EAST MARLBOROUGH >> Going undefeated for an entire Ches-Mont season is quite a feat. And on Tuesday evening, the unbeaten Downingtown East boys’ lacrosse squad found out just how difficult it actually is to accomplish.
Trailing a majority of the way, the Cougars scored the final three goals to eke out an 8-7 nail-biter at Unionville to capture the program’s third outright league championship. East will wrap up the Ches-Mont regular season Thursday at home against 1-12 Oxford, and then will need a road win at powerful Garnet Valley to finish the regular season unblemished.
“There is a lot of pressure carrying a record like we do,” said Cougars’ head coach Joe Horvath.
“It’s in the back of my brain and it weighs very heavy. I’ve lost some sleep now and then over it. But we are handling the pressure as best we can.”
Now 11-0 in the league and 16-0 overall, East is the only team in District 1 without a setback.
“(Unionville) had nothing to lose and we had everything to lose,” said Cougars’ senior attacker Connor Sweeney. “We knew we were going to get their best, and we gutted it out.”
It was yet another one-loss defeat for the Longhorns (6-5, 8-9). But the fact that Unionville has been able to take the Ches-Mont’s top four teams – East, Downingtown West, West Chester Rustin and Bishop Shanahan – to the brink is an accomplishment in itself. The ’Horns, however, lost them all by a single goal.
“There aren’t a lot of morale victories, but I think there are victories in the sense of what you prove to yourself,” Unionville head coach Ian Allender said. “This was our fifth one-goal loss of the season. You can take it as frustration, or you can take it for what you proved to yourself — that you can take thing deep into the fourth quarter against the best.
“I really hope our guys take the latter into the postseason.”
In order to achieve its postseason aspirations, the Longhorns could use a win Thursday at Kennett in the regular season finale. Unionville headed into Tuesday No. 22 in the District 1 3A Power Rankings, and the top 24 earn a berth.
“The moments that build you up in May matter,” Allender added. “I think we’ve had enough moments this season to make us a resilient team in May. We can take a shot to the mouth and get back up and keep swinging.”
The Cougars had to deal with another lackluster start Tuesday. And a costly misconduct penalty at the end of the first half led to a man-up goal by Owen Quinlan in the opening minute to put the ’Horns in front 7-5.
“Everyone wants to beat us,” Sweeney said.
“We fight for each other because at the end of the day we are all striving for the same goals. We are a close-knit group and we are gritty. I think we are the grittiest team in the state.”
That grit was on clear display as East scored three times in the final 7:03 of the third to take the lead for good. The first – on a midfield steal and breakaway goal for Sweeney – got things rolling. Less than a minute later, senior Taner Marusa knotted the score, and then just over a minute after that, Marusa registered the game winner.
“(Sweeney’s goal) was kind of like a dagger goal, where it can really stick in the opposition,” Horvath said. “Credit to Unionville, I don’t think it fazed them too much, but it was definitely a very important score.”
The victory wasn’t secure, however, until the Cougars’ defense held the Longhorns scoreless the rest of the way. Unionville’s Josiah Hoopman had a shot hit off the post in the fourth, and the ’Horns had a man-up situation for the final 47.2 seconds and were unable to get off a shot.
“This was a league contest, on the road at night,” Horvath said. “And we never play well (at Unionville). We did not play well tonight. It looks like we have a million things to correct and we only have so much time to address some of it. But I am pleased with the gutsy win at the end.”
Early on the Longhorns made East pay for its penchant for slow starts by scoring three goals in the opening 4:07. In a flash, Unionville had equaled the average all other Ches-Mont foes have managed to score (3.1) against the Cougars per a full 48-minute contest this season.
Marusa finally got East on the board with two goals in a span of 30 seconds late in the opening quarter, but Owen Kupsey registered his second of the day to make it 4-2 heading into the second.
Jake McMahon and Sweeney had unassisted goals, and when Marusa notched his third off a forced turnover near midfield, the Cougars had tied it. But in the final four minutes of the half, the ’Horns regained the lead at the half. First Hoopman intercepted a pass to East keeper Brady Quinn and fed Owen Kupsey for his third. And then in the final minute younger brother Wyatt Kupsey to make it 6-5.
“We kind of start off forcing the ball, and we know we have to come out better,” Sweeney acknowledged. “But we know we are a good team and that we are going to fight back.
“When we calm down and start to get in our groove, you can see the difference.”
Unionville managed to score just once in the second half, but the ’Horns finished the contest with an 18-16 edge in shots on goal. Quinn wound up with 11 saves for the Cougars.
“It was a warm night, and the play was in our (defensive) end a lot. But (our defense) really sucked it up, stayed dialed in and communicated well. I am proud of them for that,” Horvath said.
“I think (East) has one of the more disciplined defenses that we’ve seen in the district and the state,” Allender added. “It seems like no matter who you put in, they play the same way, with rigid discipline. And it’s really hard to break that.”
Marusa finished with four goals and an assist, and Sweeney added two goals.
“Winning the Ches-Mont is our first goal,” Sweeney said. “The second is districts, and third is chasing a state championship.”
A senior, Owen Kupsey paced Unionville with three goals, Wyatt Kupsey added two goals and Hoopman chipped in with a goal and two assists.
When asked about East’s three-peat, Allender said: “In all my time of coaching, I’ve not seen anything close to that. They are consistently good at what they do and they stick to that play to a T.”
Downingtown East 8, Unionville 7
Downingtown East 2 3 3 0 — 8
Unionville 4 2 1 0 — 7
Downingtown East goals: Marusa 4, Petrillo, Sweeney 2, McMahon.
Unionville goals: W. Kupsey 2, O. Kupsey 3, Hoopman, Quinlan
Goalie saves: Quinn (DE) 11. Mousaw (U) 8.
