Wood snaps losing streak against Bonner to stay afloat in PCL

It would be fair to say that Monsignor Bonner was a layup on the Archbishop Wood schedule this season. For the Vikings that layup came with great timing Wednesday afternoon.
After winning the first three games of the season Wood hit a seven-game losing streak, which included two Philadelphia Catholic League losses to Archbishop Ryan and Catholic League powerhouse St. Joes Prep.
Add in some injuries and some tough non-league losses to some Suburban One League schools among others Wednesday’s 20-5 win over Bonner is just what Wood needed.
“That’s the important part, getting the (Catholic) League win,” Wood coach Jared Mayes said. “League wise we’re not actually doing that bad. We hit a stretch of non-league games trying to get us ready for the end of the season.”
Wood has proven throughout the season that scoring goals isn’t really its problem. Its scored seven or more goals in all but two games and its goal scoring has been of more importance recently with the absents of goalie Ben McCloskey.
“Those past couple weeks, losing those non-conference games, its not just because (of the absence of McCloskey) but it certainly doesn’t help,” Mayes said.
While the win Tuesday was most important it also helped that the Vikings didn’t have to strain its midfielders too much, a unit that is working with very limited depth. The Vikes don’t even have enough depth with injuries to run full field practice.
“Its barely even (two lines), its basically just one off one on,” Mayes said of his thin midfield unit. “We were a little nervous about the weather today but these are great lacrosse conditions. Even if it makes it a little more sloppy, it makes it that much more fun. Having it cool and grey and humid it means were not killing ourselves running up and down the field.”
There was plenty of stat stuffing for the Vikings, but the offensive ran through a steady attack unit of Rhys Vaughn, Brain Kent and Tim Brandenburg. The trio combined 11 goals and eight assists.
“We were trying to work on our settled offensive,” Mayes said. “We’ve had outstanding transition offense all season. Once we get the ball to our attack men they are really, really good.”
Wood has some huge games upcoming down the stretch. It has two very winnable Catholic games with Conwell Egan and Cardinal O’Hara with much tougher tests with Archbishop Carroll and LaSalle who are currently third and first respectively in the league.
“The two big ones that we’re looking at are Archbishop Carroll and Cardinal O’Hara, they’re both having good seasons,” Mayes said. “We should be competitive with them as long as we’re doing what we’re supposed to be doing… We need to have both of those if we want to have a postseason.”