Late flourish pushes Conestoga past upset-minded Marple Newtown
TREDYFFRIN >> There were ebbs and flows galore for Tuesday’s Central League boys lacrosse opener at Teamer Field on both sides. Host Conestoga was certainly in the flow, however, at the end of each half, and that powered the Pioneers to a critical 11-9 come-from-behind win over Marple Newtown.
In the final nine minutes of action in the second quarter and again in the fourth, ’Stoga outscored the Tigers by a combined eight goals, which was more than enough to tilt a competitive battle its way.
“Lacrosse is a game of runs. (Marple Newtown) had theirs, for sure,” said Pioneers’ head coach Brody Bush. “It just went back and forth, but I guess we just happened to get our run at the end of the game,”
Coming off its only loss so far this season (versus Downingtown West), Conestoga improves to 4-1 overall. The Tigers fall to 1-1.
“This was a fight between two solid teams that are working to get better,” said Marple Newtown head coach Kevin Merchant. “It could have gone either way. Every game is an opportunity to win, but you have to put it together in order to pull it out.”
After holding ’Stoga scoreless in the third quarter, the Tigers inched ahead 9-8 with 9 minutes, 21 seconds remaining in the fourth on a goal by sophomore midfielder Ryan Keating. It was, however, Marple Newtown’s final tally.
Senior tri-captain Chris Forgie notched the equalizer on a tremendous individual effort through several defenders with 7:56 to go. And then after captains Drew Merschel and Wade Beckstrom each had shots bounce off the cage on the same possession, senior attacker Brody Eaton took a pass from teammate Clif Hawkins and put the Pioneers in front for good at the 3:36 mark.
A little over a minute later, Eaton scored again on a pass from Merschel to provide the final margin. Conestoga’s sophomore goalkeeper Mikey Johnson notched two of his 14 goals down the stretch to close it out.
“I think once we got it going down the stretch, it was game-over for (Marple Newtown). We ran our offense pretty well and we played as a team,” Eaton said.
“Teams make mistakes this early in the season, so we need to clean those up before we get into the heart of the season,” Merchant added. “I think our kids showed heart, hustle and focus today. I don’t think it was from a lack of effort. The fundamentals just kind of hurt us.
“I think turnovers killed us in this one. This was two teams, early in the season, trying to figure out their identity. (Conestoga) had fewer turnovers, and we had some big ones that we couldn’t overcome.”
Junior Alex Chambers won 14 of 20 faceoffs for the Tigers against a couple Pioneer challengers. But Conestoga had a 25-18 edge in shots on goal.
“We don’t have a ton of seniors – we are pretty young – but the ones we have took over,” Bush said. “Our captains did a great job and the younger boys sort of followed their lead. That’s good. That’s what you want.
“We learned that this team is maybe more resilient than we thought. The mindset was that we just have to get to work. We weren’t too high or too low, and that is good to see.”
In a high-scoring first half, the Pioneers took the early advantage with goals by Merschel and Adrien Grove in the opening minutes. But the Tigers roared back to pour in six of the next seven goals and seize the lead. Sophomore attacker Brian Box was a dominant figure in the surge, kicking off the run with back-to-back goals in the span of 33 seconds, and notching four in all to make it 6-3 early in the second period.
Marple Newtown had several key chances to add to the lead, but Conestoga weathered the threat and then had a forceful response that started with another goal by Merschel. Beckstrom then added two more goals and Grove chipped in with two assists to give the Pioneers an 8-6 halftime advantage.
“When we had success on offense we were able to spread (Marple Newtown) out a little bit and we were able to play to our strengths,” Bush explained.
“Once our team realized what (Marple Newtown’s) scheme was on offense, we took out their best players,” Eaton added.
Conestoga had possession for much of the third quarter, but could not score. Box and junior Joey Yukenevitch registered the only goals in the period, which knotted the score at 8-8.
“Marple is a very good team, and I prepared my guys for that – especially (Brian) Box. He is unbelievable,” Bush said.
“They are one of the better teams in our league, and this league is deep. I am just glad we were able to pull this one out.”
Box finished with five goals and Gorman had two with an assist. Merschel wound up with three goals and three assists, Eaton added three goals and Beckstrom chipped in two.
“We had a great practice (Monday) and we addressed some of the things we had trouble with against Downingtown West,” Eaton said. “We fixed it up and applied it today. Plus, we are starting to trust each other, and as the season goes on that will increase even more.
“We definitely didn’t want to start the league season with a loss. We knew (Marple Newtown) is a good team and we knew we were in for a fight.”
Conestoga 11, Marple Newtown 9
Marple Newtown 4 2 2 1 — 9
Conestoga 3 5 0 3 — 11
Marple Newtown goals: Box 5, Gorman 2, Wolski, Yukenevitch.
Conestoga goals: Eaton 3, Forgie, Beckstrom 2, Newhall, Merschel 3, Grove.
Goalie saves: Delicandro (MN) 9; Johnson (C) 14.
