Springfield parlays momentum into big quarter, and a win over ‘Stoga

TREDYFFRIN >> High level high school lacrosse can swing on a couple seconds just as easily as it can by an inch or two.

During Tuesday’s Central League boys’ showdown between visiting Springfield and Conestoga — to see who could try to keep pace with front-running Radnor — the Cougars used a bit of both to take some momentum into the halftime break, and then parlayed it into a dominant third quarter on the way to a critical 12-6 victory at Teamer Field.

“We haven’t won here in a long time – since 2007,” Springfield head coach Tom Lemieux reported. “’Stoga is always a quality team, very well coached, so we were fortunate to have such a good second half and get the win.”

The Cougars improve to 8-1 (12-2 overall) and remain a full game behind Radnor. ’Stoga has now dropped two straight and falls to 7-1 (12-4 overall).

“We came in thinking we had to win this one,” said senior attacker Tyler Gougler.

“We were really slow in the first half and we didn’t really come to play. But in the second half we were on fire offensively, and the defense was playing some amazing lacrosse too.”

Trailing by a goal with less than five minutes left in the first half, Springfield got the equalizer from Gougler, then narrowly avoided surrendering a goal by the Pioneer’s Wade Beckstrom by an inch off the near post, and later celebrated a goal by midfielder Brett Doherty as time expired.

“I thought that Brett Doherty goal was a big momentum shift,” Lemieux said.

“It was a key stretch,” Gougler agreed. “When we scored the buzzer-beater, it really got us pumped up. After that we really had the momentum.”

As a result, the surge then continued into the second half as the Cougars scored the first four goals in the opening five minutes, including two more by Gougler.

By the time ’Stoga’s Brody Eaton ended the rally midway through the third period, it was 9-5. Gougler and Jimmy Kennedy then added two more tallies before the end of the quarter, and junior Patrick Flaherty added another early in the fourth to complete a stunning 9-1 explosion.

“I didn’t really think we could do something like that. We just had very good ball movement,” Gougler said.

“We didn’t have possession until about five minutes left in the third (quarter),” added Pioneers’ head coach Brody Bush. “It’s hard to come back when you don’t have the ball.

“Our faceoff guys are underclassmen. We did OK there except in the third quarter. And against a team like (Springfield) that is this good and has so many skilled players, you cannot be in the penalty box as much as we were.”

The opening half, however, was much different with three lead changes and five ties in the first 24 minutes of action. ’Stoga’s Clif Hawkins scored 30 seconds into the clash, but the Cougars notched three of four to take their first lead, 3-2, early in the second period.

The Pioneers battled back to regain the lead briefly, on goals by Beckstrom and Eaton, which set the stage for Springfield’s game-altering push to end the half.

“(Springfield) definitely took the momentum into the half,” Bush said.

“I thought we played well for three quarters, but we had a down third quarter. We knew we were going to have to keep it close, and we controlled possession in the first half.”

Gougler led all scorers with five goals, Jimmy Kennedy added two goals and two assists, and Flaherty chipped in a goal and three assists for the Cougars.

“I thought we came out with really good energy in the second half,” Lemieux said. “We won some faceoffs and had some quality possessions.

“We pride ourselves on controlling the pace of the game. We did not do that in the first half but we did a nice job of it in the third quarter.”

Nobody on Conestoga’s roster had more than one goal, and tellingly, there was just a single assist recorded on the evening.

“I was happy how we competed,” Bush said. “But I suspect when I look at the film, our shot percentage could not have been as good as (Springfield’s). We missed the cage a lot and we hit the post a lot tonight.”

Springfield (Delco) 12, Conestoga 6

Springfield                            2 3 6 1 — 12

Conestoga                            2 2 1 1 — 6

Springfield goals: Gougler 5, Ji. Kennedy 2, Flaherty, Valerio, Doherty, Donaldson, Kreydt.

Conestoga goals: Eaton, Beckstrom, Forgie, Merschel, Grove, Hawkins.

Goalie saves: Ja. Kennedy (S) 6; Johnson (C) 7.