By Chris Goldberg
Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 5/20/23
Malvern Prep junior Ennis Udo believes his team became stronger in a season that saw a rare 5-game losing streak and two defeats to rival Haverford School.
“Not many teams would be able to come out of that with fire in our (tails) and put in the work like that,” he said. “It says something about the guys we have here and the coaches we have, keeping us focused and pushing us toward our goal.”
Today at West Chester University, the Friars wiped away any remnants of their disappointment from the season by stifling League champion and rival Haverford School, 9-5, in the Inter-Ac Tournament championship.
Malvern Prep closed 16-7 while Haverford School ends 17-3, with the Inter-Ac League championship by virtue of a rare 10-0 regular season, including a sweep of the Friars (10-6 and 11-10 in OT).
But Malvern Prep earned the glory to end the season.
“Our goal is always to win the last game of the year and were able to accomplish that today,” said Udo who had two goals and an assist to supplement sophomore Michael Ortlieb’s output of four goals and an assist. “There’s no better feeling in the world than beating those guys in the last game.
“You could see throughout the season, week by week, game by game, that we were getting better. This is just the culmination of all the work we put in.”
The Malvern defense never allowed the dangerous Fords’ attack to get untracked as close defenders Roman Buono, Pat Keenan, and Brad Piffath, LSMs Lucca DiBartolomeo, and Jack Lehman and short-stick middies Peri and Roman DiBartolomeo, Brendan Krause, and Kyle Worsnup held Haverford to its lowest goal total of the year. Lucca DiBartolomeo created havoc all game long and most importantly, the Friars did not allow any fastbreak opportunities despite losing 12 of the 17 faceoffs to sophomore Griff Meyer (normal starter Ben McCarthy was out with a lower-body injury).
Then, when the Fords got their shots, senior Chris Rabena (13 saves) made the key stop.
In fact, the Fords did not score for almost two full quarters after pulling within 4-3 on Brendan Leary’s goal with 9:55 left in the first half. The Friars scored the next four goals – by Billy Irish (1G, 1A) and Ennis Udo (2G, 1A) in the second period and two more by Ortlieb in the third.
“The transitional game (on defense) was a big point of emphasis for us,” said Malvern first-year coach Matt Mackrides. “It’s something that we’ve prided ourselves in at the end of the season. And against Haverford especially from the dot and from the defensive end they have so many threats to push the ball in transition. We really wanted to take that away.
“We had a lot of confidence, and rightfully so, in our 6-on-6 defense. (Chris) played an excellent game we have all the faith in the world in Chris and he stepped up to the plate big time today.”
Jake Bickel and Carson Myers each scored once for the Friars and AJ Nikolic dished two assists.
“It’s a crazy feeling right now,” said Rabena. “After losing to them twice, we knew what they were doing and it was kind of on me. Our defense did a great job shutting them down and limiting their transition.”
For Haverford school, seniors Brendan Leary and Ryan DiRocco each had a goal and an assist and Brody Murphy kept the game within distance for much of the time with 15 saves. Wells Flinn, Aydan DiRocco, and Wells Flinn each scored once.
Malvern had its rough patches in Mackrides’ first season after assisting in coach John McEvoy’s system for 9 years. His Friars dropped five in a row early in the year, but the brutal schedule paid off, he felt.
“That’s the goal,” Mackrides said. “We talk about it in the beginning of the season, we want to incrementally get better every day. Yes, the schedule was daunting, but we ended with 16 wins. That’s a great season in our minds; those, seven losses came against great opponents and each one was a learning experience. We used those losses to propel us in these final weeks to prepare us for this day.”
“We watched a lot of film from the last two (Haverford) games,” said Buono. “We changed a few things on the fast breaks because we gave them goals there. Obviously, our goalie played great.
“It was definitely a rough start to the season, but you can’t ask for a better end. Haverford brings out the best in us.”
The Fords, ranked No. 1 by Phillylacrosse.com and No. 3 nationally by Inside Lacrosse and Lacrosse Magazine, were heartbroken as they left the field. But Fords coach Brendan Dawson said nothing could diminish what they had accomplished, with the highlights also including a memorable win over St. Anthony’s-NY (No. 1 in the nation at the time) and a scintillating 14-game win streak.
“It hurts right now obviously, but they’re going to look back and say this was a special group and a special season,” said Dawson. “It’s hard to stomach it, obviously, in the moment, but it’s one of those things – you have to live and learn and get better.”
Dawson noted that beating a talented rival like Malvern Prep three times in one season is not easy.
“It’s hard to do,” he said. “They’re a great team and they played well today – and their goalie played well. That’s a good combination for them. Congrats to them.”
Said Leary: “We haven’t been undefeated in the Inter-Ac in a while and going 10-0 is pretty special and beating St. Anthony’s is pretty special. It was a special season for the senior class, we kind of built the way and we’ll just go from here. I know the underclassmen and juniors can carry them to a good season next year.”
Inter-Ac League Tournament Championship
Malvern Prep 9, Haverford School 5
Malvern 4-2-2-1- 9
Haverford School 2-1-0-2 – 5
Malvern Prep
Carson Meyers 1g
Michael Ortlieb 4g, 1a
AJ Nikolic 2a
Ennis Udo 2g, 1a
Jake Bickel 1g
Billy Irish 1g, 1a
Chris Rabena 13 saves
Nick Wehmeyer 5 of 17 FO
Haverford School
Colin Zeller 1g
Aydan DiRocco 1g
Brendan Leary 1g, 1a
Ryan DiRocco 1g, 1a
Evan Large 1a
Wells Flinn 1g
Brody Murphy 15 saves
Griff Meyer 12 of 17 FO