Pennsbury High School Boys Lacrosse

Fairless Hills, PA

April 17, 2010



Pennsbury High School and Hopewell Valley Central High School in NJ are each only 5 miles from the Delaware River, but from a lacrosse perspective, the two school have been continents apart – until today when the PHS Falcons met the Hopewell Valley Bulldogs for the first time, with the Falcons taking a 12-5 victory back home across the river.



The Falcons started strong, held off a second quarter rally by the Bulldogs, and then pulled away in the second half to cement the win. Pennsbury dominated the stats, outshooting the Bulldogs by a 47-11 margin, winning 14 of 21 faceoffs, winning the turnover battle 12-29, out-hustling the opposition for ground balls by a 41-30 margin, going a perfect 13 for 13 in clears, and converting 5 of 10 extra man opportunities compared to 1 for 7 by the Bulldogs. But the key stat that kept Hopewell Valley in the game was Saves – sophomore goalie Kyle Hoehm had 15 saves, some of them acrobatic. He was also the key player in clearing for the Bulldogs, dodging checks and aggressively bringing the ball upfield. In fact, 4 of the Hopewell Valley goals were triggered by great clears by Hoehn leading to fast break transition goals. The other Bulldog goal was on a man-up play. The game was hard hitting and sometimes chippy, with Hopewell Valley getting 10 penalties for 8:30 in penalty time and Pennsbury 7 penalties for 6 minutes.



Pennsbury controlled play from the opening face-off, with junior middie Ricky Jutkiewicz rifling in an unassisted goal 30 seconds into the game. The Falcons continued control for the next 4 minutes of the game, leading to an unassisted goal by junior attack Josh Caven. This was followed by a man-up goal 3 and a half minutes later when Josh Caven fed soph attack Calvin Hopkins to put Pennsbury up by 3-0. at the end of the first quarter.



The second period started like a mirror image of the first, with Hopewell sophomore middie Taggart Whittaker scoring on an unassisted fast break goal 30 seconds into the period. A minute later, Bulldog senior middie Oliver Beacham scored a man-down goal a minute later to close the gap to 3-2 Pennsbury. The Falcons fought to regain the momentum when Calvin Hopkins scored unassisted, but Hopewell Valley was on a roll with Whitaker scoring again, this time on a man-up goal, assisted by senior attack Matt Caggiano, and then junior attack Harry Kemp scoring 40 seconds later, assisted by soph attack Elliott Rose, tying the game at 4-4 halfway through the second quarter.



But the Falcons roared right back, with the defense causing turnovers that set up extended possession. Jutkiewicz scored three times in a row, each times assisted by senior middie Shawn Caven, putting Pennsbury back in control at halftime by a 7-4 margin.



The third period belonged to the Falcons, with senior middie Tim Considine scoring 2 consecutive goals, assisted by Josh Caven and then Calvin Hopkins. The Falcon defense caused multiple turnovers throughout the period that kept the Bulldogs off the scoreboard and back on their heels for a 9-4 Pennsbury lead going into the final quarter.



Ricky Jutkiewicz scored his 5th goal of the contest, this time on a man-up goal on a feed from Considine. Pennsbury finished out their scoring with consecutive goals by Josh Caven – the first a man-up goal with an assist by Jutkiewcz, and then on an even strength with an assist from senior attack Kenneth Warren. Hopewell Valley was not about to give up and put a cap on the scoring when Whittaker scored his third goal of the contest on an assist by junior attack Harry Kemp. Each defense kept the other team's offense at bay for the final five minutes of the game to bring the win to Pennsbury by a 12-5 tally.



Pennsbury was led by Ricky Jutkiewicz (5g, 1a), Calvin Hopkins (3g, 1a), Josh Caven (2g, 2a), and Tim Considine (2g, 1a). Hopewell Valley was led by Taggart Whitaker (3g), Harry Kemp (1g) and Oliver Beacham (1g).



The win puts PHS at 8 - 0 for the year and 2-0 in the Suburban One National conference, while the Hopewell Valley Bulldogs are 3-4 on the year and 1-0 in NJ Group II.





Box Score

Team
Q1
Q2
Q3
Q4
Final

Pennsbury
3
4
2
3
12

Hopewell Valley (home)
0
4
0
1
5




Goals:

Pennsbury – 12; Ricky Jutkiewicz 5; Calvin Hopkins 3; Josh Caven 2; Tim Considine 2.



Hopewell Valley - 5; Taggart Whitaker 3; Harry Kemp 1; Oliver Beacham 1.



Assists:

Pennsbury - 9; Shawn Caven 3, Josh Caven 2; Tim Considine 1; Calvin Hopkins 1; Ricky Jutkiewicz 1; Kenneth Warren 1.



Hopewell Valley – 3; Matt Caggiano 1; Ryan Mahn 1; Elliot Rose 1



Shots:

Pennsbury 47, Hopewell Valley 11



Saves:

Drew Sweetland 5 (Pennsbury) , Kyle Hoehm 15 (Hopewell Valley)



Record:

Pennsbury (8-0), Hopewell Valley (3-4)