By Chris Goldberg
Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 4/6/23
Radnor senior Nate Lucchesi compared today’s matchup of the two top boys’ lacrosse teams in the region at Academy of the New Church to a heavyweight fight.
“I think both teams threw punches,” said Lucchesi. “We went up 5-0 and they bounced back, but we had another punch and we stayed resilient.”
The Raptors, ranked No. 2 by Phillylacrosse.com, got back up quickly after yielding six straight goals to No. 1 ANC and scored an 11-8 victory in a much-anticipated contest.
Lucchesi and Colin French each scored three goals and Nick DeCain made nine saves as the Raptors (4-2) rebounded from a tough 8-7 loss Tuesday at Long Island power Garden City.
“We knew we were facing one of the best teams in the country; their body of work has shown that,” Radnor coach John Begier said of ANC. “I don’t know a better young coach in the game than Jack (Forster).”
Forster’s Lions (7-1) had already beaten St. John’s College (D.C.) and St. Paul’s (MD) and were ranked No. 6 in the nation by Lacrosse Magazine and No. 8 in North America by Inside Lacrosse – quite a lofty accomplishment for a school with a couple hundred boys.
But Radnor opened up a 5-0 lead early in the second period until junior Hunter Aquino ripped off two goals, Anthony Chaingo tallied one and Aquino scored again to make it 5-4 in a span of 3 minutes, 1 second.
The Lions’ Lucas Flynn then opened the second half with consecutive goals and suddenly ANC led, 6-5. But less than 3 minutes later, French tied it in transition off a turnover and several more Lions mistakes proved insurmountable.
Lucchesi put Radnor up, 7-6, off a scramble with 1:54 left in the period and French converted off another turnover to make it 8-6 just 32 seconds later. Cooper Mueller made it 9-6 to open the final frame and ANC never got closer than two goals.
“We needed to value the ball, but find a happy medium by being opportunistic without having to grind it out 6-on-6 all the time,” said Begier. “Everything was about extra possessions and getting the ball off the ground. It was a total dogfight; there were no losers. They’re one of the best and they’ll keep proving that.
“We bounced back from a tough loss,” Begier added pf the Garden City defeat. “It was a long bus ride back. We knew we needed to play our absolute best to beat these guys.”
Lucchesi said the key was getting off to a good start.
“Against Garden City we started down, 3-0, and we had a good start this time, getting up 3-0 and even 5-0,” said Lucchesi. “We just wanted to play as a team and get as many assisted goals as possible. Nobody was trying to get theirs.”
Muller, known for his defensive skills as a two-way middie, said Radnor’s defense played smart.
“We knew coming in they could move the ball well and find the backside cuts,” said Mueller. “We played Garden City which had a similar structure and we didn’t slide correctly. We really focused on our sliding in practice and making early recoveries. I thought we did a great job today batting down passes and keeping them off the back side.
“You always want to beat the in-state teams. You get up for those games, especially after losing to Garden City. We wanted to knock off one of the best teams from Philly and we came ready to play.”
ANC coach Forster said his team will bounce back.
“Our turnovers led to transition and that’s basically how all those goals in the second half happened,” he said “They were patient and ran some good plays inside. We weren’t ready or we just weren’t ready to play early.
“They’re very good. They’re very well coached, but we hung in there and fought back. But we lost our composure a little bit when we had the lead. They kind of wore our defense down in the end because we were playing so much on defense. We’ll learn from it and get better and move on.”
Radnor 11, Academy of the New Church 8
Radnor 4-1-3-3- 11
ANC 0-4-2-2- 8
ANC
Hunter Aquino 4g
Anthony Chiango 1g
Owen Carr 1a
Aharon Bloshuk 1a
Lucas Flynn 2g
Nate Bradley 1g, 2a
Brady Carver 6 saves
Trent Layton 14/21 FO
Radnor
Nate Lucchesi – 3G/1A
Colin French – 3G
Jackson Gaffney – 2G/1A
Max Goldstein – 1G/1A
Mason Montrella – 1G/1A
Tommy DeShan – 2A
Cooper Mueller – 1G
Drew Knight – 1A
Michael Savadove – 1A
Kessler Cox – 1A
Carter Mountain 7/14 FO
Nick DeCain 9 saves
