PA – Central Athletic League | Archive | May, 2022

MIDDLETOWN — There was some tripping, there was some slashing, there was a check to the head.

There were length-of-field passes and middle-of-field collisions.

There were loose balls gathered, aggressive shots taken and defiant goaltending.

There was, in the PIAA District 1 Class 2A boys lacrosse semifinals Tuesday, all of that, much of it from Penncrest, which outperformed Upper Merion, 16-3.

“That’s Penncrest lacrosse,” said Lions coach Wayne Metsinger, with a nod of acceptance. “We get after it. Sometimes, we get a little over-aggressive and take some penalties. And we know we are going to have to do a better job of keeping out of the penalty box when we get to the next level.”

The victory assured the Lions of a spot in the PIAA tournament, but before that a 5 o’clock challenge from Marple Newtown Thursday night at Ridley for the district championship. The defending champion Lions fell, 11-10, at Marple during the regular season, but will enter the rematch with an attitude that reflects their on-field approach.

“We lost to them by one,” said senior Dylan McDougall. “But if we play them 10 times, we would win nine.”

That sounded like a prediction.

“We got this,” McDougall said.

It’s an attitude that worked to win the Lions the top seed in the tournament, and which powered them past the fourth-seeded Vikings Tuesday. McDougall scored five goals – including three consecutively in a 4:33 blast of third-quarter excellence – and added an assist as the Lions improved to 14-5. Jason Poole added five goals and three assists, Chas Katz scored four times and Brennan Kaut had two goals and two assists.

The Vikings enjoyed goals from Casey Lamey, Andrew Haney and Lincoln Jones, but finished their season at 13-6.

“This score was not reflective of who we were this year by any stretch,” coach Brady McCormick said. “It felt like everything that could go wrong went wrong. Penncrest played a great game and they are a great team. I am not taking anything away from them. It just felt like shots hit pipes and all the things that could go wrong did.

“I’m not saying we would have won, but I just feel like a 13-goal loss did not reflect who we are as a team and what we were this year as the 2022 Upper Merion Vikings. It’s a hard way to end a season when you know you’re better than you showed in this game.”

Contributing to the Vikings’ troubles was Penncrest goalie Luke Pyle-Ballak, who made 11 saves in three quarters before giving way to Mark Feinman, who played a flawless fourth.

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Penncrest’s Jason Poole shoots in the second quarter against West Chester Henderson in March. (PETE BANNAN – DAILY TIMES)

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CONCORD — Conceptually, Max Busenkell knew it. But after Saturday, he felt it.

After being eliminated from title contention in the District 1 Class 3A tournament by Unionville, another loss Tuesday would be the last one for Busenkell and his fellow Garnet Valley seniors.

That reality wasn’t new for the senior. But the urgency with which he mobilized it Tuesday night felt like something novel and ultimately game-changing.

Busenkell set the tone with a goal 35 seconds into a District 1 playback game with Spring-Ford, on the way to seven goals, two assists and a states-qualifying 13-8 romp.

“The captains came together and we were like, we’re not going to let this be the last time we play with each other,” Busenkell said. “The four seniors, we’ve been playing together since we were really little. So I think we feel that responsibility that it’s our time to step up, and if we can play well and lead the team, it’ll give us a shot to stay in the tournament.”

The final score was cushioned by five fourth-quarter goals by the Rams; it was 13-4 when Busenkell made his final contribution of the night with 6:42 to play.

Busenkell could’ve left Saturday’s game feeling fine about himself, at least. But even five goals and an assist were hollow consolation for a 7-6 loss. Crucially, the sixth-seeded Jaguars (15-6) didn’t have a non-Busenkell-involved goal the entire morning.

“After that loss, we came to practice knowing that we had a terrible game,” Busenkell said. “We didn’t execute Coach (Frank) Urso’s game plan at all. He told us to do one thing, and we did a complete other thing. That’s our problem. We have the talent and we have the guys.”

Tuesday, they had two by the end of a quarter, leading 5-1. Busenkell had a first-quarter hat trick, sure. But equally important was control of possession via Sam DiTrolio, who went 21-for-23 at the X.

The back-breaking sequence capped the first quarter: Busenkell scored with 27 seconds left, then Kai Lopez won a draw and fed Sean Gallagher, one of those senior captains, to plant his 10th goal of the season with 15 seconds left, then DiTrolio hit Busenkell with nine ticks left for a trademark howitzer.

