Defense helps Boyertown best Owen J. Roberts in battle of PAC unbeatens

BUCKTOWN >> Lacrosse is traditionally regarded as a high-flying, run-and-fun, “fastest game on two feet.” Some observers are still taken aback when a coach or team preaches a “defense-first” philosophy due to the sport’s reputation for fast play and high scoring.

That’s what makes Boyertown’s defensive performance Tuesday night all the more impressive. In a sport where it’s uncommon to hold an opponent scoreless for a quarter, the visiting Bears held Owen J. Roberts scoreless for a 39-minute stretch, claiming a 5-3 slugfest to stay tied with Spring-Ford atop the Pioneer Athletic Conference boys lacrosse standings.

Mike Federico had a hat trick and goalie Rob Wood had 10 critical saves to lead the victorious Bears.

“Robert stepped up — he was huge in the net,” said Boyertown coach Grady Wise. “Our defense — Jake Miller, Trey Lignelli, Shane Clinton, plus our defensive middies did a tremendous job locking down, allowing Rob to see every shot.”

Most remarkably, Wise didn’t seem all that surprised by the limits his defense placed on OJR.

“These guys bring so much energy, tenacity day in, day out,” he said. “It was fun watching them get after it tonight.”
“I rely on this defense heavily to see the ball, and limit the shots,” said Wood. “When we play like this, I see the ball well and we’re able to help each other.”

Wood, a junior, is in his first year as a starter, moving in for graduated Mercury first-team All-Area goalie Cole Metzger. He’s seeing to it that the Bears don’t see a drop off in performance in the cage.

“From the time I was a freshman, I worked with Cole and other upperclassmen,” said Wood. “They helped me learn to see the ball, clear the ball, and most of all they helped me to develop my mental game.”

Going into Tuesday, little separation was apparent at the top of the Pioneer Athletic Conference boys’ lacrosse standings.

With Spring-Ford, Owen J. Roberts, and Boyertown sitting atop the league with unblemished 4-0 PAC records, the three contests pitting the currently undefeated squads against one another figure to determine seeding for the year-end, four-team playoff tournament.

Tuesday night, the Bears moved to 5-0 in conference (7-3 overall). It’s quite a start for a team that made their first trip to the District 1 Class 3A playoffs and claimed their first playoff victory last year, and has their sites set on going even further this season.

The Bears have now registered victories over two of their three PAC Final Four rivals from a year ago (Perkiomen Valley and Pope John Paul II) with a big matchup against Spring-Ford looming. But Wise doesn’t look too far ahead.

“We always talk about going 1-0 today,” he said.

A sloppy start gave way to two quick goals for OJR from seniors Logan Clefisch and Christian Brofft in the first quarter. Mike Federico responded with the first of his two first-half goals, but it was Boyertown goalie Wood who kept the Bears afloat with five early saves, keeping the Bears close until Federico knotted the game at 2 with 5:30 to play until halftime.

After halftime, Brady McFalls’ first of two goals gave the Bears the lead for good with 9:47 to play in the third quarter.

Making a one-goal lead stand up for an entire half of lacrosse sounds like a fool’s errand, but the Bears did that and more, keeping OJR off the board until the final 57 seconds of the game, as Federico and McFalls added additional tallies.

“That’s not really a reality to completely shut a team down,” said Wise. “We preach good, sound team defense and keeping the cage clean for our goalie.

“We can continue to improve in closing out games — we did give them a few chances to come back at the end, a few too many possessions.”

For OJR (5-4 overall, 4-1 PAC) those missed opportunities were the story Tuesday night. After Brofft (two goals) struck to make the score 2-0 in the Cats’ favor, OJR’s potent offense looked poised to explode. Instead, the next 40 minutes were the picture of frustration, as the talented unit turned the ball over repeatedly, made ill-advised passes and suffered from poor shot selection.

“We had them scouted,” said coach Ben Carville. “But we couldn’t catch and throw, we couldn’t execute … it wasn’t our night.

“The most frustrating part to me is we had plenty to play for. Our defense showed up, our goalie (Ben Hornak, with nine saves) came up huge. You can have all the skill and talent, but when you don’t execute, it won’t matter.”

For all the credit Boyertown deserves after holding OJR scoreless for such an extended stretch, can the accomplishment be used in reverse — providing motivation for the OJR offense as soon as Thursday night, when they travel to Perkiomen Valley?

“I hope so,” Carville said. “With the skill and the talent that I see every day — a performance like this hurts. I hope we can go back and learn to be unselfish and do the things that have made us successful when we are successful.”