By Neil Geoghegan
ngeoghegan@21st-centurymedia.com
@NeilMGeoghegan on Twitter
UWCHLAN >> Downingtown East’s penchant for starting slow is troublesome, especially to head coach Joe Horvath. And the Cougars did it again to begin Thursday’s boys’ lacrosse Ches-Mont showdown with fellow unbeaten Bishop Shanahan.
But the first quarter issues only made the resulting turnaround all that more impressive. Despite falling behind early, East scored eight goals in a row and proceeded to roll over the visiting Eagles, 10-3, in the league’s biggest showdown so far.
“Some bounces didn’t go our way in the first quarter, but we stayed patient,” said Cougars’ senior attacker Taner Marusa.
“We were able to stay focused and not let the opening two goals get us down. I’m proud of how the boys rallied back.”
Now alone atop the Ches-Mont standings at 5-0, East improves to 8-0 overall and are the only District 1 3A squad still unbeaten. Shanahan falls to 4-1 (7-1 overall) but are still projected to be one of the district’s top 2A squads.
“Today wasn’t our day,” said Eagles’ head coach Jon Heisman. “(East) took it to us after the first quarter and we didn’t have an answer.”
In the opening 12 minutes of action, Shanahan’s Anthony Boffa and Devin Mullen scored to make it 2-0, and the Eagles’ defense limited the Cougars to just a single shot on goal.
“We had a better warm-up than usual, but today was another example of our slow starts,” Horvath said. “And we have to get that fixed.”
In period No. 2, however, East got on the scoreboard on a goal by sophomore Keegan Kropp, and then seized the lead for good with three more tallies in the final 3:42 of the first half. Marusa registered his first and second goals of the afternoon, and then senior Luke Fiorillo made it 4-2 in the final minute.
“When we got down a couple goals we just panicked a little and threw the ball away, and – boom – East was back at it,” Heisman complained.
“It was another example of us keeping it together mentally and emotionally, and sticking to our fundamentals,” Horvath added.
With senior Paxson Warnock dominating in the circle on face offs, the Cougars reeled off the first four goals of the second half to make it 8-2. Freshman midfielder Jake Javadpour notched two, Marusa added his third, and sophomore long-stick middie Caleb Aikens even got into the act.
“We knew (Shanahan) was going to throw some zone (defenses) and some lock-offs at us, but we scouted them pretty well and were prepared,” Marusa said.
“As soon as we started to possess the ball, and be patient and find the right looks, we started scoring,” Horvath added. “We always preach that it will pay off.”
Junior Mack Manley finally ended a scoring drought of more than 36 minutes midway through the fourth for Shanahan. Kropp and Marusa wrapped the scoring the rest of the way.
“It was a great start, but we were just too tired down the stretch,” Heisman said.
“We are not real deep at the defensive midfield spot. We play the same guys and they got worn down, and by the end of the game they were exhausted.”
A big part of it was Warnock, who wound up going 14-2 on face offs, including a perfect 9-0 in the second half.
“With (Downingtown East’s) talent, that won’t get it done,” Heisman pointed out. “It was the key in this game.
“After the first quarter, East had the ball the whole time.”
The Eagles allowed just 25 goals in their first seven outings this season, which is an average of 3.5 per outing. But the Cougars nearly tripled it, and Marusa led the way with four goals and added an assist.
“(Marusa) is a superstar. We just couldn’t stop him,” Heisman said.
“(Downingtown East) is a great team. They’ve won the last two Ches-Mont championships. We will learn from this and get better.”
East finished with a 17-7 edge in shots on goal. Horvath said that limiting Shanahan to just three goals was a big key in the outcome.
“We feel all of our defenders are capable not matter who they are on,” he said.
“We’ve been a defense-heavy team for about three years now. The kids are battlers, they are good fundamentally, they listen to coaching, and most of all they are competitors.”
In his fifth season at the helm, Horvath is now 60-15 overall, which is a lofty .800 winning percentage.
“The past three seasons have really instilled a good culture with the boys,” Marusa said.
“We expect to compete every game and every practice, and to improve and prove ourselves,” Horvath added.
“When we get down to the stretch and play better teams, we are going to need that, and skill, and attention to detail – we are going to need all of those pieces.”
Downingtown East 10, Bishop Shanahan 3
Bishop Shanahan 2 0 0 1 — 3
Downingtown East 0 4 3 3 — 10
Bishop Shanahan goals: Manley, Mullen, Boffa.
Downingtown East goals: Marusa 4, Kropp 2, Javadpour 2, Aikens, Fiorillo.
Goalie saves: Napoli (BS) 7; Quinn (DE) 4.
