Veterans Bonnett and Kinnard carry Penncrest past Ridley
MIDDLETOWN >> All season, the Penncrest seniors understood the plan when they had the ball.
Integrating a freshman, a sophomore and a handful of juniors around two senior captains would have its rough patches and unsightly edges that still need smoothing 19 games into the season.
Two-on-six was never a sustainable plan of attack night in and night out in the Central League, that elder duo knew. But there would be opportunities where a healthy dose of selfishness would be called for and boldness would be rewarded.
So it was Tuesday night, as Alex Bonnett and Ryan Kinnard powered a 10-8 win over Ridley in the first round of the District One tournament, guaranteeing the seniors at least one more game in their storied careers.
Nine of the Lions’ goals came via Bonnett and Kinnard. Their 11 combined points is tied for the most they’ve had in a game this season.
The 10th was scored by Max Daugherty, the sophomore, after a cross-crease feed by Bonnett that left Daugherty a head-fake and a shot over Ridley goalie Brendan Risely’s shoulder.
Most of the seniors’ haul came via those try-to-stop-me moments, bulling through screens or forcibly shedding defenders, that they used to deliver a PIAA title two years ago.
“When you’re hot, you’re hot in lacrosse,” said Bonnett, who scored five times. “It’s a game of momentum, and when the momentum is going your way, you kind of just keep it going your way and things will fly your way.”
Kinnard recorded a hat trick in the first half, his unassisted rip with 3:54 left in the second quarter giving No. 15 seed Penncrest (10-9) its biggest lead of the night at 5-2.
Ryan Kinnard + shortie defending = hat trick. 5-2 Penncrest. pic.twitter.com/sKL5oAXotQ
— Matthew De George (@sportsdoctormd) May 17, 2016
They seemed to time their scores for whenever 18th-seeded Ridley (8-11) yo-yoed to within one. Bonnett feathered a pass to Kinnard with seven seconds to play in the first half, 28 ticks after Brock Anderson had cut the margin to 5-4.
Cade Stratton, who posted a hat trick, triple-pumped one home midway through the third quarter to winnow the lead to 7-6, but Bonnett furnished the answer, lulling the defense to sleep before taking four stealthy steps from behind the cage to create the angle and flick a shot past Risely.
Kinnard to Bonnett in front of the crease. 6-4. 7 seconds to half. pic.twitter.com/3kUYmkGI0s
— Matthew De George (@sportsdoctormd) May 17, 2016
When Ridley mounted its final charge, Stratton getting the game within 8-7 with 8:47 left, Kinnard was there. He finished an end-to-end sequence, putting enough momentum behind a shot at full stride that it squeaked through Risely and crawled across the line.
For all the mentorship that Bonnett and Kinnard have provided this season, the quest to get to Thursday’s quarterfinal, where No. 2 Spring-Ford awaits, required more intensive intervention. That was especially true after a plodding start when the Green Raiders shut off both Kinnard and Bonnett to shrink the game to 4-on-4, an effort they couldn’t maintain throughout the game.
“We’ve got to have some trust in the younger guys,” Bonnett said. “We don’t have 100 percent trust yet, but we’re getting there. Playoff time is the time to have it. We put the team on our backs when we have to, but we know that they’re there to play and we know that they’re going to make the good choices when they have to.”
The rest was down to a Penncrest defense that has held firm despite a disheartening stretch. The Lions lost six of seven to cap the season, five of the losses by one goal each. But Tuesday, the defense rallied.
Steve Nolan helped immensely, stopping 12 shots in one of his best games of the season. With Ridley’s attack regaining a semblance of health — recently-injured Devon Tavani scored twice and added two assists, while Justin Monaghan had one and one — Nolan turned aside 12 shots. He stoned Anderson just before Kinnard’s final tally and benefitted from Anderson rocketing one off the crossbar that bounced inches away from the goal line midway through the third.
Stratton from Monaghan as the penalty expires. 7-6 Penncrest. pic.twitter.com/eOJRnu1utZ
— Matthew De George (@sportsdoctormd) May 18, 2016
“I was just seeing the ball well,” Nolan said. “The ball looked like a beach ball to me, just under the lights. It happens for goalies. We have our nights, and tonight was my night.”
“Seeing how many chances we had, and we had a lot of shots, a lot of them were high-quality shots that the goalie just made great saves on,” said Stratton, who was pressed into faceoff duties due to injuries. “Props to him, he played awesome tonight.”
In addition to the usual doggedness on the ground, including an end-to-end goal created by a Zack Kaut GB, Kinnard supplied the final stop, he and a defender sandwiching a Ridley player with less than a minute to play and sprinting the ball to safety for what Kinnard hopes isn’t the final time.
“The first game was definitely going to be the hardest one, I thought,” Bonnett said. “But now that we’re over it, the momentum could keep us going forward.”
