In 2023, Owen J. Roberts left little doubt as to who would be wearing the Pioneer Athletic Conference crown.
Owen J. Roberts is back in the Final Four again this year, but things seem far less certain this time around. For starters, the Wildcats are not the postseason’s top seed; that honor belongs to Phoenixville (14-4 overall, 12-1 PAC, 10-0 PAC Frontier), which capped an unbeaten Frontier run at Pottsgrove Friday, clinched the No. 1 seed in the playoffs before the regular season finale.
OJR (12-6, 11-2, 9-1 PAC Liberty) fell one spot to No. 2 in 2024. The Wildcats finished one game ahead of Boyertown (12-5, 11-2, 8-2) in the Liberty Division, with the Bears securing the postseason’s No. 3 seed.
Spring-Ford (12-6, 10-3, 7-3 PAC Liberty) rounds out the field as the No. 4 seed and second wild card.
As far as regular-season head-to-head matchups between the four postseason teams are concerned, Phoenixville lost to Spring-Ford 12-11 on April 5 and beat Owen J. Roberts 8-7 on April 17. The Phantoms did not play Boyertown in 2024.
OJR split its season series with Boyertown, defeating the Bears 11-6 on March 27 and losing 11-10 on April 22. Meanwhile, the Wildcats swept Spring-Ford, beating the Rams 10-7 on April 15 and 11-4 on April 26.
Last season, the Wildcats ran roughshod over nearly every team in their path, winning 28 of their 29 games overall (including a 13-0 record in league play) en route to PAC, district and PIAA championships — the first PAC team to ever win a state title in boys or girls lacrosse. OJR dispatched Methacton 18-2 in last year’s PAC semifinals before throttling Boyertown 21-1 in the championship game.
Spring-Ford went 1-1 against Boyertown, winning 15-11 on April 10 and falling 12-11 on April 29.
The PAC semifinals will be played Tuesday, May 7 with a doubleheader (5:30 p.m. & 7:30 p.m.) at Upper Merion, beginning with Owen J. Roberts-Boyertown and followed by Phoenixville-Spring-Ford. The championship game will be held on Thursday, 7 p.m., back at Upper Merion.
PIONEER ATHLETIC CONFERENCE 2024 STANDINGS
PAC LIBERTY
TEAM DIVW DIVL LW LL W L GF GA
Owen J. Roberts 9 1 11 2 12 6 187 118
Boyertown 8 2 11 2 12 5 246 154
Spring-Ford 6 3 9 3 11 6 209 132
Perkiomen Valley 3 6 6 6 7 10 198 199
Methacton 3 7 5 8 6 11 153 177
Norristown 0 10 0 13 1 16 70 286
PAC FRONTIER
TEAM DIVW DIVL LW LL W L GF GA
Phoenixville 9 0 11 1 13 4 191 98
Upper Merion 7 3 8 5 10 6 169 124
Pope John Paul II 6 4 6 7 8 9 151 145
Upper Perkiomen 5 5 6 7 7 11 187 180
Pottsgrove 2 7 3 9 3 14 122 257
Pottstown 0 10 0 13 0 16 42 246