In 18 seconds, the game went from 3-1 to 5-1, and Busenkell and his mates went from staring into the abyss to staring at states.

“When he’s winning faceoffs like that, it just makes it so much easier on the offense,” Busenkell said of DiTrolio. “You get the ball back, it’s like make it take it.”

Joey Halloran added a pair of third-quarter goals, the second off DiTrolio’s second assist. Drew Keaveney made five saves against three allowed goals in three quarters.

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Garnet Valley’s Max Busenkell, right, celebrates after scoring his second goal Tuesday night. Busenkell scored

seven times as the Jaguars rolled over Spring-Ford, 13-8, to qualify for the PIAA Class 3A tournament. (Pete Bannan/MediaNews Group)

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CONCORD – Gabby Rizzio crouched in her defensive stance like a caged tiger.

Two and a half minutes remained in regulation, the District 1 Class 3A girls lacrosse semifinal tied, and the ball in Garnet Valley’s hands after Erin Barnes controlled a draw. Rizzio, the Springfield senior midfield leader, was the reason it was tied, her latest sortie to the crease bringing the Cougars all the way back.

So as Rizzio barked out encouragement to the defenders behind her – maybe in the process drowning out the anxious ticking of the clock in her head. For two taut, tense minutes of suspended animation, Rizzio and her team waited for Garnet Valley to make its move, swaying and praying.

“It was absolutely terrifying, if I’m going to be honest,” Rizzio said. “I had to talk myself out of it. I’m usually down on myself a lot of times, but I knew, I trusted my defense, my goalie. I knew we could stop them, and I knew we were going to get the ball back.”

A defensive play helped Springfield dodge that threat, and Erin DeStefano cashed it in early in overtime, spinning off her low defender and burying a high shot to send No. 14 Springfield to a 10-9 win.

The latest in a string of upsets by the Cougars (15-6) sends them to Thursday’s District 1 final. This one was perhaps the steeliest one yet, the Cougars trailing 7-3 at halftime to the No. 7 Jaguars (14-7) before rallying. They tied the game at 8, then answered when Garnet Valley untied it in a wild final six minutes that featured big goals and big saves on both sides.

The comeback started 13 seconds into the frame. Ava Kane’s goal at the horn had set Garnet Valley into the break up four. But Claire Lynch scored right off the initial draw to get it back to a three-goal margin.

“We keep our energy up, keep our heads up,” DeStefano said. “We were down three and we were like, three isn’t anything; we have a whole 25-minute half left.”

Jaclyn Guille’s goal with 10:44 left evened the game at eight and cued the chaos.

Garnet Valley, which did so well facilitating through Maddie Shoemaker and its lanky shooters early, couldn’t recapture that magic.

“We practice it a lot,” Ava Kane said. “We practice to be patient but also know in those moments we have each other’s backs. When Coach (Jenny) Dooley tells us to go, we know we can. We’ve practice it a lot and I think we are really confident in that area. We know when to hold it and when to pick up the pace.”

Kane and Mia Zebley scored twice each. Mia Raucci added her second with 7:46 left on a low bouncer to put GV up 9-8. Shoemaker had a goal and two assists.

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Springfield Erin DeStefano, center, celebrates her overtime goal that gave the

Cougars a 10-9 victory over Garnet Valley in the District 1 Class 3A semifinals

Tuesday evening. (Pete Bannan/MediaNew Group).

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The sophomore finished first at the Central League Track & Field Championships in the girls’ 100 meter dash, 200 meter dash, long jump and 4×100 relay (as anchor leg) – that day also happened to be her birthday. She holds the school record for girls’ 100 meter dash, 200 meter dash, 400 meter dash, long jump and 4×100 relay. At Districts, she placed second in the girls’ 100 meter dash (12.41) and fifth in the 200 meter dash (25.70) and has qualified for States in both events. Last winter, she finished ninth at States in the girls indoor 200 meter dash.

Fun facts – Milan Ramey

Favorite book: When Breath Becomes Air.

Favorite TV show: Stranger Things.

Favorite movie: Hunger Games.

Favorite athlete: Sydney McLaughlin.

Favorite pre-race pump-up song: Black Skinhead by Kanye.

Favorite place to visit: Los Angeles, Calif.

Favorite pre-race meal: Fruit smoothies.

