Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 6/7/19
Ridley Youth Lacrosse won the 8th Grade A1 Division championship of the Southeast Pa Youth Lacrosse Association (SEPYLA) with a 7-4 win over Springfield on June 2.
The Raiders scored in the first minute of the game and never trailed. The offense was sparked by Owen Bosak, who controlled face-offs and scored a few key goals. The offense also was led by Gavin Wright, Anthony Laber, Reece Millison, Matt Glavin and Cole Wills. The defense, which came together nicely during the playoff run, was anchored by Jalen Holman, Ben Barclift, Steve Gerace, Sean Cawley, and Liam McGinn.
Billy Deitz was strong in goal and was strong during the playoffs. Rounding out the Championship squad was Paul Jackson, Nate McLaughlin, Nick Verlinghieri, Luke Broadhurst, Sean Deal, Seamus Bohannon, Jason McCafferty, Christian Shubert, Kyle Werner, Ryan Deal and Timmy Olasoji. The team was coached by Matt Flynn, Paul Middleton, and Ed Millison.
Ridley entered the playoffs as the third seed in SEPYLA’s Southern Division, behind No. 2 Haverford and first seed Springfield. Ridley beat Haverford 13-10, avenging a regular season overtime loss, then beat Horsham, the top seed in the SEPYLA Northern Division by a score of 10-7, setting up a rematch with Springfield, who won their regular season game 8-5.
Ridley Coach Matt Flynn said: “This is a very talented and hard-working team, and they did a great job defensively during the playoffs which was the difference. There is a great deal of offensive talent in our league, and it was going to take a great defensive effort to win the league championship, but the boys bought in to the scheme at just the right time. I look forward to seeing these boys compete at the high school level.”
