By Chris Goldberg
Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 4/19/13
Ryan Hilburn scored four goals and Joey Carlini had two goals and three assists while Charles Kelly won 16 of 24 face-offs as host Malvern Prep defeated Haverford School, 13-7, today in Inter-Ac League boys’ lacrosse.
The Friars (8-1 overall, 3-1 league) remained one game behind first-place Episcopal Academy (4-0), while the Fords (8-4) fell to 3-1 and saw their eight-game win streak snapped.
Malvern Prep also stopped a different streak – a six-game losing streak to their arch-rival.
“It means a lot, especially for the seniors since we haven’t beaten them since we were freshmen,” said Carlini. “We figured if we played our game things would take care of themselves. We put the last loss behind us.”
Also for Malvern, Chris Hilburn had two goals and an assist and goalie Matt Barrett posted nine saves to earn the win.
Haverford School led, 2-1, in the first period until Malvern Prep scored five unanswered goals to seize a 6-2 lead. After that, the Fords never got closer than two goals.
Haverford did fight back within 7-5 and later 9-7 when Peter Blynn fed Gavin McBride (two goals) and then scored himself with 1:23 left in the third quarter. But Eddie McLoughlin scored with 52 seconds left in the period and Malvern dominated the final 12 minutes.
The Friars have now tied their win total for all of 2012 (8-10) under coach John McEvoy, who has rallied the team in his second term as head coach.
“I think coach MvEvoy has us playing a scrappy kind of game; a blue collar style that goes back to basics,” said Carlini. “We are winning the groundballs and playing hard all the time. That’s been our focus all year and it’s paid off.
“Also, Charles Kelly did a great job on face-offs, getting us momentum, and Matt (Barrett) played lights out.”
Added McEvoy: “We talk about the game as a bunch of runs. they have them and we have them; what do you do when they come? You have to stem them and come back with a run. It’s a good win, doesn’t define the season, there’s a long way to go.”
Gavin McBride led the Fords with two goals.
“We got outworked today, we got out-coached and we got beat in the middle third of the field,” said Haverford School coach John Nostrant. “It was a combination of Malvern playing much better than we did.
“We won eight in a row so we’re not going to panic. The nice thing is, we still control our own destiny.”
Malvern Prep 13, Haverford School 7
Malvern Prep 2-4-4-3- 13
Haverford School 2-1-4-0- 7
Malvern Prep
Tommy O’Connor 2g
Joe Dunn 1g
Eddie McLoughlin 1g
Ryan Hilburn 4g
Kevin McGeary 1g
Joey Carlini 2g, 3a
Chris Hilburn 2g, 1a
Matt Barrett 9 saves
Charles Kelly 16 of 24 FO
Final Malvern 13, Haverford 7
Haverford School
Kerry Kynett 1g
Dox Aitken 1g
Gavin McBride 2g
Grant Ament 1g
Connor Keating 1g
Peter Blynn 1g, 1a
goalie Jake Landman 13 saves
