CB South jumps ahead, then holds off Pennridge
WARRINGTON >> Gavin Ostroff had a busy finish Friday night.
A game his Central Bucks South boys lacrosse team looked like it had in had totally changed tone as visiting Pennridge tried to put together another late rally. The Titans goalie suddenly had his hands very full trying to protect a lead and all he did was stand tall in goal.
Behind Ostroff’s flurry of late saves and Chris Moore’s mastery of faceoffs helped CB South fend off Pennridge 9-6.
“I just had to stay strong,” Ostroff said. “Most of their shots came off our clears, so I couldn’t let down for my guys and have their backs.”
Friday’s game had extra meaning for the hosts. Prior to the first faceoff, the Titans honored Lucas Traverse, a 2019 graduate and sophomore at Duquesne who passed away in January.
All season, the Titans have played with a decal on their helmets with Traverse’s initials and his jersey number 66. The team brings a framed 66 home jersey to its bench every game and when on the road, one player has worn the away No. 66 before the team plans to retire the number at the end of the season.
South’s upperclassmen played with Traverse his senior year, so they wanted to go out and get the win for their teammate with many of his family and friends in the stands on Friday.
“We all miss him,” Moore said. “Playing for him, it gave us a lot of confidence to start strong and win this game.”
Thanks to Moore, the Titans (6-2, 5-2 SOL National) got off to a great start. The senior midfielder, who will be enlisting in the United State Navy after graduation, was an absolute force on the faceoff X, winning 15 of the game’s 16 draws.
Moore also scored the game’s second goal, putting the Titans up 2-0 with the home side opening up a 5-1 advantage at the end of the first quarter. With possession so important in lacrosse, Pennridge (7-6, 5-3 SOL National) only had to work harder with Moore not giving the Rams anything off the faceoff.
“They came out fired up and we came out flat,” Pennridge coach JP Banks said. “Their faceoff guy absolutely killed us today, so anytime you’re going to be in that position, you have to find other ways to get the ball. I thought we did a good job riding and if we turned it over on offense, we went and got it back but we were really careless with the ball.”
Ostroff wasn’t overly busy for much of the first half thanks to the defensive unit in front of him. The Titans defense was able to mostly bottle up the Rams attackers and forced Pennridge into some turnovers that proved costly with the hosts controlling possession.
“They were good at sliding and when we do that well, that’s when we play well,” Ostroff said.
Each of South’s first six goals came from a different player and the Titans led by as many as six before a late goal from Pennridge closed the gap to 8-3 at the half. Moore chalked the offense’s success to moving the ball, forcing the Rams defenders to follow them and avoiding one-on-one plays.
Evan Jacobsen and Reese Levinson each had two first half goals and Logan Dunn joined them as multi-goal scorers early in the third quarter to give South a 9-3 lead. From there, the Rams tried to put together a furious rally.
“We don’t quit,” Banks said. “Their goalie made some nice saves but I thought we had the momentum there and if a couple of those shots fall, maybe we’re talking about something different.”
Ryan Carickhoff scored consecutive goals in the third to cut the lead to four on his way to a hat trick. Pennridge had a spark with about 10 minutes left in the fourth quarter when Chris Fanelli had a shot saved, secured the ground ball and punched home the rebound to get within 9-6.
However, despite plenty of opportunities and a handful of man-up scenarios, the Rams wouldn’t score again. Their main obstacle was Ostroff, who made six crucial saves in the final five minutes of the game on his way to an 11-save night.
“You can’t do that all the time and expect to come back, tie it up then beat everybody,” Banks said. “It’s a long season, there are still a lot of positives going on in our program, but today (South) outplayed us and we couldn’t catch up to them.”
CENTRAL BUCKS SOUTH 9, PENNRIDGE 6
CENTRAL BUCKS SOUTH 5 3 1 0 – 9
PENNRIDGE 1 2 2 1 – 6
Goals-Assists: CBS – Nick Pareno 2-1, Logan Dunn 2-0, Reese Levinson 2-0, Cole Cenci 1-0, Chris Moore 1-0, Evan Jacobsen; P – Ryan Carickhoff 3-0, Chris Fanelli 2-1, Jack Lenox 1-1, Luke Lenox 0-1.
