LACROSSE: Manheim Township boys and girls fall in state quarters
For the Manheim Township boys, a second comeback wasn't in the cards; for the Lady Blue Streaks, getting over the hump wasn't part of the draw.
Saturday afternoon at Exeter Township High School, both the boys' and girls' lacrosse squads from Manheim Township dropped a pair of stiff tests in the PIAA quarterfinals as each team saw its otherwise successful season come to a disappointing close.
In game one, the District 3 champion Blue Streaks (23-3) fell behind 4-0 in the opening quarter to District 12 champion St. Joseph's Prep (18-5), eventually losing by a 15-7 margin.
Hawks' goalkeeper Mike Marchese (verbal commit to national power Notre Dame) stopped 17 shots by the Township side, allowing St. Joseph's to build an early lead.
"The first quarter we came out and we played awesome offense, we just didn't capitalize on the opportunities," said head coach of the Township boys Kyle Wimer, whose squad fired eight shots toward net in an opening flurry. "You know their goalie made some big saves and we missed some shots. They got one, two, and three and it was kind of a little bit of a fallout there early on. We just didn't rebound quick enough."
Township goalies Caton Johnson and Jack Braswell also displayed a solid effort in goal with 11 saves, but it wasn't enough to slow the Hawks offense.
"They came out and beat us in our matchups, they really moved the ball well and they hit their shots," said senior defender Griffin Shultz. "They were shooting the ball well. Our goalies actually played well, made some huge saves, but when (the Hawks) had opportunities they buried them."
Trailing 7-1 at the half, the Hawks came out of intermission with two quick goals, one by Kevin Stump (3 goals) and the other by Peter Gayhardt (6 goals).
"It was eerily similar to the first time we played them," Wimer said, regarding a 6-0 Hawks lead in a regular season contest in which Township battled back to forge overtime. "We told them if we get one (goal), just keep concentrating on getting a second one, have a good stop. (St. Joseph's) came out and dictated play and they did a great job."
Township would forge a rally with a pair of goals by Kevin Curcio and a goal from Davis Carr, assisted by Chris Augeri (2 goals, 2 assists), in fighting to the end.
Grayson Sallade and Ryan Miller (3 assists) also scored for Township on the day.
"I'm proud of what they accomplished," Wimer said of Township's four-time District 3 titlists. "We had an awesome year, but unfortunately we did not get our last goal, but that's something for this next group of guys to go after. This senior class has been a phenomenal class. Their attitudes, their dedication to the sport, their loyalty to the program is something for everyone to emulate."
On the girls' side, the Lady Streaks' ability to come back was met only by the Lady Jaguars' of Garnet Valley (16-9) willingness to re-take the lead as defending State champion Garnet Valley prevailed 14-12 in the second game of the doubleheader at Exeter.
"We've had a lot of heartbreakers, losing in overtime, losing by one," said the Jaguars' junior Emily Mathewson (3 goals, 5 assists; Vanderbilt commit) regarding Garnet Valley's fifth-place finish in District 1. "I think it's actually prepared us for this moment; playing in District One really prepared us."
After trailing 9-6 after the first half, the seven-time District 3 champion Lady Blue Streaks (18-8) began the second with a man advantage, Garnet Valley nonetheless winning the opening draw and appearing to score.
But an early release out of the penalty box nullified the goal and gave Township possession with two additional minutes on the advantage. Goals by Maryn Bernhardt (5 goals) and two by Virginia-commit Emily McBride (4 goals, 2 assists) subsequently knotted the contest at 9-all with 16:34 to play.
"What was tough was we needed to win draws to get the opportunity (to come back)" said Township head coach Mark Pinkerton.
All in all, Garnet Valley led 15-13 in draws, but especially seemed to gain control following Township game-tying scores.
"We knew (draws) would be a key to the game and if it went 15-13 the other way, it might have been a different result," Pinkerton said. "It's hard to stop a good team when they have multiple threats. They're a very strong draw-control team, (Mathewson) is really good at it and is quick off the line. We wanted to get (fifty percent)."
The Lady Jaguars rebuilt their lead to three at 13-10 with 9:04 to play before a pair of goals by Elizabeth Petrosky brought the Lady Streaks back to within one. A pair of defensive stands, however, kept Township scoreless over the final 3:43 for the win.
"It's just tough because we can't get over that this was the same field, same team, same two-goal loss that we had in 2012," Pinkerton said. "We thought (we) played well in districts; had we won this we had a real winnable game (Tuesday)."
Fortunately for both of Manheim Township's programs, there are plenty of successes to draw on, and plenty more in the cards.
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Boys' High School Lacrosse
PIAA Quarterfinal
St. Joseph's Prep 15, Manheim Township 7
SJP 4 3 4 4 - 15
MT 0 1 4 2 - 7
SJP scoring-P. Gayhardt 6, K. Stamp 3, A. Watts 2, M. Shapiro 1, A. Scalamandre 1, S. Tobia 1, D. Fisher 1
SJP assists-A. Watts 2, G. Fleming 2, S. Tobia 2, A. Scalamandre 1
MT scoring-K. Curcio 2, C. Augeri 2, D. Carr 1, R. Miller 1, G. Sallade 1
MT assists- R. Miller 3, C. Augeri 2, G. Schultz
Total shots-SJP 31, MT 40
Total saves-SJP M. Marchese 17, MT C. Johnson 11, J. Braswell 0
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Girls' High School Lacrosse
PIAA Quarterfinal
Garnet Valley 14, Manheim Township 12
GV 9 5 - 14
MT 6 7 - 12
GV scoring-K. McNeal 3, E. Mathewson 3, M. Mansi 2, K. Nakrasius 2, M. Valerio 2, C. Faith 1, M. Koscinski 1
GV assists-E. Mathewson 5, K. Nakrasius 2, M. O'Brien 1
MT scoring-M. Bernhardt 5, E. McBride 4, E. Petrosky 3
MT assists-E. McBride 2, C. Mann 2, M. Bernhardt 1, E. Petrosky 1
Total shots-GV 21, MT 18
Total saves-GV M. Mink 5; MT M. Curtis 6