Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 4/30/23
From Press Release
Stephen Mclaughlin (Kingsway Regional-NJ) scored six goals, Game MVP Mason Dennis (Frankford) had four and 10 groundballs and Liam O’Connor tallied three as host Rosemont defeated Cairs, 15-12, on Saturday for the CSAC Championship.
The Ravens (6-8) advance to the CSACxNECC crossover championship on Saturday to determine the conference’s recipient of the NCAA Division III automatic qualifier (AQ). Rosemont will host the NECC champion New England College at 2 pm.
Rosemont has won six straight games after dropping its first eight.
The Ravens used a 4-0 third-period run to erase a 9-8 deficit as Mclaughlin had three goals and Dennis (three assists) one during the crucial surge. navarro Blakes added a goal and eight assists for Rosemont.
Andrew “Juice” Menold (St. Joseph’s Prep) was stout in the net, allowing 12 and saving 10. This is the program’s first Championship. Coach Ernie Shapiro said, “What an exciting achievement! These men have rallied around each other all year, and put in the hard work!”
Rosemont threw the first punch, scoring six of the first seven goals of the contest and led 6-1 early in the second quarter. Cairn (6-7) responded with four-straight tallies, three coming off the stick of freshman Cole Heffler to cut the deficit to one (6-5). Cairn narrowly trailed Rosemont 7-6 at intermission. The Ravens maintained their one goal advantage (8-7) four minutes into the third quarter, before Heffler and junior Jonathan Balsamo connected on back-to-back goals to give Cairn its first lead (9-8) at the 6:57 mark of the third.
Heffler led the scoring output for Cairn with four goals and a pair of assists, followed by Balsamo with two goals and a team-high five assists. Holliday and junior Charles Cotton each lit the lamp twice, while Adain Holliday added two assists, a season-high 13 ground balls, and went 17-of-31 in the face-off circle. Sophomore Nico Cione (Pennsbury) collected a game-high 12 saves between the pipes, his 11th 10+ save game of the season.
The Highlanders doubled their win total from last year, and made it to the CSAC Championship game in just their second season with varsity status.
