‘Stoga tops Radnor to reach district final for third straight year

TREDYFFRIN >> With four semifinalists, an all-Central League title tilt was already assured. But on Tuesday Conestoga secured a spot by earning the program’s third consecutive trip to the District 1 3A boys’ lacrosse final, where a familiar foe awaits.
The second-seeded Pioneers pulled away in the second half to oust No. 6 Radnor, 11-6, in the semifinal staged at Teamer Field. And when fourth-seeded Garnet Valley upended top-seed Springfield (Delco) in the other, it set up a rematch of the 2018 district title clash.
“We want a better outcome than last season,” said ’Stoga junior defender, Scott Smith, harkening back to the Jaguars’ 5-4 triumph a year ago.
“It’s hard to get to the finals,” added Pioneers’ head coach Brody Bush. “I think District 1 is the most powerful district in the state.
“It’s always a challenge, and our guys put together a good game to get there.”
Trailing 3-2 late in the first half, ’Stoga (17-3 overall) scored seven of the next eight goals, including a three-goal spurt in a 1:18 span early in the second half, to seize command.
“This was a perfect situation: against a rival and the last time we get to play on our home field for the seniors,” said 6-foot-6 senior attacker Will Schnorr. “So this feels amazing.”
Radnor falls to 15-6 overall and will take on Springfield in the third-place contest on Thursday. The Red Raiders have already secured a spot in the state tournament.
“It was anybody’s game and then we came unglued a little bit in the third quarter with some penalties,” said Radnor head coach John Begier. “(Conestoga) earned the win. We will learn from it and be better for it.”
The difference on Tuesday came in the third period, when ’Stoga seized the lead for good, outscoring the Raiders 4-1. A long-stick defender, Smith started it off by seemingly spinning and dodging his way through most of the Radnor squad to make it 4-3. And then 78 seconds later, the Pioneers had added two more goals, one from Brendan Murphy and another by Joey Allen.
“I love to push transition, so if I see space I take it. I have a green light,” Smith said.
“Scott is a one-of-a-kind type player that doesn’t come around often,” Bush added. “He can play any position on the field. He’s a shut-down defenseman and in transition he’s fairly lethal.”
The two squads exchanged man-up goals to make it 7-4 heading into the final quarter. And then Conestoga kept rolling with two more goals to start the fourth from freshman Patrick Reilly and another from Murphy with less than eight minutes on the clock.
“Effort-wise, it was there in the first half, but we did better on ground balls in the second half,” Bush pointed out. “We also played more as a team. That was the goal because Radnor is a great team.
“They give you fits on the faceoff.”
The Raiders’ faceoff specialist, Patrick Cullen, wound up with 11 wins in the circle, but the Pioneers’ surging defense limited Radnor to just 11 shots on goal, and keeper Mick Lee turned aside six of them.
“We are a defense-out team,” Bush said. “That gives us more possessions and helps our offense.”
With Smith, and senior defenders Jake Bouhdary and Michael Jameison leading the way, Conestoga has allowed just nine goals in its last two postseason outings.
“It’s much different from my freshman year when we had Tommy Sopko and Henry Berg, two of the better goal scorers I’ve played with,” Smith acknowledged. “But it’s also cool that the defense is thought of as the foundation of this team.”
A junior, Murphy finished with three goals and two assists, while sophomore Joey Allen added three goals and an assist. Schnorr chipped in two goals and freshman Patrick Reilly notched a goal and an assist.
“(Reilly) is doing an unbelievable job,” Bush said. “He’s following in his brother James’ footsteps, but he has his own identity on the field. He’s on the first line as a freshman, which is hard to do at our school.”
John Austen scored two of Radnor’s three second half goals, and Drew Brown added two goals and an assist for the Red Raiders.
“Conestoga played us well the first time (on March 28) and they’ve gotten better,” Begier said. “To go undefeated in the Central League says a lot about their progress. And I know we’ve gotten better.”
The Pioneers had possession throughout most of the opening quarter and raced out to a 2-0 lead on goals by Schnorr a couple minutes apart. But Jackson Birtwistle got Radnor on the scoreboard late in the first, which kick-started a 3-0 run featuring goals by Damien Ramondo and Brown.
The Raiders came close to extending the lead but a shot by Birtwistle bounced off the near post at the 8:40 mark, and soon thereafter Murphy scored the equalizer for ’Stoga to make it 3-3 at the half.
“We fought our way back into the game by winning face offs and trusting ourselves on offense and making some stops on defense,” Begier said. “I liked our composure and resiliency in the first half.”
Up next for the Pioneers is another rival they topped during the regular season (9-7 over Garnet Valley on April 23rd). ’Stoga also did that a year ago only to lose to the underdog Jags in the district final.
“We lost a lot of people from last season, but at Conestoga we kind of reload,” Schnorr said. “When we continually have a lot of talent coming up, there is no telling when we’ll stop winning.”

Conestoga 11, Radnor 6
Radnor 1 2 1 2 — 6
Conestoga 2 1 4 4 — 11
Radnor goals: Austen 2, Brown 2, Ramondo, Birtwistle.
Conestoga goals: Murphy 3, Reilly, Allen 3, Smith, Schnorr 2, Hinton.
Goalie saves: Darrach (R) 5; Lee (C) 6.