By Teddy Bailey
Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 5/30/15
Springfield-Delco had to go overtime to avoid an upset Wednesday when it escaped with a 9-8 victory over Hershey in the first round of the PIAA tournament.
But today, with help from Mike Gerzabek and James Spence, there were no late theatrics in their quarterfinal contest with Central Bucks East at Harriton High.
Gerzabek scored five goals and James Spence was strong with 11 saves in goal to lead Springfield-Delco past Central Bucks East, 8-3, and into the state semifinals.
Springfield-Delco (19-4) will play Radnor (19-6) in the PIAA semifinals on Tuesday night at a site/time to be determined. The Cougars defeated the Raiders, 7-2, in a Central League game in April.
“Our defense really buckled down today,” Spence said. “Everyone bought in to what we had to do. They gave me some really nice outside shots to save and I think it was just a team effort on defense.”
Gerzabek, whom has joined top scorer Lucas Spence as a lethal weapon in the post-season scored the first four Springfield goals to spark a 5-2 halftime lead. Kyle Long scored the other – a dandy unassisted play with 11 seconds to spare in the first half.
“It’s great when someone steps up other than Lucas [Spence],” James Spence said. “We kind of rely on him a lot at times, so it gives us a lot of confidence when someone else steps up.”
Ryan Brown had three goals for Central Bucks East (19-5), which was continually thwarted by Spence, especially in the third period.
Springfield-Delco appreciates the fact it could easily have been eliminated on Wednesday by Hershey.
“It changed me,” Gerzabek said. “At the end of that game, I was getting really nervous. Now that we’ve moved past that, I don’t want to be in that situation again.”
“It’s scary,” Spence said. “They could have scored and we would have been done our season. Thank goodness Dan Wasson stepped up and our defense played big in the last couple minutes of the Hershey game. Now we’re in the state semifinals.”
Central Bucks East 1 – 1 – 0 – 1- 3
Springfield-Delco 3 – 2 – 2 – 1 – 8
CB East
Ryan Brown 3G, 2 GB
Michael Ott 1A
Matt Vetter 1A
Sean McGovern 14 saves
Springfield-Delco
Joe DeBernardi 1g
Lucas Spence 1,1
Mike Gerzabek 5g
Dan Wasson 1a
Kyle Long 1,1
Jake Crowther 1a
Zack Dworkin 9/15 FOs
James Spence 11 Saves
