FAIRVIEW VILLAGE — As Senior Night celebrations died down, cold winds whipped across the artificial turf at Methacton High School’s stadium, and the Warriors boys’ lacrosse team settled into a battle against Pottsgrove.
The first period ended with a pair of zeros on the board, but then the Warriors erupted to take a 7-1 lead by halftime en route to a dominant, 12-5 victory on Thursday.
Lukas Reger and Christian Kay finished with three goals apiece, and Michael Maro added a pair of goals and four assists for Methacton, an up-and-coming club rising through the ranks of the Pioneer Athletic Conference.
“I had no points in the first quarter, so I knew I had to find my teammates or get the looks, and I was just aggressive in the second quarter and got my looks,” Reger said. “We started off a little slow, but when we got things going, we were really on a roll.”
The Warriors (6-5, 4-2 PAC) were virtually unstoppable in the second half as Pottsgrove struggled to keep the ball out of its own end.
“We were playing a little bit laid-back with the zones in the first quarter, so they possessed the ball for a while,” said Methacton coach Ryan Pannella, who took over in January of last year. “We didn’t get many offensive looks, hit the goalie a lot. So we talked about our shot placement and when we were taking shots and what to look for.
“I think in the second quarter, the guys woke up,” he said. “I think the distraction from Senior Night wore off and we starting playing.”
Despite the deficit, the Falcons (5-6, 0-5) kept fighting, netting four goals in the second half, twice drawing to within five points. And despite the outcome, Pottsgrove coach Brendan Wurtz saw progress.
“Honestly, I think this one of our best games this season,” Wurtz said. “Coming off of a tough loss on Tuesday (15-4 to first-place Perkiomen Valley), then having one practice before a game like today — everything we coached from that Tuesday game at Wednesday’s practice, the kids executed today.
“We were just working on the commitment from our guys,” he said. “Whether it was offense, defense, knowing their responsibility and committing to it, performing it, not just knowing it and being a step late.”
With the win, Methaction kept its goals of a breakthrough season firmly in sight. Along with Perk Valley, Owen J. Roberts, Upper Merion and Boyertown are among the squads the Warriors chasing.
“Last year we had a very quick turnaround in the offseason,” Pannella said. “I got hired really late, so we were piecing everything together. We didn’t have much of an offseason. This year we did, and we were able to mesh more offensively and able to get in a lot of work defensively, and also just get together as a team on the field.
“No knock to our seniors last year — they were great — but we only have four,” he said. “This year we have 11 that are truly returning, and we had six or seven more come join who are athletes in the school. Having that senior leadership has really helped. We’ve kind of leaned on them.
“We’ve beaten teams we’re supposed to beat, and we want to the next step,” Pannella said. “PAC finals or final four is one of our goals, and to get there, you’ve got to crack that ceiling of teams that are traditionally there.”
Experienced juniors like Reger are also taking charge, and he’s encouraged by the steps the Warriors are taking.
“I think we we can make it to districts and make it to PACs, and go far in both of those,” Reger said. “We’ve got a great group of guys here, and this was a good win on Senior Night. Last year was not a great year, we had lots of close games we should have won, but I think we’ve been improving a lot this season.”
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Methacton 12, Pottsgrove 5
Pottsgrove 0 1 2 2 — 5
Methacton 0 7 4 1 — 12
Pottsgrove goals: Bryce Caffrey 3, Jackson Wescoat, Jake Coburn.
Methacton goals: Lukas Reger 3, Christian Kay 3 (1 asst), Michael Maro 2 (4 asst), Anthony Cancro, Ceollin O’Neil, Collin McCoy, Samuel Sardo.
Shots on goal: Pottsgrove 21, Methacton 23
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Follow Christiaan DeFranco on X at @the_defranc.
