GA’s defense the difference in second half against Upper Dublin

UPPER DUBLIN >> It was hard to tell the Germantown Academy boys lacrosse team’s defense was sporting three newcomers Tuesday afternoon.

In a game that featured two vastly different halves in terms of possession, it was the Patriots’ somewhat inexperienced defensive grouping that held firmest. Upper Dublin certainly made them work in the second half, but it was the kind of performance GA needed early in the season.

GA came out loose and rode that momentum and its defense to a 10-6 win over Upper Dublin.

“We really worked together and stuck to the fundamentals,” GA senior defenseman Jack McHugh said. “We kept communicating and we didn’t get down when they scored on us. We kept at it and kept to what we knew was best.”

The Patriots were playing for the third time this season while the Cardinals were hitting the field for the first time. There’s a lot of new at Upper Dublin this spring, both in terms of the players on the field and with first-year head coach Patrick Lacon leading from the sideline.

UD graduated a lot of seniors from last year’s team that made the district semifinals and reached states, but they still have some key guys back. Around them, it’s a pretty youthful or inexperienced group and the Cardinals at times looked like a team playing its first real game on Tuesday.

“Our youth showed at the beginning, we went out their thinking we would just do what we wanted to do and we weren’t able to do that,” Lacon said. “We kind of fell into playing what someone else wanted us to do and we were a little too worried about some of the things we couldn’t control.”

After an early 1-1 tie, GA seized control of the game with a 5-0 run keyed by faceoff/midfielder Liam Rosato and attackman Wills Jordan. Jordan, who finished with a goal and four assists for the game, started the run with a solo goal on a run off the right flank.

Rosato, a senior who helped GA win 13-of-23 faceoffs, controlled the X early on and added an assist on the second goal and finished off the scoring run with a great hustle play. The midfielder looked like he had an assist to Gavin Derham, but Derham’s shot was stopped by UD’s Sam Hoffman. Rosato followed the play, scooped up the rebound and ripped it home for a 6-1 lead.

UD pulled two goals back in the quarter, but the GA defense held on a man-down possession to end the frame up 6-3. GA didn’t allow a single goal while UD was in a man-up situation but the Patriots put away three goals with the man advantage.

“Our offense carried us in the first half and our defense was able to step up and carry the load for the second half,” GA coach Bill McKinney said. “The kids played loose today. We’re on spring break right now, the guys are spending a lot of time together, so the camaraderie is there and they came out and played free.”

After an offensively-skewed first quarter, the goal scoring slowed in the second. GA’s defense and freshman goalie Brendan Donnelly posted a shutout in the frame while the offense added a pair of goals to take a five-score lead to the half.

UD spent the majority of the third quarter in possession, but the Cardinals only got a single goal out of the 12-minute frame. Credit goes to the GA defense for not only staying connected but also keeping the matchups it wanted.

The Patriots did a good job of isolating Upper Dublin’s attackmen and mids, forcing the Cardinals into a lot of one-on-one battles and prevented the ball from moving.

“We’re going to work on trusting each other and trusting ourselves and that’s one of the hardest parts,” Lacon said. “With only some of the kids playing in varsity-type experiences before, going up against a group like (GA), it does show.”

“We thought we matched up well against them one-on-one,” McHugh said. “We had the guys to cover them and in support, we just made sure we help on the backside and kept sticking to those defensive fundamentals.”

Upper Dublin pulled a goal back with 8:55 left in the game, cutting the lead to 8-5 but Johns was able to restore some stability with his passing. GA scored two straight on man-up scenarios, with Johns feeding Derham on a short pass in front of the net, then throwing a slick dime to Bruce Henry, who had the finish of the game on a wicked side-arm shot.

McKinney noted his team had out-shot its first two opponents but didn’t put away goals. Tuesday, the ball worked around, the Patriots shared the scoring and they didn’t go flat despite limited second half possessions.

“They’ve been getting good opportunities, but haven’t been putting the ball in the back of the net,” McKinney said. “They were tense, but today they put the shots on cage and they dropped. It really helped them open up and play relaxed.”

GERMANTOWN ACADEMY 10, UPPER DUBLIN 6
GERMANTOWN ACADEMY 6 2 0 2 – 10
UPPER DUBLIN 3 0 1 2 – 6
Goals-Assists: GA – Gavin Derham 2-0, Wills Jordan 1-4, Bruce Henry 2-0, Noah Spratt 2-1, Gunnar Bogorowski 1-0, Connell Sweeney 1-0, Liam Rosato 1-0; UD – Lucas Roselli 1-0, Colin Asper 1-0, Nolan Reape 1-0, Brian McCarry 1-0, Jason Scott 1-0, Zach Young 1-0, Jason Williams 0-1. Shots: GA – 21, UD – 15. Saves: GA – Brendan Donnelly 9, UD – Sam Hoffman 11.