Pickett leads Springfield’s charge to quarterfinals
LEHMAN TWP. >> Springfield didn’t require a reminder so far from home that they needed to avoid a letdown, even against a supposedly inferior opponent in the opening round of the PIAA Tournament Wednesday.
But Rhett Padgett’s goal for Delaware Valley eight minutes in provided one nonetheless.
Springfield’s response eight seconds later thanks to a big assist from Andrew Pickett indicated they were equal to the challenge.
Springfield controlled matters throughout Wednesday’s opener with District 2 champion Delaware Valley, even if irresolute finishing made the 10-5 final cozier than it needed to be.
The Cougars (17-7) led 6-1 at half and 9-3 late in the third before Delaware Valley (15-5) tightened the margin but never seriously threatened on the black turf at Lake-Lehman High School’s Edward Edwards Stadium.
Part of the reason for the early cushion was Pickett’s day at the X. He finished 11-for-19, but the junior was 7-for-9 in a first half where the Cougars outshot the Warriors, 20-6. Even when he lost, the turnover causing machine that is Zac Methlie was usually not far behind pestering the Warrior with the ball.
When Padgett, who scored three times, knotted the game at 1 at 4:12 of the first quarter, Pickett responded with a clean faceoff win, then tic-tac-toed the ball to Mike Gerzabek to Kyle Long to put Springfield up for good.
“It was definitely an important start, because it gave us the flow of the game,” Pickett said. “It gave us our energy.”
Gerzabek and Long did most of the fancy work in front of goal. The senior Gerzabek scored three times to go with two assists, and Long finished four goals to go with two assists, the beneficiary of favorable matchups when Delaware Valley threw a short stick at him.
Gerzabek set up Mike Vent at 5:17 of the second quarter, then got the ball to Liam DiFonso in front of the net for him to score just over a minute later. Those goals helped the Cougars strike the balance between slowing down and waiting for their opportunities and pushing the tempo against Del Val. Only six first-half saves from Neil Roche kept Del Val in touch.
Gerzabek finds Mike Vent after Roche goes for a walk. 5-1 Cougars. pic.twitter.com/0BLa0kj1qh
— Matthew De George (@sportsdoctormd) June 1, 2016
The Warriors started to come to terms with the speed of the game in the second. Padgett scored at 8:31 to cut the deficit to 7-2, and leading-scorer Nick Pampalone, the 60-goal man who was largely bottled up by Pat Smyth on the day, scored a man up. But Joe DeBernardi took a Long feed to stretch the margin back to five, and Long added an unassisted tally to bump the lead to 9-3.
Liam Difonso from Gerzabek. 6-1 Springfield. pic.twitter.com/5LCRcicRu9
— Matthew De George (@sportsdoctormd) June 1, 2016
“They were definitely a faster team that what we were used to playing,” Padgett said. “I think we played a great game, but they were just better.”
“I think we have to go 100 percent every time,” Gerzabek said. “A good team doesn’t discriminate who they’re playing. You can’t play down to anyone.”
Some relatively poised possession in the fourth quarter — though it included more dropped passes and ill-advised looks into traffic than coach Tom Lemieux may have wanted — suffocated the game, Long putting the icing on the cake with 91 seconds to play and sent the Cougars, District One’s fourth seed, to a matchup with D1 runner-up Avon Grove.
