Strong second half lifts Penncrest over Upper Merion in District 1-2A first round

UPPER MERION >> After scoring two goals in the first half, Penncrest opened the third quarter with three goals in 3:42 to turn a one-goal deficit into a two-goal lead over Upper Merion in the first round of the District 1-2A playoffs.

Upper Merion tied the game with two quick goals, but Matt Ferry’s goal late in the third quarter put the Lions back in front and they led the rest of the way.

No. 5 Penncrest beat No. 4 Upper Merion, 11-9, at Upper Merion Area High School Wednesday night to advance to the second round of districts and set up a matchup with No. 1 Marple Newtown.

Spencer Meile scored just 1:19 after halftime to tie the game, 3-3. Ferry found the back of the net 1:09 later to put the Lions in front and Meile added another after 74 seconds to make it 5-3.

“During halftime we just sat down, got everyone around and said, ‘We have to play Penncrest lacrosse, play Central League lacrosse,'” Ferry said. “That’s what we did. We came back. Everyone – team effort. We got it done.”

Upper Merion’s Casey Lamey answered with two goals in six seconds to tie the game, 5-5.

Ferry and Meile added back-to-back goals and the Lions went to the fourth with a 7-6 lead.

Ferry scored his third goal of the game with 10:25 remaining to make it 8-6 and the Lions maintained a multi-goal lead until the final minute of the game.

Lamey and Justin Besz netted back-to-back goals to get Upper Merion within one, 10-9, with 60 seconds on the clock.

Upper Merion won the ensuing faceoff, but Penncrest’s Kolby Poole knocked it away to force a turnover and Jake Chester scored an insurance goal with 33.6 seconds left.

A key change for Penncrest at halftime was in the net. Caden Paukstis entered the game and not only made four key second-half saves, but completed some crucial passes to help the offense. He assisted Ferry’s goal to give the Lions a 4-3 lead and started the fastbreak that ended with a Ferry goal and 8-6 lead early in the fourth.

“(Paukstis) always puts us in gear,” Ferry said. “He gets the ball out on clears and helps us get into offense. It’s what he does.”

“They were breaking out the second we were taking shots,” Upper Merion coach Brady McCormick said. “Basically gambling on their goalie making saves and getting out in front of us and then we’re trying to play transition a lot. Probably if I go back and watch the film, my guess is that’s a lot of what happened – a lot of transition goals because of breakouts.”

Besz gave the Vikings a 1-0 lead in the first quarter and a 3-2 lead in the second that held until halftime. He finished with four goals and Lamey had three.

“Too many mistakes,” McCormick said of the Vikings overall performance. “I think our offense played a little tight. We forced way more than we should have. I think they had a couple guys that were feeding on us as far as takeaways and we’re generally not a team that gives away the ball as much as we did today. That’s a killer in a playoff game, for sure. That just can’t happen.”

Upper Merion’s season ends at 12-7 with the loss.

Penncrest 11, Upper Merion 9

Penncrest 1 1 5 4 – 11

Upper Merion 1 2 3 3 – 9

Goals: P: Kolby Poole, Spencer Meile 5, Matt Ferry 3, Zach Ritchie, Jake Chester. UM: Justin Besz 4, Kevin Roseland, Casey Lamey 3, Andrew Haney.

Assists: P: Caden Paukstis, Aaron Goldstein 2, Matt Ferry. UM: Casey Lamey 2, Ryan Becker, Justin Besz.

Saves: P: Feinman 3, Caden Paukstis 4. UM: Nathan Uhl 8.