High-octane Kennett tops Unionville; has momentum heading into playoffs
EAST MARLBOROUGH >> In many ways, Thursday’s regular season ending boys’ lacrosse match at Unionville was the ultimate test for visiting Kennett.
A road game against an archrival is usually tricky, and the situation was compounded by the fact that the Longhorns desperately needed an upset win in order to have a chance to slip into the playoffs. But it all didn’t seem to faze the Blue Demons, who put on a dazzling offensive display en route to a convincing 19-8 triumph.
“This was a great step forward, and a big statement win for us,” said junior attacker Bo Freebery.
“It feels great to win a rivalry game. I have a lot of friends on (Unionville), but when we got the field it was all business.”
Kennett entered the clash at No. 9 in the District 1 3A Power Rankings, and are hoping the win is enough to get the squad into the top-eight, which would mean a first round bye. The Demons wound up winning 11 of their last 12, finished in second place in the Ches-Mont (at 11-2) and 15-3 overall.
“The last few days we’ve focused on the mental part of this game,” said Kennett head coach Bob Allvord. “Coming down the stretch, it’s more about mental than physical, trying to stay sharp and focused.
“Our kids came in very prepared and ready tonight. It was evident in the first quarter. And they stayed focused the whole game. So I am thrilled. This team is maturing so fast.”
Unionville falls to 7-5 in the league and 9-9 overall, which isn’t going to be enough for a postseason berth. The ’Horns were 27th heading in and only the top 24 move on. They went 0-4 to end the season, but it did come against the Ches-Mont’s best: Downingtown East, Downingtown West, West Chester Rustin and Kennett.
“It was a tough stretch,” Unionville head coach Steve Holmes said. “We really had to play a complete game, and I’m not really sure we got that this season. We came close, the boys worked, but at the end of the day we make too many mistakes.”
The Demons roared out of the gate with four straight goals, including two by senior sniper Zach Hulme, and another from burly Colin Jung off an assist from Hulme. And in the second period, Kennett poured in seven more tallies to open a commanding 12-5 lead at the half.
“We knew (Kennett) well, and our coaches did a nice job of game planning,” Holmes pointed out. “But when you have the athletes (Kennett) has, sometimes it doesn’t matter how you line up. The athletes are going to win.”
Jung added two more goals in that first half stretch, but after scoring a bruising inside goal, the senior midfielder suffered a helmet-to-helmet hit, and exited the contest for the rest of the half.
The ’Horns had a pair of first half scoring bursts – single goals by Kevin Carson and Wyatt Kupsey in 68-seconds late in the first quarter, and two more by Carson and Kupsey in a 22-second span – but it just wasn’t enough for youthful Unionville to keep up.
“(Kennett’s) physicality showed,” Holmes said. “They have a lot of seniors that can make a difference. This season our youth showed against some pretty good teams in our league.”
Kennett continued to show off its firepower in the second half by scoring three of the first five goals, and then ended things forcefully by notching four of the last five. Jung returned in the second half and added another goal to finish with five, and Freebery also registered five goals to go with two assists.
“They want to go, go, go all of the time, and I’m trying to manage the game and maybe slow it down a bit,” Allvord said. “Our core-six (on offense) really execute, and they’ve been doing it all season.”
Hulme wound up with four goals and three assists, and his fourth tally was the 100th of his season. Senior Tyler Maiers also scored four times, and junior Jackie Good chipped in with two goals and an assist for the Demons.
“It definitely could have been our best offensive performance this season,” Freebery said. “When we are working together, good things happen.
“We have Zach (Hulme) and Colin (Jung), who are both studs. And we all work together so well. We’ve been playing since we were about six or seven years old.”
Kupsey paced the Longhorns with five goals, including three of his team’s four in the second half, and Unionville goalie Chase Mousaw finished with 16 saves. Kennett ended the clash with 35 shots on goal, and will now take some considerable momentum into the districts.
“We are healthy and the momentum is good, but it’s the playoffs and anything can happen,” Allvord warned. “The catching, throwing, shooting is all there, but it’s the mental part we are going to continue focusing on.”
Kennett 19, Unionville 8
Kennett 5 7 4 3 — 19
Unionville 2 3 2 1 — 8
Kennett goals: Freebery 5, Jung 5, Hulme 4, Maiers 4, Good.
Unionville goals: Kupsey 5, Minter, Carson 2.
Goalie saves: Holt (K) 12; Mousaw (U) 16.
