By: Alec Eskin
The Garnet Valley boys lacrosse team came in to this game coming off of a 11-5 win over Cumberland Valley. The Jaguars had just also beat the PCL Champion LaSalle Explorers. This team has won their last five games going back to the District One Playoffs. They had a very tough task of playing Saint Joes Prep for a second time after losing the first time against them in dramatic fashion, losing by a final score of 7-6 in OT to start off the year. The Jaguars were a different team this time around that when the season started, and did they sure prove it, winning in dominating fashion by a final score of 20-9.
The offense was the best as its ever been all year long, they got off to a terrific start thanks to a big collective effort on that end of the field. The Jaguars scored six goals in the first quarter, with two each by Max Busenkell and Andrew Goldt, then a goal each from Luke Mingoni and Joey Halloran. They outscored SJP 6-1 in that quarter which set the tone for the rest of the game. In the second, it was much of the same. The Jaguars outscored SJP 5-1 in the quarter with two goals from Ryan Nealon, a goal each from Andrew Goldt (who got a hat trick), Zach Myers, and Sean Gallagher. The highlight of the second half is when Sam DiTrolio scored two goals right off of face-off wins. The Jaguars by the end of the game got their second highest scoring total of the year, just behind the 24 goal game against Penncrest earlier in the year. By the end of the game, Max Busenkell had six goals, Ryan Nealon and Andrew Goldt has three, Luke Mingoni and Sam Ditrolio with two, and one from Joey Halloran, Sean Gallagher, and Josh Graham (his first career variety goal). They accomplished almost every key to the game, which was not turning over the ball, making good passes, and taking efficient shots.
On defense, they did not see much action due to the offense having the ball for most of the game. However, when the ball did get into Garnet Valley’s end of the field, it did not take long for it to leave. Garnet Valley created turnovers thanks to great play from Bear Evans, Sean Gallagher and Trevor Saccomandi. They were able to pressure SJP attackers to get rid of the ball and or settle for shots that had a low probability of going in the net. Lastly, Andrew Keaveney was able to come up with a lot of saves and had been playing some of his best lacrosse these last few games.
The Jaguars will get a rematch against Radnor today at noon in a heavy weight matchup against the reigning District One Champions and they look to go for the sweep of winning the Central League, District One, and State Titles. Radnor is also looking to repeat as State Champions this year after dominating against Kennett last year. This should be an exciting game to watch.