Family members: parents Felicia and David, brother Nigel.

Click HERE to read the full interview.

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CALN TWP — Haverford had a simple plan for the Class 3A 4 x 800-meter relay at the District 1 Track & Field Championships on Friday.

The Fords were to run fast enough to qualify for the PIAA Championships but not overly exert themselves, since three of the members of that foursome, Patrick Lawson, Quentin Ryan and Ethan Fingerhut, were entered in the 1,600 later on what turned out to be a hot, steamy day at Coatesville Area High School.

Lawson, though, altered that plan once he got the baton for the anchor leg. He surged ahead down the stretch to give the Fords the victory in 7:53.99, a half-second ahead of Lower Merion.

“I was put in a perfect position by my teammates,” Lawson said. “They set me up right behind the lead and I just hung with them. I went out slower than I normally do, but I knew that I could take it.”

The strong anchor leg did not bother Lawson for the 1,600. He finished second there in 4:18.95, a half-second off his personal best to punch another ticket to Shippensburg. Lawson made a move and actually took over first place briefly with about 50 meters to go before Brian DeCoia of Hatboro-Horsham retook the lead to win the event.

“I challenged Brian,” Lawson said. “I know he has a great kick but I had to give it an effort. I was trying to get the double.”

Ryan also pulled off the tough 4 x 800-1,600 double. He ran the third leg of Haverford’s winning relay squad and also took fourth in the 1,600 with a personal best time of 4:20.25 to qualify for the state meet.

“It was a tough double,” Ryan said. “I felt very good for the first three laps (of the 1,600), but then we did like a 60 (second) last lap and I was definitely feeling it in the last 100. With about 30 meters to go I just knew I had to finish. I didn’t have anything left.”

Lawson and Ryan weren’t the only Fords athletes to leave Day 1 with some hardware. Mike Powel threw 56-feet to take second in the shot put and earn a trip to Shippensburg. Powel’s best throw came on his final attempt.

“I’ve dedicated all four years of high school and multiple years of middle school to this,” Powel said. “It’s just nice to see everything pay off.”

Those efforts are paying off for the Fords, too. Haverford leads the team competition after the first day with 31 points, five points ahead of Hatboro-Horsham.

Click HERE to read the full article.

Haverford High’s Michael Powel threw 56 feet for second place

in the Class 3A shot put at the District 1 Track and Field

Championships at Coatesville Area High School Friday.

(Pete Bannan – MediaNews Group)

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WORCESTER TWP. — The Springfield girls lacrosse program is a perennial District 1 contender. Heading into this postseason, however, the Cougars had few connections to the team’s last deep postseason run.

That changed Saturday afternoon.

Led by four goals from freshman Jaclyn Guille and three goals and an assist from Erin DeStefano, the Cougars survived a late Methacton rally for a 13-12 win in the District 1 Class 3A quarterfinals.

The victory clinched Springfield (15-6) a spot in states and in the district semifinals against league rival Garnet Valley — a 6-5 winner over Owen J. Roberts — on Tuesday. The Warriors head to playbacks to face OJR.

“I think we’ve been using these past years as motivation for us,” Springfield junior Mia Valerio said. “We came up short last year in districts. We didn’t make states last year. We really used that this year in practice and in games because we know that we can get there and today showed it. We’re here.”

Senior Gabby Rizzio and Valerio scored two goals and an assist apiece, and freshman Maddie Kane added a pair of goals for Springfield, which built a 10-4 lead with 22:14 to play.

Methacton senior Jayme Weber scored five of her six goals to drag Methacton within one four times in the second half, but a score by Guille with 6:04 proved too much to overcome.

“She had a great second half,” Methacton coach Laurie Markle said of Weber. “We adjusted some stuff. We told the girls, ‘Settle down. Play and run the plays.’ They were nervous. These guys are experienced. They’re in this kind of district playoff all the time we’re not.”

The Cougars have quite a tradition, winning the PIAA Class 2A championship in 2019 along with seven District 1 titles in coach Keith Broome’s tenure. However, after a COVID-19 year in 2020 and a second-round exit in 2021, there isn’t a whole lot of playoff experience to build off.

“They needed to learn how to win,” Broome said. “Last year, we were in uncharted water when we were getting blown out by teams, and that’s not happened to us before. These kids had to learn how to beat a good team at the end of the game.”

