Garnet Valley’s thunder, with a splash of rain, washes away Wilson

LOWER MERION — There isn’t exactly a blueprint for what Garnet Valley and Wilson went through the last two days.

In their opening-round game in the PIAA Class 3A boys lacrosse tournament, the teams played all of 84 seconds Tuesday afternoon at Penncrest before the storms rolled in. They got the first quarter finished Tuesday at Lower Merion before thunder intervened for a 35-minute delay, then elapsed all of 31 seconds of the fourth quarter (i.e. 30 seconds past the minimum needed for an official game) before skies darkened. After waiting for 45 minutes, the call was made to award Garnet Valley the win, 13-6, rather than wait out a hellacious line of storms rolling through the Delaware Valley that wouldn’t abate until well after 7 p.m. at a field that lacked lights.

The strategy for the District 1 runner-up Jaguars as they sat under the bleachers at Lower Merion involved less tactics and more 21 — as in the counting/logic game — to keep the team loose and together.

“We just stay together in the locker room, talk, bond, make sure the energy is up because we don’t want to lose our energy in the locker room and come out slow,” attackman Mitch Lachman said. “We try to keep it going in the locker room.”

Jake Morin to Mitch Lachman on the crease. Halftime: @GVAthletics 8, Wilsom 5 pic.twitter.com/XFjMF79LQQ

— Matthew De George (@sportsdoctormd) May 29, 2019

Whatever the idea, it worked for the Jaguars, who outlasted a game Wilson side that didn’t go away until the Garnet Valley attack turned it on in the third quarter. Any lapse from the Jaguars and Wilson would’ve been primed to pounce, either forcing a resumption Wednesday or worse.

But Garnet Valley wouldn’t let that happen, booking a spot in the state quarterfinals against either Emmaus or St. Joseph’s Prep, who will try for a third straight day on Thursday to get their game in, this time at 5:15 at Northampton High School.

Garnet Valley (18-4) avoided such a fate with its high-powered attack winning the war of wills with Wilson, which trailed by three with 9:36 left in the third on an Ethan Stitzel goal. To get there, the Bulldogs’ defense made Garnet Valley uncharacteristically uncomfortable, forcing turnovers by pressing out and using Garnet Valley’s aggressiveness against it.

“They’re a good team,” attackman Jake Morin said. “There’s nothing we can take away from them. They played a good game, and they made us make mistakes that we don’t normally make. … They just had a lot of sticks in the passing lanes. We had to learn to stop forcing the ball.”

Garnet Valley found that balance, thanks in large part to Lachman. The big man appeared to be constantly open on the crease, depositing six goals. Two of those tallies — the opener Tuesday, then a tally late in the first quarter Wednesday — were of his preferred behind-the-back variety.

Lachman’s threat inspired the Jaguars to force passes on occasions. But feeding Lachman in volume led to a 29-14 edge in shots and a weapon that was on balance unstoppable.

“He always gets open,” Morin said of Lachman. “Everyone does a good job moving, and he does a great job finding that open lane. It’s easy to find him.”

Wilson, the fourth seed from District 3 and the fourth team from the district to be eliminated in 3A, put up a fight. Cameron Magalotti and Gavin Lenhart scored twice each, both long-range blasts, and Stitzel had a goal and an assist.

But Garnet Valley’s is an attack few have contained for a full game this season, and the Jags needed just three quarters plus 31 seconds to bag 13 goals. Lachman fittingly completed the scoring on a man-up off a Max Busenkell feed, rolling to the crease and making himself available to tap one home on the doorstep, taking him to 100 career goals and 63 this season.

“A lot of guys are beating people, so if you draw a slide, it makes it easy,” Lachman said. “There’s a lot of people dodging, not just me.”

Free hint: Cover Mitch Lachman in the slot. Not occasionally, always. 13-6. pic.twitter.com/aSE5ISvegJ

— Matthew De George (@sportsdoctormd) May 29, 2019

Morin paired three goals with three assists, and Danny Bradley, Hunter Baar and Busenkell had one goal and two assists each. Adam Oldrati helped the cause with a 15-for-20 day on draws.

The energy factor was there. Garnet Valley scored the first two goals after the resumption and never trailed. The Jags also got the hustle goals, from Bradley scooping a groundball and scoring with three seconds left in the first quarter to Morin picking off a pass to feed Lachman on the crease in the third to Cory Urso having his shot saved but following up to nudge it across the line.

Unorthodox as the game’s flow might have been, the Jaguars found a way to make it work.

“We try to stay hyped in the huddle,” Lachman said. “We try to get the energy up before we go back on the field. Coach (Frank) Urso usually gets a hop going, is what he calls it, so we all get loud there. We try to keep the energy going from there.”