Downingtown East ousted from PIAAs by Manheim Township
By Neil Geoghegan
ngeoghegan@21st-centurymedia.com
@NeilMGeoghegan on Twitter
READING >> Don’t be surprised if it runs dry after heading to the well too many times. It’s a variation of an adage that certainly applies to the Downingtown East boys’ lacrosse squad.
Entering the PIAA Class 3A Quarterfinals, the Cougars had won 14 of their previous 15, and six of those were by a single goal. But on Saturday, with a trip to the state semifinals hanging in the balance, East gave up a late lead and were knocked out of the tournament, 9-8, by District 3 powerhouse Manheim Township.
“I’m actually not disappointed,” said sophomore goalkeeper Brady Quinn. “We had a great year, and our seniors did a great job leading us in their last season.
“We are the two-time, undefeated Ches-Mont champions. That says a lot about all the kids that have come through the program the last few years.”
Despite having lots of trouble in the faceoff circle all afternoon, the Cougars still had a lead heading into the final period, and were in front 7-6 when the Blue Streaks notched three goals in less than three minutes, and it proved to be just enough.
With just 14 or 15 players in its regular rotation, Downingtown East faded late in both of its PIAA Playoff games. The Cougars were able to limp to a one-goal win in round one against Hempfield, but were outscored 3-1 in the final 6:02 on Saturday in the clash held at Exeter High School.
“We were definitely gassed at the end, but we don’t make any excuses,” said senior midfielder Bo Horvath.
“Watching Manheim Township, they are sending out numbers late in the game that we hadn’t seen before, and we are going with the same kids who have been playing the whole game,” added East head coach Joe Horvath. “That is tough to match.”
The season ends with a 20-4 mark for the Cougars. Manheim Township improves to 20-0.
“We played as hard as we could with what we had,” Bo Horvath said.
Trailing 9-7, East junior Paxson Warnock scored the game’s final goal with 3:11 on the clock. And down the stretch, the Cougars had possession three times the rest of the way, but Blue Streaks’ goalie A.J. Fischer came up with three saves in the final minute on shots by Luke Fiorillo, Sam Barton and finally Jake Woodworth as time expired.
“We had three good shots and one of them should have tied it, but the Manheim goalie was outstanding,” Bo Horvath said.
In all, East notched five goals in succession in a 12-minute stretch before and after halftime, turning a two goal deficit into a 6-4 lead. Senior attacker Bryson Kolinsky registered a natural hat trick during the run with three in a row, including two to start the second half, and both were off feeds from Horvath.
“That was an example of this team’s resiliency,” Joe Horvath said. “We never panicked, and just kind of held our nerve and were able to claw back.”
The 6-4 lead vanished, however, on a pair of goals by Manheim Township’s Bennett Palmer late in the third and early in the fourth. But the Cougars deadlocked it again when Horvath notched his team’s first faceoff win of the match and later tied it at 7-7 off an assist from Kolinsky with 6:45 remaining.
“That shows you how valuable the faceoff is,” Joe Horvath pointed out. “We did our best, but it is a tough situation when you can’t match (the opponent). We tried a bunch of different combinations.
“The difference was faceoffs, it was five to one in penalties, and we turned it over a couple times on some bad connections. We haven’t lost that many faceoffs, or had that many penalties in a while. It was kind of new territory for us, and we were unable to adapt in the grand scheme of things.”
The final faceoff number favored the Blue Streaks’ (16-2), and so did the shots on goal total (20-15). East tried four different players at the X, and lost the first dozen.
“That puts a lot of pressure on the defense, and if we get the ball back, it puts pressure on the offense to hold onto the ball,” Bo Horvath said.
Manheim Township scored three of the first four goals to lead 3-1 deep into the second period, but the Cougars rebounded to score three straight to tie it heading into the intermission. Senior Jake Woodworth notched the first two and Bryson Kolinksy capped it off with a goal from behind the cage to make it 4-4. It was quite a feat as East lost all eight faceoffs in the first half, and had only five shots on goal.
Playing high school lacrosse for the final time, Kolinsky led the way with three goals and three assists, and Woodworth added two goals. Bo Horvath chipped in a goal and had a pair of assists in his final appearance for East.
“I grew up with the rest of the seniors since we were kids, playing football and lacrosse and basketball. We are like brothers and we always played to win,” he said.
“I give a lot of credit to our seniors,” Joe Horvath added. “They had their freshman season taken away by COVID, and they battled in a program with low numbers. You look at our sideline and we just don’t have as many players.
“But we have talent, and we are not scared.”
Manheim Township 9, Downingtown East 8
Downingtown East 1 3 2 2 — 8
Manheim Township 2 2 1 4 — 9
Downingtown East goals: Kolinsky 3, Woodworth 2, Fiorillo, Horvath, Warnock.
Manheim Township goals: Kingsbury 2, Myers 2, Palmer 2, Bowen 2, Dotter.
Goalie saves: Quinn (DE) 11; Fischer (M) 5.
