Recruiting just part of the adjustment game for Radnor’s Pierce

RADNOR – Compared to the disruptions some teammates and classmates have faced, Grant Pierce feels he’s had it relatively easy from a lacrosse perspective.

Pierce is a member of the class of 2021, perhaps the one most adversely affected by COVID-19’s wipeout of last year’s spring season. Whereas the top members of the class of 2020 had their last full summer of lacrosse, and the 2022s had another two years to build up, Pierce and his cohorts missed the vital junior season. For players with upside who shift toward the late side on the blooming scale, a big junior year is a way to get noticed and upgrade your college destination.

Through all the tumult, Pierce is happy with where he landed. And Fairfield is getting a fine player, as the Radnor defender showed Thursday in a 14-2 win over Penncrest.

“It’s been super tough, and not having the film, not having coaches see me play is super tough for recruiting,” Pierce said. “But the summer tournaments really helped. Not having a junior year stunk, but it’s good that I ended up at the right place and the right coaches saw me play.”

Pierce was a monster defending the Lions, who entered the game with an 8-0 record and atop the District 1 Class 2A standings. Radnor led 8-1 at halftime, holding a 17-5 edge in shots. It took Steven Woolery’s second goal in the final 30 seconds to get Penncrest nudged off that one goal.

The win was the 200th of coach John Begier’s career. The team, which includes Begier’s son Chris, a middie who had an assist, posed for a picture with balloons after the game. Begier has been at Radnor since 2007 and delivered the program’s first state title in 2015.

A gritty defensive performance led by Pierce typifies the foundation Begier has built at Radnor. It shows through in Pierce, who has high-DI attributes in his athleticism and penchant for getting into passing lanes, even if he didn’t enter his latter years of high school with as much notoriety as other prospects.

As a whole, the defense was solid and deep with trademark Radnor skill, as evidenced by two goals from pole Casey Ott, including one whipped home with half a second left in the first half. The other was the rare pole-to-pole connection, with Pierce getting the assist.

“That happened in practice yesterday a couple of times,” Pierce said. “I saw Casey Ott there and I got too excited not to pass it to him. I’m glad he stuck it.”

The other aspects were there for Radnor (7-1). The Raiders won 13 of 17 draws thanks to Tommy Hannum (6-for-9) and Mason Brown (7 of 8). They got eight saves from Robert Hobbs, including a few sparkling denials to keep Penncrest from building any momentum outside of two transition goals.

“He made some huge saves and he’s really the anchor of our defense,” Pierce said of Hobbs. “His communication and having a brick wall behind us, at the end of the day, it’s really, really nice to have that in your back pocket. He’s everything we need on this team.”

The Radnor offense was firing, despite the best efforts of Penncrest goalie Andrew Wickman (12 saves). Leading the way was Ryan Goldstein, who tallied a first-half hat trick on the same move, darting from behind the cage and curling home shots high on Wickman.

“I was just kind of looking (at) the back side; (if) Drew Cox or Damien (Raimondo) was open, and if they didn’t play me, I shot it,” said Goldstein, who added an assist. “At first I was passing it, and they weren’t getting clean shots because I realized they weren’t sliding off it, so then I came around and shot it a few times.”

“I think the biggest thing was talking through our two-slides” on defense, Wickman said. “A lot of times we were late getting through, and we had our main slide would go and we didn’t have our two, and they would get an easy goal on the crease. It’s more talk from myself and from everyone on the team.”

Jack Murphy tallied a hat trick for Radnor. Nick Lucchesi added two goals and two assists.

Pierce’s recruiting journey follows in the footsteps of his brother, All-Delco midfielder Connor, a junior at Delaware. That’s offered a big assist to his process. As arduous as the journey has been, he’s happy with the result.

“Especially this year with COVID and everything that’s happened, it’s been super different,” Grant Pierce said. “Just like everything this year, we’ve had to adjust on the fly. And the recruiting process is no different.”

Also in the Central League:

Marple Newtown 11, Ridley 10 >> Damien Bosch and Joey Yukenevitch tallied hat tricks as the Tigers got the win. Charlie Box chipped in a goal and three assists, and CJ Lane and Cole Thomas tallied two goals and an assist each.

Strath Haven 17, Haverford 11 >> Quinn Carson scored seven times, but the Fords were on the wrong side of a high-scoring affair. Andreas McKendry and Brian Young scored twice apiece.

Springfield 15, Lower Merion 1 >> Colin Hannigan and Jake Methlie combined to go 17-for-18 at the faceoff X as the Cougars dominated the ball and the scoreboard.

Tyler Gougler scored three goals with an assist. Jack Clark added two goals and three helpers, and Jimmy Kennedy scored twice.

Garnet Valley 13, Conestoga 8 >> Joey Halloran and Bishop Barnes scored four goals each, and Max Busenkell added three goals and three assists to lead the Jaguars. Ryan Nealon added four assists. Drew Keaveney made nine saves.