Conestoga rallies past Garnet Valley in key Central League clash

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CONCORD >> It wasn’t until Monday afternoon that the combatants in the marquee individual matchup between Garnet Valley and Conestoga Tuesday night were set.

On one side was Matt Moore, the All-Delco junior attackman and the Jaguars’ leading offensive catalyst. Who would counter him from the Conestoga side was less up to coach Brody Bush than to a constantly shifting injury report.
That is, until Sam Bouhdary had his say.

Returning from a three-game absence due to a concussion, the defenseman stifled Moore, giving Conestoga room for a come-from-behind, 8-7 win over the Jaguars in a battle of Central League elites.

The decision separates Conestoga (10-4, 8-1) from a four-team pack that entered tied atop the standings. It and Strath Haven, which beat Haverford Tuesday, stand a game clear with two contests to play, while Haverford and Garnet Valley (10-4, 7-2) fall a game off the pace.

Bouhdary returned to practice for the first time Monday, just in the nick of time, with fellow defender Jack Reilly also on the sidelines.

The challenge of Moore and the Jags, carrying such grave title implications, spurred Bouhdary to jump straight back in.

“It felt amazing,” the senior said. “That is one of those games that I marked on my calendar and I’m like, ‘I want this guy and I want to shut him down.’”

For the most part, Bouhdary succeeded. Moore set up Denny Nealon’s man-up tally 32 seconds into the second quarter, then had the final pass on Jake D’Annunzio’s goal in transition in the third quarter to nudge GV ahead, 5-4.

But Moore appeared to be forcing the issue, never more than with four minutes left and Garnet Valley down a goal when he fired bounce shot that goalie Scott MacMillan (nine saves) easily gobbled up while the Jags were still subbing players on.

Part of the credit for that disruption goes to Bouhdary.

“I kind of had extra fire in me and an extra pep in my step just because I haven’t been there for so long,” Bouhdary said. “I haven’t been in games. I’ve been watching from the sidelines and I’ve been screaming my head off, talking to my teammates, and it just gets frustrating at times when you can’t be in there. So coming back, having my first full-contact practice yesterday, I had that fire that led into that game.”

Both teams were forced into adjustments when capable defenses eliminated their top threats. With Moore’s threat minimized, D’Annunzio stepped up, firing home two goals after accounting for just three in the Jags’ first 13 games.

“Obviously our offense was moving the ball very well and I was just trying to play my part,” D’Annunzio said. “We were working the ball, and we needed someone to step up when they’re locking up our big players, so I just decided to step in and fill a role and do what I need to do and stick the right shots.”

Conestoga’s Tommy Sopko only scored once – though it proved to be the game-winner, dipping his shoulder and making a man miss with 5:43 to play. That shifted the offensive burden to Henry Berg, who set up Stoga’s first four goals, including quick-strike tallies by Hunter Gregory and Brant Pittman (three goals) a minute apart in the third quarter to erase Garnet Valley’s 4-2 halftime lead.

Berg ripped home a goal at 3:44 of the third to answer D’Annunzio’s first tally.

“I think our offense was doing well, just couldn’t finish” in the first half, Berg said. “Our defense was doing well. Our goal was to hold their offense to two or three goals in the second half, so we did that.”

“We knew they were going to sneak the crease a lot,” Garnet Valley defenseman Dillon Smart said. “They were pushing the middle a lot. We just had to lock down the middle a lot.”

Nealon set up D’Annunzio to surge Garnet Valley ahead late in the third, but Tate Kienzle dashed 70 yards and finished with seven-tenths showing on the clock to send the teams to the final frame even at six.

Pittman drew first blood at 8:43 off a Kienzle feed man-up, and Sopko extended the lead.

Ryan Manbeck halved the deficit for Garnet Valley, setting off a chaotic final five minutes. Garnet Valley won possession thanks to Rei Lopez (12-for-17 at the X), and both teams traded big saves, MacMillan on Moore and Michael Bonaddio denying Berg on what looked to be the clincher for his 11th save.

Garnet Valley coughed up the subsequent possession, and Conestoga looked poised to follow suit, but a late hit penalty kept the ball with the Pioneers. Smart stripped Pittman on the restart, but tight checking around the crease separated Jacob Buttermore form the ball and Garnet Valley from forcing overtime.

It’s Garnet Valley’s third one-goal loss this season, joining setbacks to Avon Grove and Malvern Prep. While Tuesday’s late-game performance wasn’t specifically lacking, Conestoga was the more poised team in the late stages. And the final result reflected that.

“We love it. Absolutely love it,” Bouhdary said of close games. “Because we trust each other and that’s the greatest thing about our team, that we believe in each other and no matter how far down we get or how high we get, we’re going to keep playing our game, keep doing what we know how to do and play Conestoga lacrosse.”

Also in the Central League:

Strath Haven 9, Haverford 7 >> Sam Mutz stepped up with four goals, Jake Ross added a hat trick and Will Huestis chipped in four helpers for the Panthers.

Jeffrey Conner paired a goal with three assists, and Will Brake made 14 saves in net for Strath Haven (13-2, 8-1).

Kevin Kaufman and Luke McCallion scored twice each for Haverford (12-3, 7-2), which got a goal and two helpers from Bobby McClure.

Radnor 6, Penncrest 5 >> Adam Neiberg scored twice, including the game-winner as the Raiders (7-7, 4-5) rattled off three unanswered fourth-quarter goals for the comeback win. Tucker Ballbach made 12 saves for Radnor.

Joe Quintiliano and Ryan Kinnard tallied twice each for Penncrest (8-6, 5-4).

Springfield 9, Lower Merion 0 >> Mike Gerzabek scored four goals, and Kyle Long surpassed 100 career assists with seven helpers as the Cougars (9-6, 5-4) notched their second shutout of the season behind nine combined saves from James Spence and Aidan Travers.

In the Inter-Ac:

Haverford School 12, Episcopal Academy 5 >> The Fords took one step closer to an Inter-Ac title thanks to hat tricks by Johnny Nostrant and Forry Smith and four assists from Keyveat Postell.

Tommy McNamara and Dox Aitken scored twice each for Haverford School (14-4, 7-0).

Connor Ringwalt led EA (5-9, 4-3) with two goals and an assist, while Christian Feliziani went 13-for-15 at the faceoff X.

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Matthew De George

Matthew De George
Matthew De George is the Asst. Sports Editor and the lead Union writer for The Daily Times.

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