Guille said the Cougars’ energy level and confidence was high on the bus ride over for the 10 a.m. game. It carried over, as Rizzio and Valerio got Springfield off to a 2-0 lead with 22:21 left in the first half.

The teams exchanged goals in a back-and-forth first before Rizzio scored with 17.3 seconds left in the half to spot the Cougars an 8-4 lead. DeStefano and Guille added early second-half goals to make it 10-4 less than three minutes into the second half.

“That’s kind of the key with our team, staying together and getting the energy before it even starts and that carries into the game,” Valerio said. “It helped us get a quick lead.”

Weber spearheaded the Methacton comeback charge, scoring 17 seconds after Guille’s goal then reeling off two more in a row to make it 10-7 with 13:52 to play.

Senior Rylie Derrickson scored one of her two second-half goals off a feed from Zhai and Weber added her fourth of the half to cap a five-goal run that pulled the Warriors within one, 10-9, with 12:51 left.

Guille answered 20 seconds later to push the lead back to two. After Weber scored her sixth to pull Methacton back within one, Kane responded 20 seconds later to push the advantage back to two, 12-10, with 10:07 left.

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Springfield’s Jaclyn Guille smiles after scoring her fourth goal, the eventual game-winner,

in a 13-12 decision over Methacton in the District 1 Class 3A quarterfinals Saturday. (Owen McCue – MediaNews Group)

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CALN TWP. — Aubrey Leneweaver found an interesting way to beat the heat at the District 1 Track & Field Championships Saturday.

Between events, she spent time in her father’s car with the air conditioning on.

“He came with one of our other coaches early to set up one of the tents, so he got a good parking spot,” Leneweaver said. “It was right by our tents.”

The ability to cool off enabled Leneweaver to pick up three medals. She took second in the Class 3A 300-meter intermediate hurdles, third in the 100 hurdles and teamed with Olivia Cieslak, Erin Olsavsky and Morgan Elliott for third in the 4 x 400 to help the Fords take second in the team competition with 51 points, trailing only West Chester Rustin. All three of Leneweaver’s performances qualified for the PIAA Championships.

“I’m happy,” Leneweaver said, “I placed well and I’m excited to go to states next weekend.”

Cieslak picked up her first gold medal with a win in the 800 to go with the bronze she won in the 4 x 400. She had to make a mad sprint down the stretch to take the metric half mile.

“I knew all of these girls were going to go out hard,” Cieslak said. “I knew the Upper Darby girl (Gabriella Fralin) was going to go all out so I was going to try to stay a little bit far back, wait for the end, wait for my time and it ended up working today. I had a great finish in yesterday’s (1,600-meter) race. It was a push but we pulled it through.”

Elliott also qualified for states with a fourth-place finish in the 400.

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Haverford’s Olivia Cieslak, right, leads the pack on the way to the title in the girls 800 meters at the District 1 Championships

Saturday at at Coatesville. (Austin Hertzog – MediaNews Group)

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CALN TWP. — Penncrest’s Daniel Munro won two gold medals at the District 1 Track & Field Championships in about the shortest amount of time possible Saturday.

Munro won the Class 3A 100-meter hurdles in 14.74 seconds, and then went right to the pole vault where he came out on top with a vault of 14-9.

“From the time the gun went off for the 110 hurdles to when I finished the pole vault it was 22 minutes, my father (Penncrest coach George Munro) told me,” the younger Munro said.

That’s not all that unusual, Munro said.

“Usually, I have an event that goes off right after I’m done the pole vault or right when I’m starting warmups,” Munro said.

This situation, though, was a little different. He came down awkwardly after clearing the eighth hurdle but still managed to win convincingly.

“I kind of landed on the side of my foot,” Munro said. “It still kind of hurts. It cost me like half a second. I think I could have gone 14.3 or 14.2.”

The issue did not bother him in the pole vault. He entered the competition at 13-6 and cleared that height, 14-0, 14-3 and 14-9 on his first attempts. He passed on 15-0 before moving the bar to 15-7 ¼.

“That was for the state rankings,” Munro said. “It would have been a quarter of an inch higher than Tristan’s jump (Tristan McGarragh of Butler). It just looks cooler and also it would have been No. 2 seed at states so I would have had a better seed.

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Penncrest’s Daniel Munro clears the bar during the Class 3A boys’ pole vault

at the District 1 Track and Field Championships Saturday at Coatesville.

