Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 3/12/24
One of a series of boys’ previews for the 2024 scholastic season
Boyertown
League: Pioneer Athletic Conference
Head Coach: Grady Wise entering his 8th season as Varsity head coach
Last Year’s Record: 14-3.
Last year’s honors: Earned #4 seed in PAC-12 playoffs and #8 seed in district 1 playoffs. Set the program record for wins in Coach Wise’s tenure with the team.
Players to Watch:
Mason Barndt, Senior, Attack
Brayden Kuhar, Junior, Attack
Gio Daddario, Senior, Midfield
Tyler Diffenderfer, Senior, Midfield
Chase Yesavage, Junior, Defense
Jason Oakes, Senior, LSM
Logan Oakes, Sophomore, Goaltender
Coach’s Outlook: “The Bears return a strong senior class with many players with multiple years of Varsity experience. We are excited to see new players step up and fill the 12 spots vacated by graduation from last year. Our goals are to compete for a PAC championship and make the District 1 playoffs. The team has been working hard all off-season to achieve these goals and we are excited to see what they are capable of.”
Pope John Paul II
League: Pioneer Athletic Conference
Head coach: Matthew Bildstein, entering 4th season at PJP; Assistant coaches: Kris Gucwa, Johnnie Bildstein, Ryan Lanza
Last years record: 9-10. 9-9 regular season and a loss in 1st round of Districts to Bishop Shanahan
Opener: Tuesday March 19 at Home vs West Chester Henderson
Returning players to watch: Jr. Ian Young, Midfield (60 G 13 A) in 2023 (2nd team all league), Jr. Denny Owens, Defense (1st Team all league) Jr. Ryan Lamson Midfield (14 G 11 A) in 2023, Sr. Dillon Murphy Faceoff/Midfield (70 % faceoff percentage), Sr. Sean Fallon (4 year Varsity starter, HM All league), Sr. Boyd Skarbek, D-Midfield, Sr. Pat Devlin, D-Midfield, Jr. Joey Moa, Defense, Jr. Zachary Voyner, LSM.
Newcomers to watch: Sr. Riley Lumpkin, Midfield, Jr. Tyler Szalabofka, Midfield, Jr. Jamie McCue, Attack, Soph. Brady Kleine, Attack, Soph. Jake Vigilante, Midfield, Soph. Nicholas Moffa, Defense, Soph. Danny Kotwas, LSM.
Coach’s Outlook: “We will hope to build on another district playoff appearance last year and take the next step as a program winning close games. Last season, we lost multiple games in overtime or by 1 goal to some of the top teams in PAC and District 1, and our kids are hungry to compete to the best of their abilities in getting us over that hump. We have a lot of returning experience on defense and that hopes to be the strength led by 1st team All-PAC performer Denny Owens (junior) and Honorable Mention Senior Goalie Sean Fallon leading the way. Offensively we expect the experience of Dillon Murphy at the face-off X to provide us more important possessions and for returning All-league midfielder Ian Young, who has 96 goals and 24 assists in the last 2 seasons to lead the way and take on a more important role this season.”
