Over the rainbow, shuffled lacrosse schedule lies
CONCORD >> Right out of the gates Tuesday afternoon, the Garnet Valley attack deluged Downingtown West. Unfortunately for the Jags, they were upstaged by a deluge of another kind.
The skies opened up through the evening, washing out most of the first day of the District 1 boys and girls lacrosse tournaments.
The timing was inopportune for the Jaguars, the No. 15 seed in the District 1 Class 3A boys tournament. They were in control of No. 18 Downingtown West, up 5-0, thanks to five goalscorers. Hunter Baar scored a goal and had an assist, while Danny Bradley, Mitch Lachman, Bishop Barnes and Nate Ominsky also contributed to the onslaught.
Hunter Baar a slick move and sneaks one through. All GV. 5-0. Late first quarter. pic.twitter.com/P16NByPp3u
— Matthew De George (@sportsdoctormd) May 15, 2018
All that was put on hold, however, when the rains came. The game, which was moved up to 5:30 in an attempt to preempt a fast-moving storm across the Mid-Atlantic Region, was delayed at the end of one quick quarter. The delay lasted more than two hours, through bursts of lightning, a rainbow over the length of Moe DeFrank Stadium and a bewitching sunset. Finally, with spectacular lightning still illuminating the sky at 8:15, the game was rescheduled for Wednesday, to be resumed at the same point.
The winner of that game faces a quick turnaround to Thursday’s second round against Central Bucks East, the No. 4 seed, in what is scheduled to be a 4 p.m. start.
Games ticketed for early and late met the same fate Tuesday.
Haverford, the No. 17 seed in Class 3A boys, got through the first quarter of an afternoon start at No. 16 seed Souderton only to see the game suspended with Souderton up 3-0. The winner of that game gets top seed and defending state champ Avon Grove.
Strath Haven girls, the No. 22 seed in Class 3A, also had their game at No. 11 Downingtown West moved up to 5:30, but that wasn’t enough to best Mother Nature. They will reconvene at 4:15 Thursday.
The Class 2A predicament is not as harsh, with certain second-round fixtures slated for Friday. Penncrest’s game with No. 14 Springfield-Montco was washed out, to be made up Wednesday at 4. Should Penncrest win, it would host Upper Moreland Thursday. The 11th-seeded Bears — in an Eastern-lying, 3 p.m. start — ousted No. 6 New Hope-Solebury, 12-11.
Interboro, the No. 7 seed, was already scheduled to host Phoenixville Wednesday night at South Avenue Athletic Complex. Also moved to Wednesday at 7 is Marple Newtown, the No. 8 seed in the boys 2A field, which hosts No. 9 Springfield-Montco.
“We tried to wait it out,” Marple Newtown athletic director Chris Gicking said. “Obviously with every lightning strike you have to wait a half hour. The storm, on the radar, looked like it was going to move through. But obviously it’s not moving and safety comes first. With lightning strikes, kids’ safety is first.”
Springfield, Radnor and Strath Haven — in seeds two through four, respectively — drew byes in that tournament, as did top seeded Bishop Shanahan, which Marple hopes to encounter Friday.
The only Delco game that got in was the Radnor girls’ 18-1 win over St. Basil in the 2A tourney. It’s the 11th straight District 1 tournament win for the second-seeded Raiders, the reigning PIAA champs.
Staff writer Bob Grotz contributed to this report.
