Main Line boys’ lacrosse squads looking strong this spring

The Main Line high school boys’ lacrosse scene perennially features many strong teams. Last spring, Haverford School and Malvern Prep battled for Inter-Ac supremacy; Conestoga advanced to the PIAA 3A state semifinals; Radnor finished fourth in the PIAA 2A District 1 tournament; Shipley was Friends’ Schools League runnerup; and Archbishop Carroll earned its first PIAA tournament berth.
Look for more of the same this spring, as the Main Line boys’ lacrosse teams have begun their 2019 season. Here’s a beginning-of-season look at the Main Line high school boys’ lacrosse squads:

Archbishop Carroll
Head coach: Brian Santoleri, first year.
Last year’s record (accomplishments): 11-10 overall, District 12 champions, Catholic League North champions, qualified for PIAA state tournament.
Key returnees: senior attack Sean Kearney, senior attack Fynn McNulty, junior attack Andy Borkowski, junior midfielder Zane Walsh, junior midfielder/FOGO Max Ritter, senior defender Padraig Casey, senior long stick middie Michael “Fish” Hall, senior goalie Michael Tarasca.
Others to watch: junior midfielder Dominick Burke, senior midfielder Shawn Loftus, junior defender Sean Meals.
Outlook: The Patriots return 11 seniors for first-year coach Brian Santoleri, a 2008 Carroll grad. Carroll has scheduled several non-conference games, including Easton, Penncrest, Marple, and Lower Merion, before league games against St. Joes Prep and La Salle. The Patriots had some key graduation losses, including 200+ goal scorer Adam Ritter, (High Point), but also return a solid core.

Conestoga
Head coach: Brody Bush, fifth year.
Last year’s record: 19-5 overall, 11-0 Central League.
Key returnees: senior attack Will Schnorr, junior attack Brendan Murphy, senior midfielder/faceoff PJ Hewitt, senior midfielder Julian Grove, sophomore midfielder Joey Allen, sophomore midfielder Graham Blatchford, sophomore midfielder Aiden Kelly, senior long stick middie Jake Bouhdary, senior defender Michael Jameison, junior defender Michael Prestipino, junior defender Scott Smith, junior goalie Mick Lee.
Others to watch: senior attack Will Bryan, junior attack Casey Campbell, junior defender Myles Pittman, sophomore long stick middie Tommy Ciccarone.
Outlook: Bush said, “Our biggest strength is the experience coming back on the defensive side of the ball. Our biggest challenge is to replace the 19 seniors from last year including the first two lines of midfielders. Our biggest key to success is developing the younger midfielders to be able to become impact team players and learn our system.”

Devon Prep/Delco Christian
Head Coach: Mark Consolo, third year.
Last year’s record: 12-7 overall, PIAA District 1 AA tournament qualifier.
Key returnees: senior midfielder Alex Furtek (Devon Prep), senior attacks Noah Thies (DC) and Jason Motley (DC), junior attacks Dan Boyle (DP) and Kevin Husar (DP), senior defender Na-im Robinson (DC), junior defender Cole Hines (DC), junior goalie Joe Cecchine (DP).
Others to watch: freshman midfielder Dan Brown (DP), sophomore midfielder Declan Thompson (DC), sophomore defenders Nadir Bryant (DC) and JP Schuller (DP).
Outlook: Consolo said, “We are very excited to begin our first year in the Philadelphia Catholic League Conference. Losing 12 seniors last year to graduation will provide many opportunities for new faces to step up and play a major role. Our team looks to have the identity of outhustling their opponents, and not being conservative on any live play.”

Episcopal Academy
Head coach: Chris Bates, third year.
Last year’s record: 8-6 overall; 3-2 Inter-Ac (tied for second).
Key returnees: senior midfielder Gabriel Furey (was first team All-Inter-Ac; headed to Penn); senior defender Collin Loughead (was first team All-Inter-Ac, bound for Boston University); junior attack Charlie Cunniffe (Lafayette), senior FOGO Jack Henderson (Penn State), senior defensive midfielder Quinn Chambers (Johns Hopkins), junior goalie Matt Chess (Army).
Others to Watch: senior attack Rowan Brumbaugh (Hamilton), senior attack Nick Bates, sophomore midfielder Billy Adams, junior midfielder Nate Hunter, junior midfielder Jackson Tuma, senior defender Carter Strid, senior defender Kevin King.
Outlook: Bates said, “We have experience at attack; two starting close defenders and our goalie return. Our biggest challenge is depth; losing Gabe Furey [to injury] likely for the season hurts big time. We stepped up the schedule so we’ll need to survive and learn lots of lessons early in the season before league play. Our young guys need to grow up fast to play at the high level of our competition.”

Harriton
Head coach: Joe Proud, seventh year.
Last year’s record: 7-11 overall; 4-7 Central League.
Key returnees: senior attacks Michael Stewart, Leo Wackerman, Cooper Gutsche; senior midfielders Ben Schall, Brian Stewart, Jack Northington; junior midfielder Jackson Smith; sophomore faceoff/midfielder Evan Prince; senior defender Nate Peterson; junior defenders Aedan McKenna and Luke Fink; senior goalie Robbie DePetris.
Outlook: Proud said, “Our team’s biggest strength is strong senior leadership and team chemistry. We have some solid talent, but the sum is certainly greater than the parts. We will need this consistently to compete in an always strong Central League. If we can stay hungry, play together and grow as a team throughout the season, we have a chance to play some of the best lacrosse we’ve played at Harriton in recent history.”

