By Nick Desatnick & Chris Goldberg
Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 4/9/11
Sam Rohr scored with 2:07 remaining in overtime to lift host Haverford School to a thrilling 9-8 victory over St. Joseph’s Prep today in a non-league boys’ lacrosse games for the ages.
The Fords, ranked No. 1 in both national polls, rallied from a 7-5 third-period deficit to remain undefeated at 8-0. The Hawks, ranked No. 22 in the ESPN Rise Powerade Fab 50 and No. 4 in the PA Media Rankings, fell to 4-2.
Due to the brilliance of Prep senior goalie Liam Correia (22 saves), the hundreds of St. Joe’s fans – mostly students – anticipated a possible upset. But the Fords tallied three unanswered goals to take an 8-7 lead on Hup Hupfeldt’s third tally with 2:40 to play.
The Hawks responded, though, as Cory Scheuerle (three goals) tied it on a nifty behind-the-back shot on a man-up situation with 1:10 to play to send it into OT. The winning goal came after a key groundball by Will McNamara and a brilliant feed to Rohr from Zach Rego.
“Will McNamara had a great groundball,” said Rohr, “and coach has been saying all year to ‘follow the play,’ so I just followed [Will] and he moved it to Zach Rego who always has his eyes open and he fed it to me and I just shot and watched the ball hit the net.”
After the game, Correia said his team was disappointed with the loss, but proud of the Hawks’ performance.
“They are the No. 1 team in the nation and we stood toe to toe with them for the entire game,” said Correia. “It was a very emotional game for us. We’ve had a huge rivalry against these kids; it’s a heartbreaker.”
Grove Stewart added two goals for the Fords and Joe McCallion won 12 of 19 face-offs.
Haverford School goalie Conor Kelly, who made 12 saves, said the team’s resilience showed. He also noted the Fords have little time to savor the win as they gear for Tuesday’s Inter-Ac League showdown at Malvern Prep.
“The defense came out going a thousand miles an hour, but we settled in well, especially in the second half, only allowing three goals,” he said. “And we’ve just got to keep it up against Malvern Prep (on Tuesday), keep up the communication and playing well as a team.”
St. Joseph’s Prep also must bounce back quickly as it hosts Catholic League rival La Salle on Wednesday.
Haverford School 9, St. Joseph’s Prep 8, OT
Haverford School 2-1-2-3-1- 9
St. Joseph’s Prep 2-2-3-1-0 – 8
Haverford School
Gavin McBride 1g
Hup Hupfeldt 3g, 1a
Sam Rohr 1a, 1a
Grove Stewart 2g
Zach Rego 1g, 1a
Will McNamara 1g
Joe McCallion 1a, 12 of 19 FO
Carl Walrath 1a
Conor Kelly 12 saves
St Joe’s Prep scoring
Cory Scheuerle – 3 G
Clint Barber – 1 G
Brad James – 1 G, 2 A
Blaine Fleming – 1 G
Anthony Marini – 1 G, 1 A
Jeff Heath – 1 G
Fenton Fitzpatrick – 1 A
Jim Hurley – 1 A
Rob Watts – 1 A
Liam Correia 22 saves
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