Furey’s road back almost leads Episcopal to upset of Malvern
RADNOR — In one sense, Gabe Furey didn’t have the senior season he wanted.
A lacerated spleen, followed by a torn hamstring — that’s not the ideal plan for any campaign. But even from his perch on the sidelines for 13 of Episcopal Academy’s 19 games, Furey tried to make an impact.
With three goals and an assist Friday night in EA’s 10-8 loss to Malvern Prep in the Inter-Ac Invitational semifinal, Furey showed the kind of difference he can make. What he didn’t evince, even as the Churchmen cycled through end-of-season farewell hugs, is the severe regret of experiences missed.
“These are my best friends in the world,” Furey said. “I can’t do anything about (injuries). I try to stay positive through it all. I love lacrosse. Just being able to go to practice every day, who cares winning or losing, we had a great season. I was excited to come back, of course I was, but I think I handled it well and when I came back, I tried to make a good difference.”
By and large, Furey did. He scored 13 goals in six games to go with four assists. Among the games he missed was the 8-4 Malvern Prep win over EA in April, and his difference in the playoff matchup at Cabrini was evident.
“He’s a really good, big lefty, so we obviously have to adjust and kind of make it a matchup with him,” Malvern long-stick middie Sean Rushton said. “But we didn’t have too much of a (hard) time. We’ve been working on it all week. In the beginning, it took a little bit getting adjusted to three lefties because we don’t see that too often.”
Even with Furey, the third-seeded Churchmen (12-7) were playing catch up most of the game. Furey and Charlie Cunniffe scored within 18 seconds in the second quarter to tie the score at three. But Malvern scored the last four goals of the half, including one by Matthew Civitella with six seconds left to create a 7-3 bump.
The first goal on that run helped turN the momentum: Colin McGill buried a goal in transition from Nick Potemski, just seconds after goalie Will Pettit snared a Furey blast.
For a team protecting a lead, that kind of goal can break an opponents’ resolve.
“I think that quick transition just leads to momentum,” Rushton said. “After that transition, the sideline is up, the kids on the field are up, so it’s really easy to secure the ball when everyone has high energy and the other team is rushing to have the ball, and so it’s easy to take control after a fastbreak goal like that.”
EA continueD to fight. Furey and Nate Hunter halved the lead to 7-5 before it blew back out to 9-5, thanks to McGill (his third, two on man-up situations) and Eric Spanos in the final minute of the third.
EA’s defense gave the offense time to catch up, with Matt Chess providing 10 saves.
“It definitely helps us a ton. He bails us out so much,” defender Carter Strid said. “He has the whole season. As a defenseman, we’re so thankful for that. He did an awesome job and we’re so proud of him.”
Rowan Brumbaugh scored from Furey, then Furey tallied and pole Colin Loughead took advantage of Pettit out of his cage on a 10-man ride to fire a 50-yarder into goal. But two was as close as EA would get, with Evan Waitte’s goal in the fourth quarter sealing a win.
Not that the setback, in a season that could’ve been lost completely, is the only thing Furey will remember.
“A lot of people have found our roles and we don’t try to do too much,” Furey said. “Our big motto was we. It’s making plays, and everyone has gotten better, but everyone has found their role than just getting more skilled. We were much more comfortable coming into this game, and we were doing the little things instead of doing them individually.”
