By Chris Goldberg
Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 6/14/23
Marple Newtown has earned a second chance.
The Tigers avenged a defeat to West Chester Rustin Tuesday, toppling the Golden Knights, 10-6, in the PIAA 2A semifinals at Garnet Valley.
Marple Newtown (19-5) advances to meet Mars in a state final rematch Saturday at Penn State’s Panzer Stadium at 2 p.m. Mars (22-2), which defeated Lampeter-Strasburg, 11-7, in its semifinal game, last year downed the Tigers, 9-6 in the PIAA title game, and has been the top-ranked 2A team all year in the PA State Rankings.
“It’s awesome for another chance, you don’t always get that too many times,” said Marple’s standout sophomore midfielder Brian Box.
Box, who had two goals and two assists to support freshman Evan Kostack’s five-goal outburst, was a key element in the Tigers’ victory Tuesday, which avenged a 9-4 loss to Rustin (18-6) in the District 1 title game two weeks ago. Box was unable to play that day due to a staph infection. He returned in the PIAA quarterfinals.
Another key for Marple Newtown was its defense, which gave little open spaces for the Knights’ attack.
“In the championship game, we played great 1-on-1 defense but fell asleep off-ball, so this game we harped on off-ball defense and knowing where their guys were,” said Tigers junior LSM Dave Bertoline, who seemed to cover the entire field. “And it’s great having Brian back. He brings everybody up.”
Like the last time these teams met, MN raced to a 2-0 lead before Rustin responded with two of its own. But this time, Marple Newtown scored all three second-period goals and went up 8-2 with three more in the third quarter. Antonio Santangelo (2G) converted to make it 8-3 for Rustin 1:38 into the final period, but by then almost 27 minutes had elapsed between Knights goals.
Meanwhile, the Tigers’ Alex Chambers (14 of 18 faceoffs) dominated the possessions and sophomore goalie Marco D’Alicandro (9 saves) was tough to beat.
“The guys were flying around, everybody brought their A-game,” said Box. “We were much more disciplined than last game (vs. Rustin) and we made a ton less mistakes. We were patient on offense and we let the plays develop. The defense played unbelievable; Dave Bertoline played unbelievable and Alex Chambers pretty much won every faceoff.”
Bertoline’s marquee play was a steal in the Marple defensive zone, and a downfield rush and pass to Box, who fed Kostack for the first goal of the second half and a 6-2 lead.
“That’s classic Dave Bert right there,” said Tigers coach Kevin Merchant.
Jake Jackson had two goals for Rustin late in the game, and Marek Seaman added one. Merchant felt the key was keeping those two and Santangelo from getting loose.
“I think when you play Rustin you have to focus on those three guys; they are three phenomenal players,” Merchant said. “Coach (Steve) Viola does a great job with the defense and the kids did a great job after those first two goals of locking out. Also, our goalie, Marco, played great.”
Ryan Keating added two goals for Marple Newtown while Jace Kostack had a goal and an assist and Brett Wolski added an assist and three groundballs.
Kevin Philibin was proud of his team and what the Knights accomplished this year, winning their first District 1 title and claiming two state victories.
“It’s pretty bittersweet,” Philibin said. “We had some unforced turnovers that kind of killed us. Credit to their faceoff guy; I thought we played well against him last game but they readjusted and he was able to control the pace of the game. Our offense loves to have the ball and we didn’t have that much and we got a little antsy with it and threw it away a few times.
“These guys had goals coming in and they achieved a lot of them. We didn’t achieve every one, but we achieved a lot, The senior class left their mark on this program. They really kind of passed things down and took it to another level. We love what they mean to us and each other. We preach that this is a family and these guys are the epitome of that.”
PIAA 2A semifinals
Marple Newtown 9, WC Rustin 6
Marple Newtown 2-3-3-2- 10
WC Rustin 2-0-0-4- 6
Marple Newtown
Evan Kostack 5G 1A
Brian Box 2G, 2A
Ryan Keating 2G
Jace Kostack 1G 1A
Ryan Gorman 1A
Brett Wolski 1A 3GB 1CTO
Alex Chambers 14/18 F/O
Marco D’Alicandro 9 Saves
WC Rustin
Jake Jackson 2g
Antonio Santangelo 2g
Nate Pechin 1g
Drew Munro 1a
Marek Seaman 1g
Billy Carney 7 saves