Second half surge lifts Kennett past Ridley
KENNETT SQUARE >> It’s always dangerous to place too much importance on early-season, non-conference results. But Kennett lacrosse coach Bob Allvord is making an exception.
His Blue Demons got off to a terrible start on Friday against visiting Ridley, and looked to be on the verge of being blown out. But, with consider help from senior sniper Zach Hulme, Allvord’s squad turned it around in the second half and pulled away late for a 14-11 triumph over the dazed Raiders.
“It absolutely was a gut-check,” Allvord said. “We found out a little bit about ourselves today. We turned things around one goal at a time.
“We played great. I was really happy with the effort in the second half.”
Despite scoring the first four goals and leading 6-1 at one point, Ridley surrendered eight of the final 10 goals. But it was the Raiders’ season opener.
“There are some positives we will take away, and a few more things we will need to work on,” said Ridley head coach Jef Hewlings. “But I’d much rather play a team like (Kennett) than go against a team that doesn’t give us a battle.”
Now 2-1 overall, it was the final tune-up for Kennett, who will open the Ches-Mont season against Avon Grove on April 5th. These two tangled in the season opener a year ago, and the Raiders won it in overtime.
“This was a huge win. Especially what happened after last season, we just really wanted this,” Hulme said.
“This was a big one,” Allvord agreed. “After last season, losing to Ridley by a goal in overtime in the first game, the kids wanted win this one. I am really thrilled.”
Trailing 7-4 at the half, the Demons notched the first two goals of the second half. But Ridley bounced right back with a couple in a row from senior Owen Bosak and sophomore John Tinney, to make it 9-6 midway through the third quarter.
Kennett began the comeback, however, with four goals in a row in less than three minutes, to take the lead for the first time. Hulme had two goals and an assist in the spurt, senior midfielder Colin Jung had the other two goals, and junior Bo Freebery registered two assists.
“At the half we talked about how we hurt ourselves with shooting selection,” Allvord said. “We should have had three or four more goals at the half. The kids made the adjustments and started putting the ball on the cage.”
The outcome was still very much up in the air at 10-10 late in the third, but the Demons closed it out by scoring four of the game’s final five goals, including two more lasers by Hulme, and a goal and another assist by Freebery.
“I felt like there were a lot of near misses on our part,” Hewlings said. “We were where we needed to be, just maybe we didn’t pick up a ground ball or make the right pass. Some of that may be that this is our first game, but I am not going to blame it on that.”
The Raiders were certainly the aggressor in the early going, scoring goals on their first seven shots on goal.
Sophomore Aaron Headley and junior Luke Showalter accounted for Ridley’s first four goals, and then Bosak and junior Tim Signs upped the lead to 6-1. Hulme notched three of Kennett’s four goals in the opening half.
“The start was a combination of us playing with a lot of energy and maybe catching (Kennett) off-guard a little bit. We also knew Kennett could score a lot of goals, and they did in the second half,” Hewlings said.
“It was a rough, rough start,” Allvord added. “It’s high school sports and we came out flat. But the fact that we stayed somewhat composed and actually battled our way back into it is a positive sign. We made it happen.”
Hulme finished with eight goals and two assists, and reached the 200-point milestone for his career. Jung and senior Tyler Maiers each added two goals, and Freebery chipped in with four assists.
“Some of the plays by Zach – I am so impressed. He’s fast, he’s a smart player and he finishes well,” Allvord said.
“We knew who their weapons were and we didn’t stop them,” Hewlings added. “To (Kennett’s) credit, they found a way to get (Hulme) the ball.”
Tinney led the Raiders with three goals, Bosak and Headley each added two goals, and Showalter had two goals and three assists. In addition, Bosak had an 18-10 edge on face-offs, including 13 wins in the circle in the second half, and senior keeper Vaughn Ritter made a dozen saves.
“I thought our goalie played pretty well,” Hewlings said. “I thought he did a good job in his first varsity game. But Kennett was just a little too much for us in the second half.”
Demons’ goalie, freshman Josh Ritter, only had four saves, but they all came at key points in the second half.
“It was a slow start, but we never doubted that we could eventually get it done,” Hulme said. “We just had to come together and start playing our game. We talked about ball movement and being more confidence in each other, and once the ball started zipping around like we can do, it opened up a lot more looks.
“I think this is a good sign because it shows our team can deal with some adversity and we are persistent.”
Kennett 14, Ridley 11
Ridley 2 5 3 1 — 11
Kennett 0 4 7 3 — 14
Ridley goals: Tinney 3, Bosak 2, Showalter 2, Headley 2, Signs, Daniels.
Kennett goals: Hulme 8, Maiers 2, Freebery, Jung 2, Good.
Goalie saves: Ritter (R) 12; Holt (K) 4.
