five unanswered goals to tie the game at 7-7 going into the fourth quarter. First, midfielder Sam Johnson scored off a feed from Chris Marrone four minutes into the second half. Two minutes later, Andrew Chacchio, who ended up with three goals on the night, took a Sam Johnson fast break pass and converted to cut the Pennsbury lead to 7-4. Two minutes later Nick Moses dodged from behind the cage and found Cacchio alone on the back side crease for the put-in. With Falcon Evan Caterson in the box on a technical penalty, Nick Moses scored an extra-man opportunity goal with 3 ½ minutes left in the third quarter. The Firebirds completed their dominating performance at the one minute mark when Sam Johnson ran the fast break to perfection, hitting Chris Marrone with a head-man pass and Marrone converting to tie the score at 7-7. The quarter ended with Falcon goalie Chris Shubert making a save on a rifle shot by John Motto.

So with the score tied, the stage was set for a classic fourth quarter battle between these two teams. The Falcons gave their thoughts on the matter in the first minute when they ran heavy pressure on a Holy Ghost clear attempt, with Calvin Hopkins once again intercepting a clearing pass, turning it the other way and finding an open Shawn Caven, who double-faked and buried the shot into the back of the net to break the deadlock. A minute later, midfielder Shawn Caven inverted to behind the net, muscled his way to GLE, and side-armed a shot low and away past Andrusko for the score and the 9-7 lead. What followed in the last ten minutes of the game was a clinic on even-strength and man-down defense by the Falcons. With Shubert turning away the long-range shots, the Falcon defense did not allow any uncontested inside shots either, putting body on body checks and not allowing the HG shooters any room to extend their arms, forcing shots wide of the net. Throughout the game, the Falcon offensive players also played great defense in the offensive zone, with many of their scores coming off the hard work of riding on clears and playing smart positional defense. With one minute left in the game and the Firebirds man-down due to a penalty, the Falcons took possession in the Holy Ghost box and iced the ball to finish the game and claim this year's bragging rights.

The win puts Pennsbury 10-6 overall and 7-1 in the Suburban One National conference. Holy Ghost Prep is 13-2 overall and 1-0 in the PA Independent conference.

Box Score
Team Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Final
Holy Ghost 1 1 5 0 7
Pennsbury (home) 4 3 0 2 9

Goals:
Pennsbury - 9; Shawn Caven 4; Calvin Hopkins 1; Peter Sweetland 1; Kenneth Warren 1; Evan Caterson 1; Connor Delaney 1.

Holy Ghost - 7; Andrew Cacchio 3; Sam Johnson 1; Nick Moses 1; Chris Marrone 1; Colin Becker 1

Assists:
Pennsbury - 5; Calvin Hopkins 3; Matt Mager 1; Peter Sweetland 1

Holy Ghost - 6; Sam Johnson 2; Colin Becker 1; Andrew Cacchio 1; Chris Marrone 1; Nick
Moses 1.

Shots:
Pennsbury 32, Holy Ghost 41

Saves:
Chris Shubert (Pennsbury) 15, Andrjko Andrusko (Holy Ghost) 16

Record:
Pennsbury (10-6 overall; 7-1 in the Suburban One National), Holy Ghost (13-2 overall; 1-0 in the PA Independent Conference)
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