By James Boyle
Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 5/19/13
Alex Manderack scored five goals and Peter Donato had four goals and three assists as top-seeded Radnor erupted for five goals in the final quarter to claim a 10-8 victory Saturday over Great Valley in the District 1 boys’ quarterfinals at Harriton.
The Red Raiders (17-3) advance to Tuesday’s semifinal matchup at home with fifth-seeded Garnet Valley at 7:30 p.m.
Radnor never led Saturday’s game until the fourth quarter when Donato tied it, 6-6, and then fed Manderack for a 7-6 lead following a key caused turnover and groundball by Dan Maxwell.
“It all comes down to leadership,” said Manderack. “Peter Donato started us off being aggressive.”
Eighth-seeded Great Valley (16-5) will travel to fourth-seeded Upper Dublin for a playback game Tuesday at 4 p.m. The winner of that game must win once more to gain the fifth and final state berth.
The Patriots took an early 2-0 lead on tallies by Greg Merrill (one goal, three assists) and Tyler Haines (two goals). They led, 5-3, at halftime.
“Sometimes it seems that we don’t get a full four-quarter game offensively and defensively,” said Donato. “Sometimes it takes us a little while to get going. That’s just something we’ve got to work on going forward.
“Sometimes it starts with a save from Brendan [Manderack] or it comes from Jake [Shapiro] on the faceoff. I think it comes from our transition.”
Radnor 10, Great Valley 8
Radnor 1-2-2-5 – 10
Great Valley 2-3-1-2 – 8
Radnor
Peter Donato 4g, 3a
Alex Manderack 5g
Mike Cherry 1g, 1a
Tom Hemcher 2a
Connor Burns 1a
Jake Shapiro 1a FO 10-21
Brendan Manderack 7 saves
Great Valley
Greg Merrill 1g, 3a
Tim Lamb 3g
Tyler Haines 2g
Noah Joseph 1g, 1a
Ethan Joseph 1a
Brian Wagner FO 11-21
Peter Hayes 12 saves
Timmy Lamb led Great Valley with three goals.
