Methacton dominates 3rd quarter in win over Upper Merion
WORCESTER >> When Methacton got its first power play early in the second half against Upper Merion, it wasted little time scoring.
Gunnar Seaman scored his fourth goal of the game to extend the Warriors lead to two goals and start a dominant seven-minute stretch.
Methacton scored nine straight goals in the third quarter to head to the fourth with a 10-goal lead before cruising to the final whistle for a 20-11 Pioneer Athletic Conference win over Upper Merion at Methacton High School Tuesday night.
“We just had to change the way we were playing,” Methacton senior Justin Sanelli said. “We had to put more hustle in it. We played good against (Perk Valley last week) and we thought it was going to be the same, but we didn’t come out that hot. We had to step it up on defense and hustle on groundballs and everything.”
“I think we got caught up in the Senior Night moment and our heads weren’t really with it,” Methacton coach Matt Saxon said. “We made a couple adjustments in the ride and offensively we started just doing our system and it started to work. Our heads weren’t in it at first, then we focused up and bounced back pretty quick.”
Seaman’s goal stopped an Upper Merion run that saw the Vikings trim a 9-5 deficit to 10-9. Seaman’s score came 58 seconds after Upper Merion got within one and Matt D’Orsogna added another goal just 22 seconds later to make it 12-9.
Carlo DeFilippis, Brody Borkowski and Matt Cole all scored over a 56-second span to make it 15-9 with 5:45 left in the third quarter.
Mike Merola, Seaman, D’orsogna and Sanelli added goals to give the Warriors (5-1, 5-1 PAC) a 19-9 lead.
“At 10-9 it was a really unfortunate situation in terms of the play that ended up leading to a man-down,” Upper Merion coach Brady McCormick said. “In the third right after that, we just watched them walk straight down the middle of the defense. Repeatedly straight down the middle of our defense. We had very weak slides and just didn’t play team defense very well at all.”
The 19-9 score held for the final three minutes of the third quarter and nearly seven minutes into the fourth. Upper Merion’s Carter Besz scored his sixth goal of the game with 5:20 remaining to make it 19-10, but the Vikings (3-4, 3-4 PAC) never threatened to make a fourth-quarter rally.
A big reason for Methacton’s offensive success, especially during the third quarter, was Borkowski’s faceoff success. He won nine of 10 faceoffs in the third quarter and 29 of 34 in the game. He also scored two goals.
“Brody is killing it this year,” Saxon said. “I think mentally he just has to collect himself at times, but he has the quickest hands in the PAC. I think he’s going to be very successful in the future, too.”
The game was tight for throughout the first half.
Upper Merion led once – 4-3 after two goals from Andrew Haney – but Methacton tied the game 23 seconds later when Sanelli scored and went ahead 5-4 on a Cole goal. The Warriors led, 7-4, after the first quarter.
“Spacing and moving the ball fast,” Sanelli credited for the offensive success. “We play a little bit of hero ball sometimes, but we moved the ball fast and it worked out.”
Seaman scored back-to-back goals in the second quarter to put Methacton ahead, 9-5. Upper Merion’s Casey Lamey and Besz responded, combining for three goals over the final 5:20 to get the Vikings within two, 10-8, at halftime.
100 wins
Last week McCormick won his 100th game. He’s been the Vikings only coach since the program started in 2008.
“It’s been a long time coming and it’s been a lot of guys coming through,” he said. “I told (the team) when we got it that this wasn’t me, this was them and everyone who came before them. Those guys are the ones who put everything out on the field and did everything.”
Methacton 20, Upper Merion 11
Upper Merion 4 4 1 2 – 11
Methacton 7 3 9 1 – 20
Goals: UM: Carter Besz 6, Andrew Haney 2, Casey Lamey 2, Zach Griffin. MT: Matt D’Orsogna 2, Gunnar Seaman 5, Justin Sanelli 4, Mike Merola, Carlo DeFilippis, Jimmy Maro, Cam Light, Matt Cole 2, Brody Borkowski 2.
Assists: MT: Gunnar Seaman, Justin Sanelli, Mike Merola, Alex Kowalczyk.
Saves: UM: Rocco Lindelow 14. MT: Owen Avelar 10.
