Garnet Valley gaining confidence despite losing late lead to Malvern Prep
MALVERN >> Billy Coyle wasn’t sure how much time was left. The Malvern Prep junior attackman did the rough subtraction, though — the timeout with 16.4 seconds left, minus a fake handoff from Adam Goldner to Quinn McCahon, through Kyle Anderson’s roll to the crease, Plan A for the play call.
By the time the ball found Coyle on the right wing, he didn’t have time to think.
“I got the ball,” Coyle said, “and I cranked it up and shot it.”
Coyle’s goal rang home with 2.9 seconds left, leading Malvern Prep to a come-from-behind, 11-10 win over Garnet Valley in a nonleague collision of powers that did not disappoint.
Coyle from Goldner with 2.9 left! Malvern wins, 11-10 pic.twitter.com/kPuq9bmchJ
— Matthew De George (@sportsdoctormd) April 2, 2016
The Jaguars (1-2) used a 4-0 edge in the third quarter to seize the lead. They led 7-5 after three quarters and 10-7 on Matt Moore’s first and only goal with 4:25 to play. But the Friars stormed back, mobilizing their attacking luminaries to register the last four goals of the game and six fourth-quarter goals.
Coyle, a junior Cornell commit, tallied four assists to complement the first game-winning goal of this level of drama that he can recall. Kyle Anderson scored four times to go with three assists, and Adam Goldner deposited two goals.
But the Friars (5-1) were shutout in the third quarter as Garnet Valley raced to the lead. Even sans the usual influence of Moore, the junior Virginia commit who was uncharacteristically muzzled by Ryan Murray’s persistent shadowing, the Jags persevered, finding other avenues of offense.
“We know guys are going to shut Matt off,” said fellow junior attackman Denny Nealon, who scored four goals. “We know he’s the best player in the nation in our grade, and we know the other five guys have to play together. Matt’s just working his butt off and setting picks to get us open. He might not have scored a lot on the stat sheet, but every goal is because of him distracting other players. He throws off the D no matter what he does.”
“He’s real shifty and he’s lanky, too, so even if you get a body on him, he can wrap it around you for shots,” said Murray, a Penn commit. “So you have to stay straight up and use your stick as an extra six feet of distance so you can drop step. His range is really the biggest thing that you have to worry about.”
Instead of forcing the issue through Moore and the extra attention he attracted, Garnet Valley exploited the ripple effect of backline openings. Nealon clawed open opportunities to drive the crease, finishing a Ryan Manbeck feed off a post-draw scramble with 2.4 seconds left in the third to surge ahead, 7-5.
Denny Nealon. Again. His 4th. 8-7. 9:17 left. pic.twitter.com/ZmTMTO8erV
— Matthew De George (@sportsdoctormd) April 2, 2016
Aiding the run was the excellent play of Michael Bonaddio, who stopped 14 shots, and the halftime change that moved pole Chad Hrivnak to the faceoff X. He barely dented Sean Christman’s victorious pace at the X (18-for-24), but Hrivnak augmented the tenacious midfield defense that alleviated some of Malvern’s quick-strike attack and caused turnovers.
“Defensively, we were feeling pretty good,” Jags defender Kyle Davis said. “Then we kind of let them in a little bit, but we never let our guard down. We knew they were going to come back hard, and we reacted.”
Buttermore from Trizonis. Garnet Valley up 6-5 late third. pic.twitter.com/3mxkhPbZfy
— Matthew De George (@sportsdoctormd) April 2, 2016
Malvern’s response after three quarters was instantaneous, Anderson scoring 98 seconds into the frame and Mike Fay restoring parity at 9:56.
But Garnet Valley weathered that storm and hit back. Nealon made a solo sortie to the cage, spinning off a defender from the right of the crease and bouncing one home with 9:17 to play to nudge GV ahead. Three minutes later, Ty Moschella completed his hat trick with a similar run from the opposite side, absorbing a push with the flag down as he buried one.
Moore then lowered his shoulder, sending Murray sprawling, for a rare clean look at goal that he capitalized on. Up 10-7 with four and a half to play, Garnet Valley seemed to be in good shape.
Malvern Prep’s offense, however, had other ideas. Anderson answered Moore’s tally in transition within 17 ticks, then a breakdown left Fay open on the wing to rifle home and restore the one-goal margin.
Garnet Valley had chances to put the game away. Moschella elicited the only save of the second half from a pedestrian Jay Rodgers with 2:27 left, and Moore rattled the crossbar 18 seconds later. When Nealon was shoved out of bounds for a turnover, Anderson scored with under a minute to play on an identical play as diagrammed for Coyle’s game-winner, though the latter used the secondary option.
After losing midweek to Avon Grove, 15-14, on a last-minute goal, the Jags’ sting is excruciating. But at such an early juncture, this week reveals the consolation that the Jags can hang with just about anyone.
“We feel we can play with just about everybody,” Nealon said. “I loved the way our guys fought today. It shows a lot of what we can do this season if we keep fighting.”
