Hill School on the right track but Lawrenceville claims MAPL championship showdown

The Hill School boys lacrosse program is on the right track according to head coach Mike Murphy.

Saturday had the chance to be a big mile marker in Murphy’s three-year tenure with the Mid-Atlantic Prep League championship on the line against visiting Lawrenceville.

Instead, the drive continues.

Lawrenceville lived up to its top 25 national ranking by turning a tie game at halftime into a rout by owning the second half in a 13-5 victory.

Final: Lawrenceville 13, Hill School 5, MAPL boys lacrosse.

Dominant second half from national top 25 Lawrenceville turns the game pic.twitter.com/X0Qz2XUNd2

— Austin Hertzog (@AustinHertzog) May 15, 2021

Hill and Lawrenceville (10-3) both rolled MAPL opposition ahead of their showdown that was a marquee matchup of the weekend and through 24 minutes with the game tied 4-4 it was living up to its billing.

That’s the part Hill (6-3) hopes Lawrenceville remembers.

“They’re rolled through everybody on their schedule,” Hill coach Murphy said. “We did a good job today letting them know that we’re not going anywhere.”

Hill’s goals were scored by seniors John Imperato and Carter Straub, junior Michael Kapral and sophomores Noah Macielag and Joey Asterino (assist).

After leading 4-2, Hill was held scoreless for more than 30 minutes between the second and fourth quarters. The Big Red (10-3), which was led by sophomore marksman Hunter Chauvette’s six goals (one assist), put the pedal down in the third quarter with four goals – two from Chauvette, two from DJ Clark (2 goals, 4 assists) – while dominating possession and overworking the Hill defense.

It was 12-4 before the bleeding stopped on Asterino’s transition goal with 3:07 to play.

“They were able to maintain possession and were getting extra offensive possessions,” Murphy said. “They do a good job in their 10-man ride so they pressured us there. We weren’t able to make a couple plays and it puts the ball back on their offensive side of the field. We just end up playing a lot of defense.”

Hill rode the early wave of the traditional atmosphere of Lawrenceville Weekend with many spectators, raucous student support with waving flags and plenty of cowbell ringing. 

It nearly felt like old times a day after the campus mask mandate changed and restrictions have eased. Hill has been under strict lockdown for boarding students this school year amid the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Until recently, no spectators were allowed at athletic events so to have the atmosphere Saturday was uplifting in many ways.

“It was empty,” said Straub, a senior midfielder and captain. “It’s hard not having family here to cheer you on. That was hard for us. But we started to open up and a day like today, energy was very high.

“Obviously it’s a big rivalry here. We have home-field advantage, a big crowd with all the students coming out, “It’s a great feeling and definitely the energy was up for the boys in the beginning.”

The restrictions in place at Hill has benefitted team-building though.

“We definitely have grown together. Springtime is for lacrosse so we’re with the guys all the time,” Straub said. “Today we had a team breakfast, team lunch and hit the field. We couldn’t see our family so this group of guys has really grown together. I think that chemistry and togetherness has really helped us form a great team.”

Straub, a Quakertown native and Bentley commit, shares captain duties with senior defenseman and Pottstown native Andrew Chirielison and senior attack and Yale commit Cory Capri, who recently suffered a season-ending ACL injury and has been a big miss on offense.

“We’re missing some key pieces,” Murphy said. “Three of our top nine offensive guys are either injured or not here. I’m not making excuses but I think if you take three guys off their team, they’re a different squad, too. Not having Cory, who is probably our best offensive player, hurts.”

Murphy’s tenure is finally hitting its stride at Hill. The former Colgate University head coach spent 22 years coaching collegiately before arriving in Pottstown in 2018. Additionally, Murphy is the defensive coordinator for the Whipsnakes organization in the Premier Lacrosse League. He got the 2019 season under his belt before having progress stunted by last year’s season cancellation.

“Coach Murphy came in my sophomore year and it’s been great, really working us hard, getting great players in and really challenging me to be the best,” Straub said.

Saturday was both a sign of progress and reminder there’s work to be done.

“I like the direction we’re going in,” Murphy said. “You look at Lawrenceville and they’ve got a lot of good lacrosse players. If we have five, they have eight. And my hope is that we can continue to bring in higher level players – I think we have higher level players in our sophomore class, guys I think can be really good as we get bigger and stronger and start to understand the game more, that we’ll feel more confident in games like this.”

It looks to be an arms race for MAPL supremacy between Hill and Lawrenceville, who is coached by Jon Posner. Posner previously turned Culver Academy (Ind.) into a national power – it was top 10 in the Under Armour/Inside Lacrosse National High School Power Rankings six times in the last seven years – before arriving in Lawrenceville last May and having some of his top Culver talent follow.

Lawrenceville is in front at the moment, but in his current crop Murphy has a group hungry to improve.

“What I love the most about this team is that they love to practice. And they are getting better,” Murphy said. “But it’s going to be a process. You can’t get to the destination without getting in the car, turning on the engine and driving. And right now we’re on the drive.”

NOTES >> It was a solid battle at faceoff between Hill’s Brett Reynolds and Trevor Mackles with Big Red holding a slight advantage 12-10. … Hill’s local contingent includes Chirieleison and fellow seniors Aidan Dunn (Pottstown), juniors Graham Eilberg (Pottstown) and John Stone (Pottstown), and sophomores Reagan Basile (Douglassville), Andrew Mannato (Collegeville), Jacob Moshang (Phoenixville), Jake Mitchell (Pottstown).