Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 3/1/18
The Immaculata men’s lacrosse team trailed by as many as four goals to visiting Wesley Wednesday night at Draper Walsh Stadium, but five unanswered fourth-quarter tallies lifted the Macs to a thrilling 11-8 victory over the Wolverines. Brian Shultis led the way with four goals, followed by Mike Reardon (West Deptford) with three.
Wednesday night’s victory was not only the first of the 2018 season for the Macs, but also the first career win for first-year head coach Niko Amato (La Salle).
HOW IT HAPPENED
-The first quarter provided plenty of action, as the two sides traded goals resulting in a 3-2 Wesley lead after one. Shultis recorded a man-up tally and Steven Long knotted the game at two at the 4:25 mark of the first period.
-Wesley stretched its lead out to four with three quick tallies in the second quarter, all three coming from Will Fingles.
-Reardon sparked the Macs’ offense with back-to-back goals- the second of which coming at the two-minute mark of the first half – as IU entered the half down just two.
-Christian Fisher (Interboro) wasted no time out of the break, as he raced towards the net and found the twine just 17 seconds into the third quarter, getting the Macs within one.
-Wesley’s Chris Smith made it a three-goal deficit for IU with two tallies within 30 seconds of each other to close out the third quarter.
-Just 20 seconds into the final period, Matt Krewson (Springfield-Montco) delivered a man-up goal – his first of the season – to get the Macs within one.
-No more than 15 seconds later, Steve Long (Downingtown West) picked up the loose ball following the ensuing faceoff and raced downfield, finding Shultis at the crease who buried one past the keeper to make it 8-7.
-Following a Wesley failed clear on its next possession, Shultis completed the IU comeback with the game-tying goal at the 13:40 mark.
-Within a minute of Shultis’ game-tying score, Long scooped another ground ball off the faceoff and sent it ahead to Reardon who did the rest, scoring his third goal of the game to give the Macs their first lead of the season, 9-8.
-Goalie Denton States (Pennridge) made several big plays down the stretch to keep Wesley off the board in the closing minutes, making eight saves in all for his first win of the season.
-Tyler Black added an insurance tally at the 5:11 mark of the final quarter for his first of the season.
Gwynedd Mercy 8, Bryn Athyn 4
Three goals and an assist from Jordan Dzierzgowski (Washington Township) and a career-high 15 saves from goalie Chris Burns (Washington Township) helped Gwynedd Mercy double up visiting Bryn Athyn, 8-4.
Jacob Snavely (Central Bucks South) added two scores and a helper with Daniel Decker notching a goal and an assist.
Burns made five stops in the fourth to help preserve the lead.
Bryn Athyn struck first with a tally from Jon Carr 4:54 into the contest. Dzierzgowski netted his first of the day and got the Griffins (2-1) on the board at the 8:45 mark. Each team fired off seven shots in the first quarter but the score remained tied at 1-1 after one.
The teams traded scores in the second, but a penalty with 3:42 left in the half gave Gwynedd its first man up opportunity of the day. They would cash in as Dzierzgowski set up Snavely who fired a bullet past Bryn Athyn goalie Brad DePasquale. Dzierzgowski struck again just over a minute later with an unassisted tally to give GMercyU a 4-2 lead at the break.
Carr found the back of the net early in the third to pull the Lions (0-1) back within one with his second on the day. Later in the quarter, Decker netted his first of the season, but on the play, Bryn Athyn was called for a slashing penalty. The Griffins made it count as Snavely set up Joe Simpson (Upper Darby) at the 5:39 mark for the man-up goal and more importantly a 6-3 lead.
Snavely and Dzierzgowski added goals in the fourth as Gwynedd defeated Bryn Athyn in the first-ever matchup of the two teams.
DePasquale recorded 12 stops for the Lions. Nolan Frame and Nolan Bosserman also added scores.
Shawn Ryan (Gloucester Catholic) added two groundballs, a caused turnover, and recorded his first career point, as he assisted on Kohler Setley’s (La Salle) goal in the second quarter.
Haverford 9, Stockton 3
Haverford allowed just one second half goal as Dylan Slack made a career-high 20 saves in net to stifle Stockton’s attack in a 9-3 Fords victory. Haverford scored the final five goals of the contest, including three on man-up chances in the fourth quarter to pull away during the second half of play.
The Fords received two goal games from Stephen DeLeo, Isaac Krier, and Ben Frost to pace the attack. DeLeo also added two assists as he had a hand in each of the game’s first four goals, while Rob McLallen (two assists) and Patrick Girard (one goal, one assist) also had multi-point nights for the Fords. Stockton outshot the Fords by a slight 34-31 margin, but those 20 saves from Slack denied any thoughts of an Osprey comeback under the lights of Swan Field.