Cougars edge Jaguars in tune-up for Ches-Mont gauntlet

UWCHLAN > For the first time since the 2022 boys lacrosse season, Downingtown East came up with the winning recipe against a quality non-league regular-season foe. And now – after surviving a 9-8 battle against visiting Garnet Valley on Saturday morning — the Cougars head into the thick of the Ches-Mont schedule with some momentum.

“This is a very big win. Garnet Valley is an excellent program,” said East senior Bo Horvath.

“This is huge,” agreed his dad, and Cougars’ head coach, Joe Horvath. “We hadn’t had a non-conference win since last year. We really needed a statement game. It was a tester – (Garnet Valley) is a good team – but the boys showed up and got it done.”

For the Jaguars (5-6 overall), it was the latest in a series of setbacks against a who’s-who of lacrosse powerhouses in the region like: Penn Charter, St. Joseph’s Prep, Conestoga and Downingtown West.

“The plan was to play the best opponents we could find and get prepared for playoffs, but part of the plan wasn’t to lose this many games,” Garnet Valley head coach Frank Urso said. “We’ve given away some games.”

After suffering back-to-back non-conference losses last week to Spring-Ford and Springfield (Delco), the Cougars improve to 9-2 overall in the final tune-up before hosting the league’s only other unbeaten squad, West Chester Rustin, and archrival and once-beaten Downingtown West.

“This was important because next week we face our biggest rivals in the Ches-Mont,” said Bo Horvath, a star midfielder who has signed to play at Lehigh.

“We seem to win all of the games we are supposed to, and lose the games we want to win,” Joe Horvath added. “It’s time to turn that around, and today was the day.”

The key stretch in the clash came in the first half when East went on a 6-1 rally and turned a one-goal deficit into a 7-3 cushion. Junior Connor Sweeney and Horvath each notched both of their goals during the 15-minute-plus surge.

“We made some defensive mistakes,” Urso said. “You are going to make some, but good opponents capitalize when you make them. That’s what (Dowiningtown East) did. They made us pay.”

Trailing 7-4 at the half and 9-5 early in the fourth period, Garnet Valley kept fighting. Sophomore Jackson Snyder’s tally sliced into the margin, and then the Jags converted a pair of man-up goals, first by freshman Cameron Woolard and later by senior Kris Henning with 1:10 on the clock to make it 9-8.

“They still had the fight in them,” Urso said.

With momentum on the wane, however, junior Paxson Warnock came up with a critical faceoff win against Garnet Valley’s Kai Lopez, followed quickly by an East timeout. The Cougars were able to maintain possession until 4.1 seconds remained, and a length of the field shot was corralled by goaltender Brady Quinn at the buzzer.

“We wore (Lopez) down a little bit because he plays offense as well,” Urso explained.

“(Lopez) is really experienced and a tremendous athlete, and Paxson did what he had to do,” Joe Horvath added. “We were able to pick up the ground ball and call the timeout. It was a big piece.”

Amazingly, the shots on goal were 15-15. And overall Lopez had a 12-8 edge over Warnock in the circle, although Warnock had a 4-3 advantage in the second half.

“We had to play some of the best defense we’ve ever played because (Garnet Valley) had a very good offensive coach (Frank Urso),” Bo Horvath said.

“We gave up a couple man-up goals and a few scramble goals – so I am really pleased with the defense,” Joe Horvath added. “I am becoming more pleased with the offense and their patience. I think we have better games ahead of us – no doubt. But this was a great stepping stone.”

Senior attacker Bryson Kolinsky led the way for East with three goals and an assist, and he scored the only two by the Cougars in the second half. Senior Jake Woodworth chipped in two goals.

“We’ve faced some adversity,” Bo Horvath said. “We’ve had some big injuries that didn’t help, and we are playing a bunch of very tough (opponents).”

Henning wound up leading the Jaguars with three goals.

“We just have to keep fighting,”Urson said. “I have some darn good players. If we can minimize the mistakes, value and protect the ball, we will get our chances. We don’t need to rush or panic – there is plenty of time.”

 

Downingtown East 9, Garnet Valley 8

Garnet Valley                                   2 2 1 3 — 8

Downingtown East                         3 4 1 1 — 9

Garnet Valley goals: Henning 3, Woolard, Snyder, Goldt, Ryburn, Myers.

Downingtown East goals: Kolinsky 3, Horvath 2, Woodworth 2, Sweeney 2.

Goalie saves: Keaveney (GV) 6; Quinn (DE) 5.