Bob McClure tallies 300th point in Haverford win
HAVERFORD >> The Haverford boys lacrosse team beat Wissahickon, 13-6, in the first round of the District 1 playoffs Tuesday night at A.G. Cornog Stadium at Haverford High School.
“At this point, it’s find a way to win and move on,” Haverford coach Dan Greenspun said. “I thought we played OK, definitely can improve on some things for Thursday, but we got it done tonight so I was happy with that.”
The No. 7 seed Fords jumped out to a quick 3-0 lead and led by five, 7-2, at the end of the first quarter.
The No. 26 seed Trojans were able to get back into the game when they outscored Haverford, 2-0, in the second quarter and went into the half trailing by just three goals.
“We got a few stops and our offense played pretty well,” Wissahickon assistant coach Matt Conway said. “It was closer than the score indicated. Our offense got the ball and they actually found some skips early and Eric Kaufmann our attackman played extremely well.”
That’s as close as Wissahickon would get. Haverford outscored the visiting Trojans, 4-0, in the third to take a commanding 11-4 advantage into the final quarter, when each team scored two goals.
“(Haverford) came out and it was pretty much what we expected,” Conway said. “We did our best but they did some things. They got to their strong hands and they finished.”
A highlight for the Fords was senior Bob McClure tallying his 300th career point. He came into the game needing four points to reach the milestone and got there by assisting the first goal of the second half.
“I’ve been here since freshman year and just kind of tacking on as many (points) as I could,” McClure said. “Just trying to be the guy to put a goal in when we need it. It just stacks up after a while.
“A couple weeks ago I realized it was obtainable so I was kind of pushing for it and finally got it. It’s a great thing to get it on this night.”
“He’s been starting since he was a freshman,” Greenspun said. “He’s been here a long time, does a lot of stuff offensively for us. He’s a team captain, first team all Central. He’s one of our guys. I was happy for him to get his 300th and help the team win.”
McClure finished with three goals and two assists. Billy Farrell led the Fords with five goals, and Nick DiIorio netted a pair.
Thursday night Haverford will face Central League rival No. 10 seed Springfield (Delco) in the second round of the playoffs. The teams played a few weeks ago and Springfield won, 10-9, with a late game-winning goal.
“We’re definitely looking forward to some revenge,” McClure said. “Thursday’s going to be a good one.”
“We’re familiar with them, they’re familiar with us,” Greenspun said. “They’re really well coached and we’re looking forward to Thursday night.”
Senior Kaufmann scored a hat trick for Wissahickon in its final game of the season. He is just one of three seniors the team and losing and the Trojans have plenty of optimism for the future.
“Last year we lost 15 seniors, so we lost a lot of leadership going into the season,” Wissahickon head coach Dan Layfield said. “Some guys really had to step up. We didn’t necessarily know who was going to fill those spots, but we had some young guys who never had a JV game in their life step into a role and play on varsity and play defense against seniors and play offense against long poles that have played the game a lot longer than they have.
“We’re really looking forward to the next two, three years. It’s going to be a good few years for us if these guys continue to develop.”
