Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 4/16/24
Staff Report
Haverford School senior attackman Aydan DiRocco said his team does not try to hype up any one game in the regular season.
“We always say no big games because we take every game just as seriously as any other,” said DiRocco after his undefeated Fords toppled host Malvern Prep today in a battle of undefeated Inter-Ac League powers. “It feels good to win against a talented group, though, like Coach (Brendan) Dawson said we shouldn’t be surprised by great outcomes when we work as hard as we do.”
The Fords may not admit it, but the game had a major importance on the league race and the team’s standing in the local and national scenes.
Haverford School (ranked No. 1 by Phillylacrosse.com) is 11-0 and 3-0 in the league while Malvern Prep (No. 2) is 9-2 and 2-1. Both teams entered play ranked among the top four teams in all three national polls.
Of course, winning the league crown is the No. 1 goal, so this victory has great meaning. The league champion is decided solely from 10 regular season games and there is no post-season league tournament this year.
DiRocco led the Fords with three goals and an assist while Connor Nolen tallied twice from his short-stick middie position. Conor Morsell had a goal and two assists while Reece Childs, Jack Long and Finn Lawrence each had a goal and an assist.
A major key also was Haverford senior goalie Brody Murphy, who posted 13 saves.
“Last year definitely left a bad taste in our mouths and got us fired up for the game today,” said Murphy, whose Fords won the league title last year but gfell to Malvern Prep in the tournament championship. “This is a great win for us. Since there’s no playoff this year we have to treat every league game as a playoff game and every league game is a big win for us.”
Malvern seized a 4-2 lead in the first period, and led, 5-2, on a tally by Ennis Udo to open the second quarter. But Haverford scored three straight to end the half. Nolen (two goals) scored late in the third period to give the Fords their first lead, 8-7, and Malvern never got it tied.
“We always play for each other and the team as a whole – that allowed us to keep each other going despite the early lead by Malvern,” said DiRocco, a Navy commit. “Likewise, our approach was the same as every other game – to know our roles and play them at 100% at all times.
“Everyone on the entire team contributed in some way that helped us pull out the win.”
Said Murphy: “They got off to a hot start but we reacted the right way by starting to play the way we wanted and dictating the pace of offense. It says a lot about our unit and how we stayed strong and confident.”
Logan Turley led the Friars with three goals, while John Majka scored twice and Nick Wehmeyer won 12 of 21 faceoffs.
Haverford School 10, Malvern Prep 8
Haverford 2-3-3-2- 10
Malvern Prep 4-1-2-1- 8
Haverford School
Aydan DiRocco 3g/1a
Conor Morsell 1g/2a
Connor Nolen 2g
Reece Childs 1g/1a
Finn Lawrence 1g/1a
Jack Long 1g/1a
Evan Large 1g
Max Fertels 1a
Brody Murphy 13 Saves
Griff Meyer 4 GBs / Gavin Cooper – 3 GBs
Ben McCarthy/Griff Meyer – 9/21 FO
Malvern Prep
Ennis Udo 1g
Michael Ortlieb 1a, 2gb
Thomas Tray 1g, 1gb
John Majka 2g
Owen Mears 1g
Logan Turley 3g, 1gb
Ryan Traynor 1gb
Lucca DiBartolomeo 2gb
Peri DiBartolomeo 2gb
Brendan Krause 1gb
Kyle Worsnup 3gb
Jack Lehman 3gb
Jack Carroll 1gb
Nick Wehmeyer 12/21 FO
Heath Jones 7 saves
Westtown 16, Shipley School 4
Westtown 4-5-2-5- 16
Shipley 2-0-2-0- 4
Westtown
Matt Hamill 3g, 3a
Xander Maxwell 3g, 1a
Noah Snyder 3g, 1a
Aiden Kammerer 1g, 3a
Kolby Koran 1g
Quartez Welch 3a
Ewen Patrick 1a
Arjun Gill 7 saves
