Energized Kennett closes in fourth quarter to top Wissahickon in PIAA-3A quarterfinals

NEWTOWN SQUARE >> Sam Forte and the rest of Kennett lacrosse stood in a huddle with 12 minutes left to determine if their season would continue.

The Blue Demons trailed Wissahickon heading into the fourth quarter of their PIAA Class 3A boys lacrosse quarterfinal on Saturday, but the words coming from the huddle were confident and determined. Forte, who had scored late in the third went out and gave his team just the start it needed to turn those words into reality.

Kennett took over in the fourth, rallying past Wissahickon 11-8 in a terrific game played at Marple-Newtown High School to advance to Tuesday’s PIAA semifinals.

“It was just the energy for us, you see a couple balls go in the back of the net, we’re all hyped up and that was kind of the end of it,” Forte, who scored five times, said. “We always go on runs like that. We knew if we caught our feet, we’d be fine.”

Kennett put together a 17-0 regular season to earn the top seed in the District 1 tournament but lost consecutive games to finish as the fourth seed. Demons goalie Jason Astle said that was the motivation for this playoff run, with people thinking it was the same old Kennett and a team that may have overstayed its welcome.

“We knew we had 12 minutes and we did not want that to be the end of our season,” Astle said. “We knew what we needed to do.”

Astle, a senior, played an unbelievable game to keep his team’s season going. He stole more than one surefire goal away from Trojans attackers and made two crucial stops in the fourth to keep the momentum on Kennett’s side including a denial with 1:49 left with Wissahickon down 10-8.

He felt it was his responsibility to his teammates after a poor start to the game. Wissahickon, the fifth seed out of District 1, continued its trend of fast starts this season with four unanswered goals in the first quarter and prompted an early Blue Demons timeout. Astle used the break to regroup and he practically stood on his head from there to first keep the deficit from ballooning then lock down a lead late in the game.

“I started out slow, wasn’t seeing the ball and said to myself ‘I don’t want this to be what people think about me,’” Astle, who recorded 10 saves, said. “I dialed in.”

“He kept us in the game the whole first half,” Forte added in. “If we didn’t have ‘J’ we would have been chasing the game a lot more and not kept it as close as it was.”

Wissahickon coach Matt Conway also credited Astle for his performance. Trojans senior Matt Fritz went 10-of-11 on faceoffs in the first half but the Trojans were only able to score five goals and held a 5-4 lead at the break thanks to a few robberies by the Kennett goalie.

“It was right down to the wire, a game of runs like it normally is and their goalie made two ridiculous, in-tight saves there late and that was the difference,” Conway said. “He made at least two of the robbery-type saves and those are momentum saves.”

The season ends for Wissahickon but only after the best year in program history. An undefeated conference champion in the SOL American, Wiss proved it belonged on the big stage as well with a grueling regular season slate, District 1 quarterfinal appearance and state quarterfinal finish that included a first round win over La Salle.

While not the deepest team, the Trojans chalked their success up to heart and their bond with each other.

“It’s crazy, no one really thought we were going to go in and beat all these teams this year but we knew we could do it coming in,” Wiss senior Jackson Intrieri said. “We felt we would be able to do it last year too, I love these guys and I wouldn’t have wanted to play with anybody else.”

Wissahickon seemed to rediscover its first quarter form with a quick barrage of goals early in the third. A nice sequence that showed all the team’s strengths from defense to transition, hustle on loose balls and finishing kicked off an 83-second span that saw Wiss bag three tallies for an 8-4 lead.

Kennett took a timeout with 8:53 left in the third after Wiss’ third goal. The Trojans wouldn’t score again while the Blue Demons were just getting started. Colin Jung scooped a ground ball for a putback, Zach Hulme tallied and with 12 seconds left in the frame, Forte scored with an over-the-shoulder shot facing away from the goal to pull within 8-7.

He then tied the score on a one-timer 55 seconds into the final quarter that gave him a hat trick.

“I couldn’t replay to you how it happened, but I know it was electric after it happened,” Forte said. “We all got hyped up. Once we saw a tie score, we knew it was anyone’s game and we just took off with it.”

Astle pointed to the play of Richie Hughson on the faceoff X in the second half. The Kennett midfielder went 7-of-12 on draws in the second half, giving the Blue Demons more coveted possessions and allowing them to keep building on their swell of momentum.

“He figures his own stuff out,” Forte said of Hughson.

A flag put Wiss a man down with 9:31 to go in the game but the Trojans defense killed the penalty. A moment of disorganization after going even gave Kennett a sliver of room and Forte capitalized, cutting to the goal and scoring off a pass from Jake Freeberry for his team’s first lead at 9-8.

Hulme made it three of his own on a bouncing shot with 3:50 to play that put Wiss up against it. The Trojans knew they weren’t out of it yet however.

“Every single kid on this team has each other’s back,” Fritz said. “I’m proud of everyone on the team. Sometimes in these games, our depth does hurt us but I love all these kids and how close our team is. We’ll remember we made it to the final eight in states but at the end of the day, it only means so much, it’s the relationships with the guys on the teams and all the fun we’ve had that I’ll remember.”

Astle made a save with 1:49 left, the Demons defense came up with a stop with 50 seconds to go and Forte scored on an empty net in the final half-minute to seal the deal. Kennett will face Garnet Valley, a 12-9 winner over St. Joe’s Prep, in Tuesday’s semifinal round.

It is a matchup Forte and his teammates are eagerly awaiting.

“We’ve gotten to know their team in the past month, we played them twice and we’re 1-1 so we’re looking to take the rubber match,” Forte said. “Energy changed everything for us. Once we’re energized, nobody can beat us.”

KENNETT 11, WISSAHICKON 8
KENNETT 0 4 3 4 – 11
WISSAHICKON 4 1 3 0 – 8
Goals-Assists: K – Sam Forte 5-0, Zach Hulme 3-0, Richie Hughson 1-0, Colin Jung 1-0, Jake Freeberry 0-2, Evan Hartman 1-0; W – Jackson Intrieri 3-3, Kyle Lehman 2-0, Andrew Slackman 1-0, Dean Wolfe 1-0, Brody Myers 1-0, EJ Schreiner 0-2.