In the mix for a postseason berth, Coatesville cruises past Upper Darby
CALN >> Just four days after the biggest victory in the program’s brief history, the Coatesville boys lacrosse team found itself down an early goal to visiting Upper Darby. Red Raider’s head coach Dan Ellis called a timeout and pleaded with his team, several times in very urgent terms, to “wake up!”
It was, apparently, a much needed jolt, and the home team responded immediately by scoring the next dozen goals, on the way to a 14-2 victory Monday against the visiting Royals.
“We took a penalty and (Upper Darby) scored,” Ellis explained. “And these are kids after all, and sometimes they are not ready to play. We just came off of the big win against Avon Grove.
“But to our kid’s credit, they did wake up – they came back and played well.”
On the surface, it may have looked like a lackluster non-league battle between two sub-.500 squads. But in just its second season as a program, Coatesville (4-6 overall) is very much in the hunt for one of the 24 spots that will ultimately make the District 1 3A Playoffs.
“We have a chance here in the next few games to get our record over .500 and make a run at the playoffs,” said senior attacker Tommy Ortega.
Late last week, the Raiders surged back to edge traditional power Avon Grove 9-8 in triple overtime to move up to 28th in the district power rankings. And with a Ches-Mont league schedule that was frontloaded, Coatesville has a favorable slate the rest of the way to make a real run at the postseason.
“It was a great win against a team (Avon Grove) that we’ve never beaten. It gave us a lot of momentum,” Ortega said.
“Over the last season and a half, there’s been a number of games where we’ve been close and then we ran out of steam,” Ellis added. “Plus we were down 6-0 (to Avon Grove), so to overcome that and to completely control the last two and a half quarters was great for our kids and our program.
“I think that if we do what we are capable of doing, we can get on a roll and hopefully be in the top 24.”
It was the sixth consecutive setback for Upper Darby (2-9), who is trying to build a program while simultaneously playing in the Central League, that is one of the state’s best.
“You have to balance teaching the game while at the same time you’re going up against great programs Radnor and Conestoga,” head coach Joe Niagara said. “We want to keep things in perspective and keep encourage our kids along the way.”
Less than a minute after the Royals took their only lead — on a goal by Steven Tayah — Derek Cooper tied it. By the end of the opening quarter, the Raiders were ahead 5-1, and it was 9-1 at the half. Ortega and junior Owen Ellis had a hand in seven of the first nine goals.
“It’s impressive,” Niagara said, when asked how far the Coatesville program has come in such a short time. “They’ve done everything right along the way and they play the game the right way.”
It was more of the same as the Raiders outscored the Royals 5-1 in the second half. Teegan Moleski notched Upper Darby’s second goal.
“We are growing as a team,” Niagara said. “We are getting a lot of young guys in and we have some good veterans. It’s just a matter of growing the program in our area.”
Coatesville had an advantage in shots on goal (21-7) and thanks to the work of sophomore Logan Swisher, the Raiders had a 14-6 edge in face offs. Ortega, the son of Coatesville football coach Matt Ortega, led the way with six goals and an assist.
“When Tommy gets his shots, he really can place them,” Ellis said.
Owen Ellis finished with finished with two goals and four assists. In addition Mike Kannel and Derek Cooper each had two goals, and Tommy Wayne added a goal and two assists.
“(Ortega) is the only senior in our offensive end, so we are getting better as we play more together,” Ellis said. “Tommy and Owen (Ellis) are the two that played the most last season. But Tommy Wayne, Derek Cooper and Mike Kennel are all coming along. We are getting better overall, because individually we are figuring out how to play.
“I think we are good enough to beat just about anybody, but at the same time if we don’t play (well) we could lose to anybody.”
Coatesville 14, Upper Darby 2
Upper Darby 1 0 1 0 – 2
Coatesville 5 4 4 1 — 14
Upper Darby goals: Tayah, Moleski.
Coatesville goals: Ortega 6, Ellis 2, Greer, Kennel 2, Cooper 2, Wayne.
Goalie saves: Hill (UD) 7; Abodonde (UD) 2; Shallis (C) 5; Hewson (C) 0.
