Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 3/15/24
One of a series of previews for the 2024 scholastic season
Upper Merion
League: Pioneer Athletic Conference
Coaches: HC Brady McCormick 17th season (131-135), Matt Stilwell Associate HC/Defensive Coordinator 6th Season, Rob Devers JV Head/Varsity Assistant 6th Season, Conor Crowe (’11) Goalie Coach 4th Season, Nick Shendge (’14) Offensive Coordinator 3rd
2023 Record and accomplishments: 12-7, 4th Seed in District 1AA Playoffs, 2 All-State players (first in program history)
Key Players: Justin Besz – Sr – M/A (2nd Team All-PAC), Mike Scavello – Sr – D, Kevin Roseland – Sr – A (Honorable Mention All-PAC), Ryan Becker – Sr – FOGO (Honorable Mention All-PAC), Aidan McDonnell – Sr – DM, Noah Canale – Sr – M, Lincoln Jones – Sr – D, Collin McCormick – Jr – A, Nathan Uhl – Jr – G
Others to Watch: Jeremy Donovan – Sr – D, Kieran Lamey – So – A
Coach’s Outlook for 2024: “The 2023 team continued to build on their legacy of being one of the most successful teams in school history. As a result, the team has become one that continues to work hard to continue a winning culture and making the District tournament for the 3rd straight season (first time in program history) was the result. This 2024 team looks to continue cementing our culture and have made sure that offseason workouts, practices or scrimmages are run with a daily commitment to be better each time they step off of the field than they were when they stepped onto it.”
Perkiomen Valley
League: Pioneer Athletic Conference
Head Coach: Bryan Churchey’07, 12th season, 125-73 overall, Assistant Coaches: Nick Marren’17, Sam Romania, Chris Roop, Jim Hyland, Ben Minardi’16, Larry Mo, Steve Kurylo’99
2023 Record: 12-9 overall, 10-1 PAC
2023 Team Honors: Made it to PAC Championship Game losing to Spring-Ford, Made it to the 2nd round of Districts losing to Springfield-Delco.
Opener date & opponent: Tuesday March 19th home vs. Ridley
Key returners: Drew Donato-SR-LSM (Roanoke), Tyler Henn-SR-Defense (Penn Tech), Liam McCabe-SR-Defense (Alfred University), Patrick Lamirande-SR-Midfield, Bryce Coletta-JR-Attack (Drexel), Jacob Rotay-JR-Midfield, James Herb-JR-Midfield, Braden Nester-SO-Defense/LSM
Key newcomers: Connor Macklin-SR-Attack (Arcadia), Luke Hanlon-SR-Attack, Jackson Baker-SR-Midfield, Sam Dogonniuck-SR-Goalie, Aiden Jacoby-JR-Mid/FO, Christian Jones-SO-Goalie, Patrick Moloney-SO-Mid/FO
Coach’s Outlook for 2024: “We are excited for the 2024 season, we had a relatively young and inexperienced team in 2023 that took a lot of bumps but grew a lot. That Growth Mindset has carried over well into our off season with a new found level of commitment and accountability to becoming the best version of ourselves. Our upperclassmen leadership has been one of the best in my 12 seasons at PV. We expect that leadership to remain strong and will be key to allowing us to achieve our team goals that we’ve set for ourselves which remain unchanged: Compete for an opportunity to play for a League and District Title and to be playing our best team lacrosse in May.”