Rose, Garnet Valley topple Upper Dublin in District 1-3A semifinals

UPPER DUBLIN >> At this point, Jason Rose may have transcended the “hot goalie” tag.

Rose, the Garnet Valley senior, was at his best again on Tuesday making highlight stop after highlight stop on the road against Upper Dublin in the District 1-3A semifinals. Thanks to 13 saves from Rose, the No. 15 Jaguars knocked off the No. 3 Cardinals in an 8-5 win, sending them to Thursday’s district title game.

It’s Garnet Valley’s first District 1 title appearance since 2013, when Rose’s older brother Mitch manned the posts for the Jaguars.

“We’re really excited to be here, the energy is higher than it’s been all season,” Rose said. “The defense is giving me the shots that I’d like to see, so it’s them, the defense giving (opponents) exactly what we want to give them.”

Rose posted nine saves in the first half as his defensemen and defensive midfielders did a great job of limiting Upper Dublin’s offense. It’s easier for any goalie to make a stop when they see where the shot is coming from and even easier if that shot isn’t coming from an angle.

Garnet Valley, which added the No. 3 Cardinals to an impressive postseason trophy case that includes No. 18 Downingtown West, No. 2 Central Bucks East and No. 10 Perkiomen Valley, made sure Upper Dublin never found the same offensive rhythm it did in prior rounds. While Rose was the stopper, he got plenty of help from long poles Austin Patton, Sam Morin, Aidan Berry and Tyler Davis along with mids Ryan Louden and Greg Reynolds.

“Our communication has been up a lot, I’m telling everyone where they should be and when they should be there,” Rose said. “It really comes down to communication and our will to win. We’ve gotten significantly better, even just in the playoffs alone. We didn’t have the regular season we wanted, but knew that wasn’t the team we had to be, we could change our performance.”

Upper Dublin coach Dave Sowers credited Rose for his performance in goal but also felt his team inflicted a lot of wounds on itself in the defeat. Sower pointed to the eight penalties his team was called for and the five goals the Jaguars got off of them as especially damaging.

“They went to a two-lock (defense), we were prepared for it and worked it but we didn’t get great looks and their goalie is what’s got them going, he’s red-hot going through these playoffs,” Sowers said. “He stood on his head again but we have to do a better job. We have to get better.”

Making the win more impressive for Garnet Valley was the Jaguars’ ability to overcome a faceoff tally that heavily favored the Cardinals. UD’s Lucas Roselli helped the Cards win 13 of 16 faceoffs, a percentage that on most other days likely leads to Upper Dublin controlling the game.

GV attackman Hunter Baar pointed to the play of the defensive unit as the reason the Jaguars were able to count the faceoff disparity. Baar led GV with three goals, with his third coming on a snipe with 6.7 seconds left in the third quarter that gave the Jaguars a 7-3 lead.

Baar felt the key to breaking down Upper Dublin’s solid defense was maintaining possession of the ball. The Jaguars had to be patient on offense and if they did, they would get their opportunities from it.

Throughout this playoff run, Baar has seen better chemistry on the offensive end along with a more consistent ability to maintain and capitalize on possessions.

“I think we’re very confident in our abilities,” Baar said. “I think a lot of people, once we entered the playoffs, didn’t think we would go very far but as a team, we thought we could and this is a result of playing as a team.”

GV led 5-1 at the half but the Cardinals started the second half with some momentum, getting tallies from Jerry Bardol and Jed Hanson to cut the lead to 5-3 with 7:05 remaining in the third. During a timeout, Rose gathered his defensive unit and got them back on track.

“The defense responded really well to what I had to say,” Rose said. “It came down to checking sticks in the middle and there was a play where (Hanson) got the ball about five and five on the left side and we had three kids come down right on his stick and get a turnover. That was a big momentum changer.”

The Jaguars had turned to Rose to get stops at a crucial point in the game and he delivered. Sensing momentum was back on their side, and with a penalty putting them a man up, Baar and the offense wanted to capitalize.

Thanks to Bishop Barnes hustling down a ground ball after an initial shot, GV was able to re-set and ended the possession with Baar finding Danny Bradley for a goal with 3:11 left in the third. Baar added his goal in the dying seconds of the quarter and Bradley added one more in a two-man up situation early in the fourth and put the Jaguars up 8-3.

“When we cut it close, we didn’t do a good job on the man down and they put the goals in,” Sowers said. “It wasn’t our day. You come across a red-hot goalie and it isn’t your day, this is what ends up happening.”

Garnet Valley will face the winner of Tuesday night’s game between No. 1 Avon Grove and No. 4 Conestoga in Thursday’s final while Upper Dublin faces the loser in a seeding game.

Rose not only followed his brother by leading GV to a district final but will also be playing at the Air Force Academy like Mitch following his Jaguars career.

“We’re excited and ready to get after it,” Rose said.

“We should have a lot of confidence,” Baar said. “Anything can happen.”

UPPER DUBLIN 8, GARNET VALLEY 5
GARNET VALLEY 2 3 2 1 – 8
UPPER DUBLIN 1 0 2 2 – 5
Goals-Assists: GV – Hunter Baar 3-1, Danny Bradley 2-0, Jake Morin 1-2, Nate Ominsky 1-1, Mitch Lachman 1-1, John Ricci 0-1; UD – Jed Hanson 3-0, Max Winebrake 1-3, Jerry Bardol 1-1. Shots: GV – 15, UD – 18. Saves: GV – Jason Rose 13, UD – Dillon Lojeski 7.