PA – Central Athletic League | Archive | June, 2022

BERWYN >> A mark of a good team is winning while not playing your best. The Conestoga girls lacrosse team may not have it the way they are used to, but the finish was.

The Pioneers recovered from a slow start with a second-half natural hat trick from Kate Galica, then held off a late rally to edge Downingtown East, 8-6, in the first round of the PIAA 3A Girls Lacrosse Championships on a hot Tuesday at Teamer Field.

Conestoga (21-1) goes on to face Radnor in the quarterfinals Saturday at a site and time to be determined.

The offenses started slowly for both teams as the two defenses created turnovers and limited scoring opportunities.

The start was much different than when the teams met in the district quarterfinals, which Conestoga won, 15-5.

The game went almost 11 minutes before seeing its first goal, as midfielder Lexie Conte put the Cougars on the board with 14:15 left in the half.

“Our defense started amazing this game,” said Downingtown East senior midfielder Nickie Prendergast. “We actually lost to Conestoga the last game by around 12, so coming into this game our hopes were not as high coming into the game, but we were ready to put up a fight. That’s what we did, especially defensively.”

Kiki Liebezeit scored two minutes later to knot the game at 1-1. ‘Stoga took a lead off the ensuing draw as Ellie Wisch scored from a pass by Galica.

Eileen Hewitt scored the first of her two goals on the evening with 9:05 left in the half to tie the score at 2-2.

It stayed that way until with 29 seconds to go, Wisch whipped in a shot to make it 3-2.

But, East came right back and evened up the game as Sofia Fanelli scored to send the game into halftime tied at 3-3.

“I think we started out great,” said Downingtown East coach Kelli McIntosh. “We held them to no goals for the first 10 minutes. I think we came out strong and we had a much better start than the previous time we played this team.”

The result left the Cougars (14-8) with the belief that they could pull off the upset.

“Spirits were high at halftime,” added McIntosh. “The girls knew that this was the pace that we wanted as long as we played together and believed in one another, we had a chance.”

“We were pretty confident at halftime,” added Prendergast. “We were excited coming off [the field]. Being tied at halftime to a team like Conestoga is really exciting.”

Melissa Hewitt put Conestoga back into the lead seconds into the second half. Downingtown East tied the score for the fourth, and final time, on a goal from Conte.

Conestoga took the lead for good, and started a run of four straight goals as Piper Kienzle got it going with 19:47 left.

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SPRINGFIELD — Needing one stop in the final moments on a hot Tuesday afternoon, Bear Evans and the Garnet Valley defense were up to the task.

“We weren’t panicking,” Evans said. “We stuck to our game plan and just performed.”

Looking for a tying goal in its PIAA Class 3A boys lacrosse contest, host La Salle pressured during the last few seconds but the Jaguars did not crack and District 1’s fifth-place side held on to edge the Explorers for a 7-6 victory.

“It felt great,” said Evans, a senior defender heading to Cabrini. “We had an up-and-down season so this is heading in the right direction. It felt great.”

Andrew Goldt posted a natural hat trick in the first half and finished with three goals and an assist while four other GV players added a goal as the Jaguars advanced to the state quarterfinals for the fifth consecutive season.

Garnet Valley faces District 3 runner-up Cumberland Valley – who defeated Unionville 12-8 – Saturday at a time and place to be announced.

“I think just the grit of us,” said Goldt of what he felt was the difference Tuesday. “Prepared all week, really got after it in practice and competing all week in practice just made us come out here and just want it more.”

Jack Vandegrift had three goals while Andrew Kelly scored twice for Catholic League and District 12 champion La Salle, which ends its season in the first round of states for the second consecutive year.

“Some of the opportunities we didn’t capitalize on,” La Salle coach Rob Forster said. “Couple dropped passes, it was hot out, our guys were sucking wind – so were they, though. Credit to their defense, they did a good job of mixing up man and zone and they won their one-on-one matchups and we didn’t. And their goalie played well.”

