Motivated Garnet Valley nips top-seed Kennett to reach district final

KENNETT SQUARE >> Garnet Valley ended the boys’ lacrosse regular season a dozen days ago against a non-league foe that wasn’t much more than a postseason tune up.

The Jaguars didn’t take much away from that lopsided loss to Kennett except for one big thing: motivation. And on Tuesday Garnet Valley used it as impetus to stage just about the most consequential road win imaginable: a 12-10 triumph over the top-seeded and previously unbeaten Blue Demons in the District 1 3A Semifinals.

“After losing to them earlier, we really wanted this game,” said Jags’ junior attacker Joey Halloran.

“Kennett’s confidence was really high, as it should be – they were 19-0,” added senior star Max Busenkell. “But we’ve been thinking about that first game with them for the last week and a half. We knew we didn’t play up to our potential.”

Seeded fourth, Garnet Valley (17-4 overall) advances to the district final on Thursday and will host a familiar foe: No. 6 Springfield (Delco), who edged Central League Champion Radnor, 11-10, the other semifinal.

“We played for the district my freshman year and we lost,” Busenkell recalled. “I still remember that feeling, so it is great to get a second chance.”

Now 19-1, Kennett will host second-seeded Radnor on Thursday in the third-place game of the consolation bracket. The Demons have already earned a berth in the PIAA Playoffs for the first time ever.

“It’s upsetting to lose, especially our first loss in the district semifinals,” Kennett head coach Bob Allvord said. “The kids are somewhat down, so I told them to hold their heads up. We have a lot more lacrosse to play.

“This is a tough one to swallow. They need to absorb the loss and be ready to come out, work hard and play again on Thursday.”

Following a very close first half that featured six ties, including a 7-7 deadlock at the half, the Jaguars scored the first three goals of the second half to take the lead for good. But Kennett staged one final push down the stretch to make it interesting.

Goals by Zach Hulme and Broc Fantazzi pulled the Demons to within a goal, 11-10, with 2:26 to go. And after a humbling evening, Kennett’s face off specialist, Richie Hughson, won the ensuing faceoff. But in the final minute, Jags’ defender Sean Gallagher came up with a big takeaway about 11 minutes after he had to leave the field with a minor leg injury.

“We will learn from this,” Allvord said. “Especially on that last possession where maybe we held the ball too much instead of moving it like we normally do.”

Busenkell then wrapped it up with his fourth goal of the evening with 12.5 remaining to close it out.

“We thought we out-played (Kennett) in the first half but we made mistakes and they capitalized,” said Garnet Valley head coach Frank Urso. “We didn’t think it should be 7-7 so we came out and tried to get rid of the mistakes.

“Kennett is loaded with weapons, but our defense played great. They really stepped up in a big way.”

The unsung heroes were the faceoff combo of Sam Morin and Sam Di Trolio, who wound up winning 16-of-25 against Hughson. It helped the Jaguars win the possession battle and they went on to have a 25-18 shots on goal advantage.

“Morin and Di Trolio were huge – that was a game-changer for us,” Halloran said.

“We tried to throw them off by switching guys so that (Hughson) couldn’t get into a rhythm,” Urso added. “It worked well.”

Garnet Valley senior midfielder Bishop Barnes scored twice in a 37-second span early in the third quarter, and then Busenkell made it 10-7 against an opponent who had never before trailed in the second half all season.

Senior standout Sam Forte finally halted what had been an 8-3 rally with a goal just before the start of the fourth quarter for the Demons, but the Jags’ Luke Mingioni converted a rebound early in the final period to set up the finish.

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