District 1 Class 2A Boys Lacrosse: Brian Box comes through late as Marple lifts trophy

RIDLEY TWP. — The ball looped into Penncrest’s half of the field tantalizingly, begging for an open stick. It had been outletted in the third quarter by Marple Newtown defenseman Josh Funk, the latest up-and-down passage in a track meet of a District 1 Class 2A final.

The ball hopped out of the reach of Marple attackman Joey Yuknevitch, side-spun past a covering Penncrest pole, then checked up just shy of goalie Luke Pyle-Ballak’s crease. The ball was, in a chaotic moment of a back-and-forth game, up for grabs.

Brian Box was the one who grabbed it, and he knew what to do with it.

Box shoveled home that loose ball, part of four second-half goals that helped Marple Newtown to a wire-to-wire win over Penncrest, 10-9, to lift the District 1 trophy for the first time in program history..

Box, the freshman attackman, also grabbed a GB and scored into a mostly open cage in the fourth, one of three markers in the final 12 minutes to hold off the charge by the top-seeded Lions (14-6) Every time Marple Newtown (17-4) needed a goal, it was the younger Box who seemed to obliged.

“I can’t say I’m surprised,” big brother and senior midfielder Charlie Box said. “I’ve been seeing him do it since he was five, six years old. I’m so proud of him. It’s been awesome playing with him so far this year.”

Brian Box had the answer when Penncrest got within 8-6 early in the fourth. He scored again, on a rush started by LSM David Bertoline in which Yuknevitch made the extra pass in transition, with 5:11 left. Then he applied the eventual game-winner with 3:18 remaining to make it 10-7, even if the final margin was a little close than comfort.

The reason Marple pulled that out was Jack Welsh in goal. Penncrest’s book on Welsh was to shoot low – which Welsh understood given his body of work. But it’s also a weakness he’s worked hard to correct, one that might find itself disappearing from scouting reports soon.

“I’m just ready for anything,” Welsh said. “I was expecting low shots, because I’m sure they saw on film I always let in low shots, so I was ready for it. I’m ready for anything at all times.”

These teams produced a lot of “anything.” In the regular season, it amounted to an 11-10 Marple win between the Central League foes. Thursday night, it summed to a motor rally game, action ready to reverse course at a moment’s notice.

“We definitely did expect that,” Charlie Box said. “Last game, there was probably a stretch of three of four minutes straight of going back and forth, back and forth. There came a time when Damien (Bogshe), I think he settled the ball, we had an opportunity but he made the decision to settle the ball and I think it worked for us and that helped us get the victory.”

Marple led 5-3 at half, thanks to Charlie Box’s two goals and an assist at half, taking the Cornell signee over 100 points for the season. But Penncrest answered right out of the halftime gates with two goals in 93 seconds from Jason Poole to get back level at 5-all.

“Stuff happens,” Poole said. “We came out a little slow, and they went ahead and we never could catch up. … I honestly thought we would smoke them. But they came out and wanted it more.”

Penncrest just couldn’t get over the hump to get ahead, despite outshooting Marple 30-15 after halftime. Yuknevitch took a Charlie Box feed midway through the third to put Marple up 6-5, and Brian Box doubled the edge with his loose-ball goal with 100 seconds left in the period.

Poole ripped his fourth goal early in the fourth to restore the margin to one goal. But Welsh used his mask to repel a Jason McDougall shot midway through the fourth to hold off the tide.

Cody Woolery, from Brennan Kaut, fired a deflected shot home with 1:39 left, and after a faceoff win by Thompson (13-for-23) and a timeout, Kaut made it 10-9 10 seconds later.

Alex Chambers won the ensuing draw for Marple, and the combination of the Boxes kept possession for the first 70 of the 90 seconds. But Penncrest got the ball back, and Welsh needed one more save, on Poole, to get the game across the finish line.

“He just always has a nose for the ball,” Charlie Box said of Welsh. “He always stands on his head tall and makes unbelievable saves that you’re like, how did he save that? It really brings so much energy to a team to have a goalie like that. And he’s a great kid.”

After early exits as a freshman and junior, making states was a primary goal for Marple this season. Adding a piece of hardware is a bonus for Charlie Box and company.

“We really worked hard this offseason,” he said. “We came really close as a group, we did team bonding stuff and I think that really played a huge part when you’re so close together. We wanted to win something together and set the standard for the years to come.”