Boys’ Lacrosse: Spring-Ford dominant in victory over Boyertown
ROYERSFORD >> Prior to the 2024 season, Spring-Ford coach Kevin Donnelly made a statement forged in experience and familiarity.
“We will be the best version of ourselves,” Donnelly said, “at the end of the season.”
If he’s correct, future opponents are officially on notice — because the midseason version of the Rams is getting on a roll.
The Rams notched their ninth victory in their last 10 games on Thursday, controlling play throughout a 15-4 win over Boyertown at Coach McNelly Stadium.
Brady Welsh led Spring-Ford with six goals, and teammates Hayden Wedemeyer and Gavin Roth added hat tricks. Sophomore goalie Dylan Cyr led the defensive effort with 11 saves on the evening.
An 0-2 start to 2024 made Donnelly’s statement seem more out of necessity than optimism, but Spring-Ford got on course during a spring break trip to Florida with a pair of wins. They’ve stayed hot since with non-league victories over Souderton, Pennridge, and Governor Mifflin paired with a 4-1 start in PAC play.
“It’s advertised as a team-bonding trip, and I think that’s exactly what it was,” said Welsh. “Obviously an 0-2 start isn’t what we want, but the trip was a chance to both relax and take some time off from lacrosse, but also become closer and get rolling, string a few wins together.”
Three of Welsh’s goals came in a 55-second stretch of the second quarter, as the Rams used a 7-0 stretch to break a tight game wide open by halftime.
“I’ve seen us play better,” Welsh said. “A few facets of our game were really strong tonight, but we know we can still continue to improve.”
One particularly strong facet was the work of junior Sean Hassis at the faceoff stripe. Hassis was 17-for-20 for the game, allowing the Rams to control possession and generate repeated scoring opportunities.
“Faceoffs are a huge part of the game,” said Hassis. “Controlling the ball, and getting more possessions when the offense is clicking makes a huge difference.”
Boyertown’s Gio Daddario drew first blood less than a minute into the contest, but Spring-Ford quickly assumed control with sustained offensive possessions generated by numerous Boyertown clearing errors both forced and unforced.
Ian Evans assisted on the first two Rams goals, then got himself on the board as the Rams compiled four straight tallies.
From that point, it was all Spring-Ford as a half-dozen Rams hit the twine before halftime, building an 11-2 advantage.
Ryder Gehris led Boyertown with a pair of goals, while Daddario and Mason Barndt also found the net on a tough night for the visitors.
Boyertown (4-6, 3-2 PAC) continues to try to find their footing this season, but coach Grady Wise knows the Bears need to turn things around quickly, especially with contests against Central Bucks East and Perkiomen Valley lurking in the coming week.
“I tell our guys that fundamentals will carry us or fail us,” said coach Grady Wise, “and tonight, they failed us. Once we settled in defensively, we got a few stops, but we couldn’t turn them into goals.
“Way too many turnovers, and against an athletic, well-coached team like Spring-Ford, you’re gonna pay for those mistakes.”
For the victorious Rams (9-3, 4-1 PAC) the stretch run of the regular season starts next week. SF figures to be favored in their next couple of contests, but a showdown with archrival Perkiomen Valley looms on April 30.
Currently, Spring-Ford and Perkiomen Valley are locked in a three-way tie with Owen J. Roberts atop the PAC. OJR beat Spring-Ford 12-11 on April 9, while Perkiomen Valley topped OJR 9-8 two days later.
“Right now, the emphasis is just on the next game,” Hassis said. “Everything always leads to the PAC playoffs, but for now we’re just trying to string together strong performances.”
NOTES: Before the game, both teams observed a moment of silence for Codey Prindle, a Boyertown assistant coach who passed away in a motorcycle accident last weekend.
Prindle, a 2015 Boyertown graduate, was a goaltender on the school’s lacrosse team and went onto play at King’s College. He was in his fourth year of coaching with the Boyertown program, starting as a JV coach and moving up to varsity assistant for the 2024 season.
“He was doing such a great job,” said Wise. “It’s an absolute tragedy, so unexpected, and we are grieving for him and for what his family’s going through. There’s a gaping hole in our program without Codey’s presence on our sideline.”
BOX SCORE
Boyertown 2 0 1 1 – 4
Spring Ford 4 7 2 2 – 15
Boyertown (4)
Ryder Gehris 2 goals
Gio Daddario goal
Mason Barndt goal
Parker Anderson assist
Max Goodrich 4 saves
Logan Oakes 1 save
Spring-Ford (15)
Brady Welsh 6 goals, assist
Hayden Wedemeyer 3 goals, 2 assists
Gavin Roth 3 goals, assist
Ian Evans goal, 3 assists
Preston Page goal, assist
Mike Bendowski goal
Owen Wydro assist
Sean Hassis 17/20 faceoffs
Dylan Cyr 11 saves
Quinn Costello 1 save