Haverford High
Head coach: Greg Decina, third year.
Last year’s record: 10-10.
Key returnees: junior midfielder John Scheivert, junior attack Kyle Bennett, junior defender Jimmy Callahan.
Others to watch: sophomore goalie Matt Davis, junior long stick middie Andrew Lord, senior defensive midfielder Sean Leyden.
Outlook: Decina said, “Our biggest strength is our speed in between the boxes. Our biggest challenge as that we are young and have few experienced returnees. Our biggest key to success is that we stay healthy and continue to grow each game.”

Haverford School
Head coach: John Nostrant, 28th year.
Last year’s record: 16-4 overall, won Inter-Ac regular season title.
Key returnees: senior attack Adam Salvaggio; senior midfielders Peter Garno, Mac Costin and Gavin Burke; senior defenders Ryan Niggeman.
Others to watch: junior FOGO Chris Tsetsekos, junior attacks Brennan McBride and Pearse Glavin, senior goalie Sage Garito, senior defender Seamus McCloskey.
Outlook: “We’re excited about the group we have this spring; they provide great senior leadership and experience,” said Brendan Dawson, the Fords’ Director of Lacrosse. “Our team’s biggest challenge is our nationally competitive schedule. As a group, our biggest key to success will be how quickly we can come together as a team. We have a lot of talent, but more importantly we have a lot of selfless teammates. Outside of that, we need to approach every day as it’s the most important day of our season.”

Lower Merion
Head coach: Roland D’Ortone, third year.
Last year’s record: 3-15 overall, 1-9 Central League.
Key returnees: junior midfielder Quinn Black, senior midfielder Khari Cephas, senior midfielder Justin Greenspan, senior attack Tyler Falco, junior attack Nate Lapat, junior attack Anthony Lepera, senior defender Andrew Aspesi, senior defender Russell Dougherty, senior goalie Matt Sy.
Others to watch: freshmen defenders Henry Bard and Sam Shepard, freshman midfielder Luke D’Alonzo.
Outlook D’Ortone said, “We have a nice mix of veteran player experience and leadership with some young talented freshmen that bring a fresh excitement and energy. Our biggest challenge is our low numbers – depth is an issue at some positions and some players are being asked to take on new roles or in some cases multiple roles. The most important thing is that we remain healthy. If our veterans can keep the team together and our younger players accept the responsibilities given to them, we can be much improved.”

Malvern Prep
Head coach: John McEvoy, 13th year.
Last year’s record: 15-5 overall, won Inter-Ac tournament title.
Key returnees: senior goalie Will Pettit; senior defenders Sean Rushton, Billy Carlini and Max Jogerst; sophomore defender Jake Brownley, senior midfielders Matt Civitella and Luke DiGiacobbe; senior attack Evan Lotz.
Others to watch: junior attacks Colin McGill and Champ Doyle; sophomore attacks Will Peden and Nick Potemski; sophomore defender Mike Buono; junior faceoffs Rowan Almonte and Mike Voehringer; junior midfielders Cade Szostek and Jack Jogerst; senior midfielder Evan Waitte.
Outlook: McEvoy said, “We should be strong in goal and more experienced on the defensive side of the field. We’re very inexperienced and young on the offensive side. Face offs are always a challenge given the number of high quality faceoff guys we will see. Our biggest challenge is overcoming some significant early injuries and overall youth and inexperience – it is fun to shape that, though. Our success will depend on how well we can do that.”

Radnor
Head coach: John Begier, 13th year.
Last year’s record: 15-6 overall.
Key returnees: senior attack/midfielder Drew Brown, senior attack/midfielder John Austen, senior defender Kieran Sheridan, senior defender Ryan Bernicker, senior goalie Archer Darrach, senior midfielder Teddy Girton, senior midfielder Ludwig Posauner, senior midfielder Jack Dooley, junior attack Jackson Birtwistle, junior defender Cole Schwartz, senior defender Jack Connolly, senior Charlie Doane.
Others to watch: senior midfielder Pat Cullen, senior midfielder Ethan Ott, senior attack/midfielder David Azzarano, senior defender Aidan Carter, senior defender Noah Treangen, junior attack Jaden Goldstein, junior midfielder Taylor Margolis, junior midfielder Cole Albany, junior midfielder Josh Savadove, junior goalie Casey McCullough, junior defender Austin Stanley, junior defender Logan O’Sullivan.
Outlook: “We have a large senior class that has both experience and leadership,” said Begier. “This group, combined with some talented underclassmen, has us excited about the 2019 season.”

Shipley
Head coach: Mark Duncan, 18th year.
Last year’s record: 13-5 overall, 4-2 Friends’ Schools League, lost to Academy of New Church in FSL championship game.
Key returnees: senior midfielder/attack Ben Aschkenasy, senior defender Spencer Dee, junior midfielders Randall Brown and Tyler Drake, junior long stick middie Hunter Gallo, junior attack/midfielder Luke Grayum (University of Richmond commit), junior attack Auggie Gehret, junior goalie Kyle Mezrow, junior midfielder Henry Reed, junior defender Egan Butala, sophomore midfielder/attack Josh Gallia, sophomore attack Braeden Lange, sophomore long stick middie TJ McCabe, sophomore midfielder Jake Olejniczak, sophomore goalie Nate Yi.
Others to watch: sophomore faceoff Jake McCarthy, freshman defender Cameron Light.
Outlook: The Gators return all but two starters from last year’s squad (Will Drake – Swarthmore, Griff Gallagher- Gettysburg). Duncan said, “We look to really make a statement in the Philly area. Our strong junior and sophomore classes are complemented by our seniors and freshmen to make a squad that is fun to coach and exciting to watch. We look to make a run in May to take back the FSL title and are excited for the invitation to the National Prep Showcase against some of the best private schools in North America.”