Cougars top Kennett to earn at least a share of Ches-Mont crown
KENNETT SQUARE >> One-by-one, all of the contenders in the Ches-Mont boys’ lacrosse title chase have taken their shot at the defending champs, and each time they’ve come up short against Downingtown East.
First it was West Chester Rustin and then archrival Downingtown West. And on Thursday it was a road game against red-hot Kennett, who had won its previous eight in a row. And the Blue Demons kept it close into the fourth quarter, but faded late and the Cougars won it going away, 13-6.
With two league outings still to be played, East (10-0, 13-2 overall) has now secured at least a share of the Ches-Mont championship. A win against Unionville or at Oxford next week will clinch an outright crown for the second straight year.
“This was a big win in the biggest game of the season,” said senior defender Mike Waite.
“With the Ches-Mont title on the line we are obviously very excited to try to get back-to-back titles for our senior year. I think the final score showed how much we wanted it.”
Kennett falls into a second place tie at 9-2 (12-3 overall), but this one was close most of the way. The Demons’ Jackie Good scored in the final 1:35 of the third period to make it 8-6 heading into the fourth. But the Cougars quickly ended any comeback notions by scoring the final five goals, including two by senior attacker Bryson Kolinsky.
“It was 8-6 after three (quarters), so we were right there,” said Kennett head coach Bob Allvord. “I felt if we could have got it to one or tied it, things could have been different. But (Downingtown East) is a heck of a team.”
The Cougars were number six in the District 1 3A Power Rankings heading in, and have now won seven straight. East will next host Central Bucks East in a Saturday non-league tilt.
“We are headed in the right direction now, but it is by no means over,” said Cougars’ head coach Joe Horvath. “We have to keep our gas tanks full, especially mentally.”
East began the proceedings with three goals in the opening 5:51, which was certainly a jolt to the Demons. But they regrouped with back-to-back goals by seniors Zach Hulme and Colin Jung, who notched the 100th of his career in the process.
Trailing 4-2, Kennett junior Bo Freebery took over in the second quarter by scoring twice and assisting on another (to Jung) in just over two minutes to give the Demons a brief 5-4 lead.
The Cougars, however, clawed back with a couple goals before the break, including a critical goal by Jake Woodworth with six-tenths of a second on the clock. Coming from behind the cage, the senior squeezed a one-handed shot just inside the near post.
“That was a huge goal for us,” Horvath said. “It put us in the lead going into halftime. And it was a tremendous effort by Jake.”
Third quarter goals by Jake McMahon and Bo Horvath upped the margin to 8-5, but Good scored on a pass from Freebery to set the stage for the finish.
“It was dicey there for a while. Kennett is a very good team that is well coached and disciplined,” Joe Horvath said.
“We were able to hold it together defensively, cause some turnovers, and get some goals. We played a great second half.”
East wound up outscoring the Demons 7-1 in the second half, and the Cougars’ sophomore goaltender Brady Quinn made five of his nine saves in the final 24 minutes.
“Even when (Kennett) showed us something, we had a good response. We battled hard,” Waite said.
“(East’s) goalie came up with some really nice saves to kind of stalled our comeback, and it got tougher after that,” Allvord added.
The defensive scheme for the Cougars was to put their top two defenders – Waite and fellow senior Sam Barton – on Jung and Hulme. They finished with just two and one goal, respectively.
“The plan was to shut down (Zack) Hulme and Colin Jung. We focused on those two,” Waite explained.
“We know (Kennett’s) critical threats are Zach (Hulme) and Colin (Young),” Joe Horvath added. “So we decided to put out two best defenders on those guys, and they did a great job with it.
“On offense, we talked about patience. When you have a two goal lead, there is no reason to go right away. We want them to trust one another, and find the right shot. And we managed to do that.”
Kolinsky led all scorers with four goals, while Horvath and Woodworth had three and two, respectively, for East.
“We want to finish strong and make sure we have some momentum going into the playoffs,” Waite said.
Freebery had two goals and two assists to lead the Demons. Kennett was without starting keeper Josh Holt, who was out of town to attend his brother’s wedding. But senior backup Nate Kelly stopped nine shots in his place.
“Nate did an outstanding job,” Allvord said. “This was a big stage for him as a backup. He is a first-year goalie. We are really proud of him.
“This was a loss, but we still have a lot of lacrosse in front of us. We want to regroup and finish strong.”
Downingtown East 13, Kennett 6
Downingtown East 4 2 2 5 — 13
Kennett 2 3 1 0 — 6
Downingtown East goals: Kolinsky 4, Horvath 3, Woodworth 2, Fiorillo, Shillingford, McMahon, Petrillo.
Kennett goals: Freebery 2, Jung 2, Good, Hulme
Goalie saves: Quinn (DE) 9; Kelly (K) 9.
