Cougars edge Demons to secure Ches-Mont championship
UWCHLAN >> If anybody can relate to what the Downingtown East boys’ lacrosse team is currently going through, it is Kennett head coach Bob Allvord. His 2021 Blue Demons captured the Ches-Mont crown, and did it by going undefeated against every league opponent.
Thanks to a very competitive 12-10 home triumph over Kennett, the Cougars secured the 2022 Ches-Mont title on Tuesday, and are now just one win away from doing it unscathed against league foes. It may happen in consecutive seasons, but it is rarified air indeed.
“I was just talking with Bob Allvord, and he experienced this last season,” East head coach Joe Horvath said. “He talked about how much pressure it was and how much work it is, and I certainly agree with that.
“There is unfinished business out there for us and we are going to try and finish this thing out.”
Now 11-0 in the league (15-2 overall), the Cougars wrap up the regular season on Thursday at Unionville. It is an opponent, like Kennett, that beat East a year ago.
“This week is a big revenge week for us with Kennett and now Unionville — two teams we lost to last season,” said senior attacker Alystair Hemburger.
“We’d really like to win out and finish it off with a win at Unionville. But it is more than just winning out – we want to avenge last year.”
Part one of the revenge tour was Tuesday, but the Blue Demons (8-4, 11-6) didn’t make it easy. It was tied four times in the first half before East broke it open by scoring four goals in a row, including three straight in the final seven minutes of the first half.
“When we put consecutive goals in, we tend to play more confident,” Horvath said.
“I want to thank N.J. (Cogliati) for getting the face offs so we could score four in a row,” Hemburger added.
Deadlocked at 4-4, sophomore Connor Sweeney notched the go-ahead goal and the Cougars stayed in front the rest of the way. Junior Bryson Kolinsky later scored on a fast break and then dished a pass to teammate Jake McMahon for another. And when Kolinsky found Hemburger for a tally less than a minute into the second half, the Cougars opened an 8-4 lead.
“Winning the Ches-Mont was one of our goals from the end of last season,” Horvath acknowledged. “But I was not super-pleased with our performance today. We had a lot of penalties and mental errors.”
It was a big problem during the rest of the third period as Kennett scored three of the next four, and had a big edge in possession time. The Demons’ goals came from sophomore Bo Freebery, junior Colin Jung and senior Cole Hulme, and the only counter came with 3:20 on the clock, when Cogliati, a senior, won a faceoff and scored eight seconds later.
“This year the third has been our worst quarter, so I challenged the kids at halftime, and we came out and won the quarter,” Allvord said.
“East is a very good team. We are thin and it’s been a wearing season. We looked a little tired in my eyes, and yet we still battled really, really hard.”
Kolinsky notched his third goal of the day following a long possession by East, but senior Jake Freebery got it back two minutes later for Kennett, to make it 10-8 with just under six minutes on the clock. The Cougars, however, killed off a critical penalty and then junior Bo Horvath scored at the other end in transition with 4:09 to go to wrap up the victory.
Freshman goaltender Brady Quinn registered eight second half saves against the Demons, including three key stops in the closing minutes. Kennett actually had a slight edge in shots on goal (20-19).
“It is hard to understand and coach when you are a man-down or two-men down,” Horvath complained. “I thought our guys did an adequate job dealing with it, but we have to sew those things up and avoid those situations.
“I commend our defense. There were a couple stretches where they were playing defense for two-three minutes, but they kept their will and did a nice job.”
With senior defender Liam Quinn leading the way, the Cougars’ defense held the Demons’ top scorer, junior Zach Hulme, without a point. Jung paced the attack with four goals, Bo Freebery had three and Jake Freebery added two, along with three assists.
“The end of our season has been a gauntlet,” Allvord said. “We are not winning all of these games, yet we are competing in them all to prepare us for that next step, which is districts.
“(East) did an exceptional job on (Zach Hulme), but we showed progress because we did not force the ball, we were patient and we had our chances.”
Horvath, Kolinsky and Hemburger each had three goals for East.
“Our coach calls it a six-headed dragon – we have six people that can all score the ball, and that really helps,” Hemburger said.
“But the defense is like the rock of our team.”
Downingtown East 12, Kennett 10
Kennett 3 1 3 3 — 10
Downingtown East 3 4 2 3 — 12
Kennett goals: J. Freebery 2, B. Freebery 3, C. Hulme, Col. Jung 4.
Downingtown East goals: Horvath 3, B. Kolinsky 3, Cogliati, Hemburger 3, J. McMahon, Sweeney.
Goalie saves: Hrabal (K) 7; Milon (DE) 2; Quinn (DE) 8.
