Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 3/30/11
Staff Report
Drew Kennedy won 19 of 23 face-offs and Malvern Prep used a balanced attack Tuesday to defeat host La Salle in a Philly showdown of Top 10 teams.
The Friars, ranked No. 5 in the PA Media Rankings, improved to 2-1 while the No. 7 Explorers fell to 0-2.
The Friar offense showed strong balance as Mike Dougherty and Russell Atkinson each had two goals and an assist while Graeme Weaver and Keith Dreyer both scored twice.
Malvern Prep’s defense, led by juniors Eddie Morris and Jack Sheridan, also helped to limit the dangerous La Salle attack.
Jack Bogorowski led the Explorers with two goals and two assists and Kevin Forster had two goals and one assist. Sophomore Matt Rambo scored twice. But Kennedy’s dominance at the X kept the ball from La Salle, forcing it to play defense for the majority of the game.
LaSalle jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead as Rambo and Forster converted off Malvern Prep turnovers, but the Friars roared back with a goal by Atkinson off a nifty feed from TJ Hanzsche. Weaver scored unassisted down the alley and Atkinson then fed Dreyer to take the lead, 3-2, at the end of the first period.
In the second quarter Malvern took control with goals by Dreyer (assisted by Kennedy from the X), Weaver and Vince Travaglini.. Rambo scored on a man up situation midway through the period, but with seconds remaining in the first half Hanzsche fed Atkinson for his second goal of the game to make it Malvern 7-3.
La Salle opened the second half with two goals, but Mike Bernier answered for Malvern to make it 8-5. Kennedy took over after that, winning every face-off and helping Malvern to score four consecutive goals by Hanzsche (Dougherty), Dougherty (Chris Hilburn), Dougherty again (PJ Finley) and Colin Farrell (from Dougherty).
