Cost stakes claim to Conestoga’s work-in-progress attack against Strath Haven

TREDYFFRIN >> The eye gravitates toward the precise details of Conestoga’s roster — the standouts in goal and on faceoffs, plus the small drop-off between poles one and four — that spell the difference between a good and a great team. In that appraisal, it can be easy to overlook the attack, one that lacks a marquee scorer.

In the Pioneers’ stiffest Central League test yet, the offense made sure that it demanded attention.

Nick Cost led the way with four goals and two assists, keying an explosive 17-9 win over Strath Haven in a collision of league unbeatens.

Cost was the orchestrator Tuesday night under intermittent snow flurries. It’s been a revolving cast for Conestoga (6-4, 5-0 Central), which lost its top two scorers, Tommy Sopko and Henry Berg, from last season, then saw senior attackman Drew Mullen go down with an injury.

That has left plenty of openings, and Cost is one of many eager and able to fill the void.

“I think the first couple of games, we didn’t know really what our attack was going to be, and then we switched it around, we threw Tate (Kienzle) down there, and now I think we’ve really found our attackmen that work really well together, they’ve really shown up,” Cost said. “The scoring, we’re really spreading the ball around, and it’s awesome. I love sharing the ball with everybody. Everyone’s contributing on a big level.”

Kienzle is no doubt a huge piece. He tallied twice and added three assists Tuesday. Nominally a midfielder who was a big part of the Pioneers’ run to the PIAA Class 3A final a year ago, he’s taken on a larger role in the offense. For all the contributors up top — a hat trick from Kent Hjelm, two goals apiece from 6-7 junior Will Schnorr and senior Sean Bailey — so much of the offense begins at the X with James Reilly.

The senior Georgetown commit dominated on draws, going 20-for-26 at the X as Conestoga won 22 of 30 draws. He added a goal and an assist, but his momentum-flipping contributions greatly exceed his direct contributions to the scoresheet.

Conestoga seized control with six goals in 6:23 in the first quarter, staking a 7-2 lead that the Panthers never managed to challenge. That included quick-strike tallies, with Reilly finding Kienzle 10 seconds after Ibo Pio had knotted the game at 1, then Reilly piggy-backing a Kienzle tally within nine seconds to make it 4-1 Conestoga five minutes in.

“James wins, say, 80 percent of the faceoffs every game,” Cost said. “ … When they score a goal, maybe they go on a 2-0 run and then James gets us the ball and we go down and score, it’s a big momentum boost having James on our team.”

Strath Haven (8-1, 4-1) didn’t always help its cause. It had the brilliance of Jeff Conner to rely on, the senior All-Delco and University of Virginia commit with a hand in eight tallies. He scored five times and dished three assists, setting up all but one of Pio’s four markers.

But with Conner having lost his two biggest complementary scorers from last year to graduation, the Panthers are also in an attacking rebuild. It’s yielded an average of 12.1 goals per contest, indicative that the Panthers are much more than just Conner. But in the face of Conestoga’s defense, the ancillary scoring threats withered Tuesday.

“We can definitely see what we can improve on,” Conner said. “… We just know that we need to play roles. People need to be finishers, people need to be dodgers and we just need to know our roles.”

Part of that owed to Conestoga’s stellar defense, perhaps the deepest in the state and one of the most talented in the country. Led by senior Jackson Niness and stud sophomores Michael Prestipino and Scott Smith, Conner managed to find his openings, but there was precious little for others.

Haven didn’t help itself with several turned-over clears that gifted goals, including one by long-stick midfielder Matt Logan in the fourth quarter. Will Brake played superbly in the first half to keep the Panthers close with 10 saves, and Vincey Palermo added six stops after the break.

Scott MacMillan wasn’t tested as strenuously in the Conestoga cage, but he made seven saves, including a stunner of a kick on a breaking Conner in the second quarter.

Strath Haven righted the ship after the lopsided first quarter and cut the halftime deficit to 9-4 on Conner’s solo sortie with 15 seconds left in the first. But Logan’s goal was one of three straight to open the third quarter and put the game out of reach. Pio nudged Haven within 14-6 at the end of three by converting a stellar Conner feed on the doorstep, but Cost and Cliff Madden started the fourth with goals to erase any doubt … as to the Pioneers’ title credentials and attacking depth.

“Everyone on our team is a threat on offense,” Cost said. “They have to cover every single one of us. You can put a pole on anyone of our middies and if you short-stick one of them, you’re going to get beat, in my opinion.”

Also in the Central League:

Haverford 12, Penncrest 5 >> Jack Daly and Cole Lukasiewicz scored four times apiece, and Alex McKendry paired two goals with two helpers as the Fords took control with a 5-0 edge in the second quarter. Shane Liney made 10 saves. Max Daugherty led Penncrest with two goals, and Matt Dougherty and Matt Gress each paired a goal with an assist.

Marple Newtown 15, Lower Merion 1 >> Julian Cabral led the way with four goals and an assist. CJ Lane (two assists) and Jake Huey tallied hat tricks, and Al Viola added two goals and two helpers.

Radnor 8, Harriton 2 >> Connor Pierce, Julian Castilleja and John Austin tallied two goals and one assist each, and Jackson Birtwistle chipped in a goal and two helpers for the Raiders.

Springfield 16, Upper Darby 0 >> Mike Tulskie scored five goals, Kyle Long dished seven assists and Joey DeBernardi paired three goals with two assists for the Cougars.

In nonleague action:

Haverford School 10, La Salle 7 >> Luke O’Grady tallied a hat trick and added an assist, and TJ Malone and Scott Deck scored twice each as the Fords scored nine times in the first half in a battle of local powers. Harrison Fellheimer 10 saves for Haverford School.

Interboro 15, Phoenixville 5 >> Brody Butler paired four goals with three assists, and Michael Porreca added a hat trick. Gaige Lennon and Mikey Brown contributed two goals and two assists each.