Munro won the event by getting over 14 feet, nine inches. (Austin Hertzog – MediaNews Group)

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WORCESTER TWP. >> The Springfield-Delco girls lacrosse program is a perennial contender in District 1.

Heading into this postseason, however, the Cougars had very few connections to the team’s last deep postseason run.

That changed Saturday afternoon.

Led by four goals from freshman Jaclyn Guille and three goals and an assist from junior Erin DeStefano, the Cougars survived a late Methacton rally for a 13-12 District 1-3A quarterfinal win.

The victory clinched Springfield-Delco a spot in states and the District 1-3A semifinals against league rival Garnet Valley — a 6-5 winner over Owen J. Roberts — on Tuesday. The Warriors head to the playback bracket to face OJR.

“I think we’ve been using these past years as motivation for us,” Springfield junior Mia Valerio said. “We came up short last year in districts. We didn’t make states last year. We really used that this year in practice and in games because we know that we can get there and today showed it. We’re here.”

Senior Gabby Rizzio and Valerio scored two goals and an assist apiece and freshman Maddie Kane added a pair of goals for Springfield, which built a 10-4 lead with 22:14 to play.

Methacton senior Jayme Weber scored five of her game-high six goals to help pull Methacton within one four times in the second half, but a score by Guille with 6:04 proved too much to overcome.

“She had a great second half,” Methacton coach Laurie Markle said of Weber. “We adjusted some stuff. We told the girls, ‘Settle down. Play and run the plays.’ They were nervous. These guys are experienced. They’re in this kind of district playoff all the time we’re not.”

The Cougars do have quite a program tradition, winning the Class 2A state championship in 2019 along with seven District 1 titles in coach Keith Broome’s tenure. However, after a COVID-19 year in 2020 and a second-round exit in 2021, there isn’t a whole lot of playoff experience to build off.

“They needed to learn how to win,” Broome said. “Last year, we were in uncharted we were getting blown out by teams, and that’s not happened to us before. These kids had to learn how to beat a good team at the end of the game.”

Guille said the Cougars’ energy level and confidence was high on the bus ride over for the 10 a.m. game. It carried over to the contest as Rizzio and Valerio got Springfield off to a 2-0 lead with 22:21 left in the first half.

The two teams exchanged goals in a back-and-forth first before Rizzio scored with 17.3 seconds left in the half to spot the Cougars an 8-4 lead. DeStefano and Guille added early second-half goals to make it 10-4 less than three minutes into the second half.

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Springfield-Delco’s Erin DeStefano (24) is congratulated by her teammates Claire Lynch (7) and

Allie Hunter (31) during Saturday’s District 1-3A quarterfinal against Methacton. (Owen McCue – MediaNews Group)

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The Lower Merion High School boys’ tennis team won the PIAA 3A state championship May 21, repeating as two-time undefeated state champions, compiling a 47-0 (24-0 in 2021, 23-0 in 2022) record in the two year span.

Lower Merion defeated Conestoga 4-1, in the PIAA 3A state finals, making it the third matchup between both teams this season. At first singles, Justin Yi defeated Justin Xu, 4-6, 6-1, 1-2 (ret.); at second singles, Brian Yi defeated Rohan Rao, 6-3, 6-1; and at third singles, Mark Lancaster defeated Aaron Sun, 3-6, 3-4 (ret.).

At first doubles, Stoyan Angelov and Adam Lee defeated Manas Dhawan and Basil Lubiniecki, 6-1, 6-2; and at second doubles, Scotty Stuart and Charlie Bittinger lost to Vincent Yao and Raphie Lubiniecki, 6-4, 4-6, 0-6.

A few hours prior to the championship final, the Aces defeated Palmyra 3-0, to advance to the finals. At first singles, Justin Yi was leading Aidan Mahaffey, 6-2, 4-2 (did not finish); at second singles, Brian Yi was leading Tyler Mahaffey, 6-3, 3-2 (did not finish); and at third singles, Mark Lancaster defeated Aidan Mark, 6-0, 6-1.

At first doubles, Stoyan Angelov and Adam Lee defeated Nolan Ciesielka and Cole Heisey, 6-0, 6-1; and at second doubles, Scotty Stuart and Charlie Bittinger defeated Othello Vida and Casey Heisey, 6-0, 6-0.

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