Conestoga boys roll past C.B. East, into District 1 lacrosse quarters

TREDYFFRIN >> Conestoga came out smoking against Central Bucks East in the second round of the District 1 boys’ lacrosse tournament Thursday, en route to a runaway 14-6 home win.

The Pioneers built a 9-0 halftime lead and held an 11-0 advantage before Central Bucks East finally scored.

“Our seniors knew it would be their last home game of the season,” said Conestoga head coach Brody Bush. “They wanted to make it memorable — and they did.

“Our coaches tell the players to play every quarter like it’s your last, and that’s what we did today — we put all four quarters, the whole game, together. … And, this is the first time we’ve been fully healthy since March.”

Conestoga broke the scoring ice early. Pioneer senior attack Jack McPherson scored on an assist from sophomore midfielder Tate Kienzle with 8:53 left in the first quarter, then eight seconds later the Pioneers burned the net again to make it 2-0.

Pioneer sophomore midfielder Nick Braendel’s unassisted goal with 3:15 left in the first quarter made it 3-0, then senior midfielder Brant Pittman scored the next two goals. Pittman finished with three goals, as did fellow senior McPherson.

Other Conestoga offensive contributors included junior attack Tom Sopko (one goal, one assist), junior attack Henry Berg (one goal, one assist) and Kienzle (two assists).

“Our defense really played well today,” said Bush. “[Senior defender] Jack Reilly, [senior defender] Sam Bouhdary and [sophomore defender] Jackson Niness shut [CB East] down in the first half. And our goalie, [sophomore] Scott MacMillan, allowed only one goal in three quarters.

“I’d also like to mention our assistant coaches, who did a great job with game prep. Coaches [Craig] Gratton and [John] Bickel have really been doing a great job preparing our players [for our opponents].”

Conestoga 14, Central Bucks East 6
CB East    0    0    1    5 –   6
Conestoga    4    5    3    2 – 14
First quarter scoring — CON: McPherson (Kienzle) 8:53; CON: Reilly 8:45; CON: Brandel 3:15; CON: Pittman (Berg) 1:03.
Second quarter scoring — CON: Pittman 6:35; CON: Sopko (Kienzle) 5:37; CON – Gregory 1:35; CON – McPherson (Sopko) 1:25; CON – Berg 1:06.
Third quarter scoring — CON: Pittman 9:59; CON: Alexander 6:05; CBE: Ott 5:52; CON – Walton (Bouhdary) 4:26.
Fourth quarter scoring — CBE: Griffin 11:05; CBE: Larkin 10:47; CON: Snyder 6:55; CBE: Brown 6:06; CON: McPherson 2:05; CBE: MacKenzie 0:32; CBE: Garr 0:04.
Goalie saves: CBE: Rosenthal 9, Mauer 3; CON: MacMillan 9, Cepielik 2.