DOYLESTOWN — Central Bucks West’s defense had an excuse to panic or stray from the plan but never did.
Senior defenseman Eddie Rafalowski admitted it couldn’t have been a worse start, but the Bucks got it together. The defense settled down, the offense started producing and West seemingly came up with every crucial ground ball to pick up its biggest win of the season.
The Bucks handed Pennridge its first loss in SOL National play, host West downing the Rams 13-8 Tuesday night at War Memorial Field.
“Honestly, they had the better of us in the first quarter,” Rafalowski said. “They put four in right away. I think all it took was for us to settle down a little bit, we had the matchups right, our coaches did a great job with the scout, we just needed to settle in.”
The West defense, led by Rafalowski, Jimmy Donnelly, Garin Mangeot, Gavin Todd and Kevin Mallon in front of goalie Kanen Patel, gave up four goals in the first seven minutes as the Bucks fell behind 4-2. Over the final 41 minutes, they only gave up four more while helping take control of the game by giving up just one score in the second quarter and icing things out with a zero in the fourth.
Among those four early goals was a laser by Matthew Seiler, the 100th of his career for Pennridge.
Rafalowski said the team didn’t make any adjustments after getting shelled to start, instead trusting their scouting plan and matchups. While the poles and defensive midfielders settled into their matchups, there was also plenty of hustle from the Bucks on the back end that led to numerous key ground balls.
“Their defense did a great job, they capitalized on the opportunities that were in front of them and they tore us up on ground balls,” Rams coach Chris Pianko said. “I think any time you get beat up on ground balls, it’s going to be a tough day. You start pressuring, start gripping your stick a little tighter, start gripping your stick a little tighter and start forcing some things that aren’t our normal looks.”
While Eddie Rafalowski and the defense were getting their job done after their slow start, his brother was helping the offense kick into gear. Michael Rafalowski, a freshman, paced West (11-3, 5-3 conference) with four goals while adding three assists including the go-ahead goal that opened the second quarter.
Linking the defense and the attack for West was senior Matt Jacobsen. The Richmond recruit did just about everything, taking face-offs, starting the defensive effort on the ride, pursuing ground balls and, of course, scoring and setting up goals.
Jacobsen had three goals and two assists, his second goal standing as the 200th point of his career.
“It’s everything and I wouldn’t want to do it with anyone else other than the brothers beside me,” Jacobsen said. “Every single day with them is so fun, it means so much to me.
“The depth of our team, having guys who can step up and sub into games like this really helps win those tough games.”
After Pennridge went ahead 4-2 on Frankie Fanelli’s goal with 5:08 left in the first quarter, the Bucks took control. CB West ripped off the next seven goals, the run starting with a tally by Jacobsen in the first quarter and ending when Michael Rafalowski bounced in a shot off the turf with 2:03 left in the second for a 9-4 lead.
The Bucks maintained the run with individual efforts, Jacobsen having a shot saved only to get the loose ball and put away the second for his 200th, ball movement and even some help from the defense. More than anything, it was staying with the plan.
“We started slowing it down on offense, I feel like we did that a ton,” Jacobsen said. “We could tell it was getting them frustrated. When they have the ball on their offensive side, they have a lot of good players and they’re pretty dangerous so it was really important keeping it on our side, spreading it out and moving it around.”
Reid Moyer broke the streak by netting a Rams goal with 1:02 left in the half. Ryan Carickhoff, who had a hat trick for Pennridge, scored early in the third quarter to make it a three-goal game at 9-6. Pennridge would win the quarter 3-2, making it 11-8 going to the final frame.
The loss snapped a four-game win streak for the Rams, but they’re still right in the mix for the SOL National. Pennridge (12-3), now 6-1 in the SOL, still has to play 7-1 Souderton before the end of the regular season with 5-2 Central Bucks East hanging just behind.
“We’ll see how they respond,” Pianko said. “The big takeaway is you’ve got to respond from the opening whistle. West is a good team, we knew it would be a battle and they had a great gameplan for us, they beat us up in the middle of the field and it shows if you don’t come out from the opening whistle, it’s going to be a long night.”
Not wanting a repeat of the start of the first quarter, the Bucks defense came together between the third and fourth quarters. Rafalowski said the coaches like to tell the defenders to take a breath and settle when things are going wrong, then reset.
They certainly did and the result was their best win of the season.
“We’ve been joking about it, it feels like everybody is beating up on each other,” Rafalowski said. “I think everybody’s pretty evenly matched this year, even though we lost those games to South, to East, to Souderton, it can set us pretty well for the future. We saw it in a playoff atmosphere like tonight, we can get the job done.”
Central Bucks West, 13, Pennridge 8
Pennridge 4 1 3 0 — 8
Central Bucks West 4 5 2 2 — 13
Goals-Assists: CBW – Michael Rafalowski 4-3, Matt Jacobsen 3-2, Colten Albrecht 3-0, Alex Greenspan 1-2, Aidan Kimberly 2-2; P – Ryan Carickhoff 3-1, Levi Souder 1-1, Matt Kriney 1-0, Frankie Fanelli 1-1, Reid Moyer 1-0, Matthew Seiler 1-0.