Ryan Nealon’s strike with 12 seconds left in the first half gave Garnet Valley a 6-5 advantage at the break. Both teams scored just once more during the afternoon.

Joey Halloran put the Jaguars up two with his tally at 9:35 in the third quarter with Vandegrift striking off a Franky Fix assist to make it 7-6 with 2:56 left in the period.

“We wanted to lock a few guys but it didn’t work out for us and they started putting goals on us,” Evans said. “But then we stopped doing that and just played like we did the entire season and stuck to what we’ve done all year.”

Still 7-6 late in the fourth, La Salle forced a turnover and called a timeout with 2:03 left. The Explorers sent two shots at the goal but neither were on target. Garnet Valley caused a ground ball but La Salle regained possession and called another timeout with just 26 seconds left.

The Jags’ defense allowed just a low bouncer that went wide, giving the Explorers the ball with seven seconds remaining. La Salle’s late bid for an equalizer went wide high and wide, though, and the celebration was on for the Jaguars.

“We just stuck together,” Evans said. “Made sure we had our slides, make sure we had the twos and then we communicated through the entire thing.”

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MIDDLETOWN — The minute Dylan McDougall let it slip, he knew the potential consequences. He also remained aware of one meaningful chance for redemption.

Convinced Penncrest would win a District 1 lacrosse trophy in a championship-game showdown with Marple Newtown last week, he confidently stated – for print – “We got this.”

Turns out, Penncrest didn’t, settling for second place – then using it all as one important teaching moment. By Tuesday, when they subdued Trinity in the opening round of the PIAA Class 2A tournament, 14-7, it was clear the Lions had been sufficiently educated.

“We didn’t dwell on it,” McDougall said after contributing three goals and an assist as the Lions improved to 14-6. “We get past that. We take our beating and we keep moving. I know I said that. It’s on me. Maybe I jinxed us. But maybe we’ll see them again.”

If so, that wouldn’t occur until the state championship game in another three rounds. As for Tuesday, they were focused on Trinity, the No. 3 seed out of District 8 with just the appropriate edge to counter the ever-aggressive Lions chilling hit for chilling hit. Though the Shamrocks were staggered early, they joined with the Lions in entertaining the fans with a rugged spectacle.

Before ending their season at 17-5, Trinity committed 12 penalties, few of the gentle variety. Penncrest committed seven infractions, including an unsportsmanlike conduct indiscretion that took one of its goals off the board. By the final three minutes, there was relentless hacking by both teams, yet with it the back-door potential for some respect.

“That’s what keeps it interesting, though,” McDougall said, smiling. “That’s what we like.”

It is one of the characteristics that has the Lions three victories from a second consecutive state championship. But so is alert goalkeeping, and Luke Pyle-Ballak was spectacular Tuesday, making 22 saves. Then there is the attack, typically led by Jason Poole, who provided five goals and two assists Tuesday.

“He is,” Lions coach Wayne Matsinger said, “an amazing player.”

Poole was at his best in the second period, scoring three goals, two in the final 38 seconds, the third with six seconds left on a feed from McDougall.

“We definitely had something going early, and I think that really gave us energy to keep it going through the game,” Poole said. “And I love playing with Dylan. We are always on the same page and we’re always connected.”

Brennan Kaut provided two goals and an assist, Chas Katz scored twice, Matt Ferry and Spencer Tyson contributed a goal apiece, and Zach Douglas and Cody Woolery supplied an assist apiece.

For Trinity, Rajbir Chima scored back-to-back second-quarter goals, and Croix Teter matched that trick in the third. Anthony Bartolli, Matthew Kennedy and Evan Scott added a goal apiece, and John Long was remarkable in net, making 11 saves.

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Penncrest’s Jason Poole, right, raises his arms in triumph after his third goal against West Chester Henderson in March. (Pete Bannan/MediaNews Group)

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