Lower Merion Boys Lacrosse Keep Faint Playoff Hopes Alive

Casey O’Rourke is willing to let his team loose and run free all over the field. The boys’ lacrosse coach has a young team, very young in some areas, and he would rather see them take risks and make aggressive mistakes than be passive.

O’Rourke has recently seen some nice strides being taken. The Aces are in a state or urgency, playing for a PIAA District One playoff berth, and their faint hopes received a nice boost Tuesday night in an 8-4 victory over Marple Newtown.

The victory gives the Aces a 5-9 overall record and a 2-6 in the Central League, while the loss dropped Marple Newtown to 4-9 and 1-7 in the league. Lower Merion was led by three goals from Cooper Eisenhard, and two goals each from Chris Daly and Desmond Ellis. Aces’ junior goalie Eli Newschaffer was also a big plus, making a number of key saves early to keep Lower Merion in the game. Marple Newtown was led by two goals from Ted Oleynick and one goal each from Cullen Scott and Evan Aigeldiner.

“We needed a win on our schedule and we did what had to do to get it,” O’Rourke said. “We lost a lot of seniors, and offensively, we start four sophomores, a junior and a freshman, so we’re really young there. But this is a team that’s getting better, and we still think we have a chance to make the [district] playoffs. It’s a small chance, but it’s the reason why we need to keep winning games like this one tonight.”

Ellis’ goal on a last-second shot in the third quarter opened the door. The goal was met with great consternation from the Marple Newtown sideline, which protested that the score came just after the horn sounded to end the quarter. But the officials ruled otherwise, which came at a crucial time, and gave the Aces a 6-2 lead entering the fourth quarter.

For Ellis, it marked a career game, scoring two goals. What made it that much more special is that Ellis is a short-stick defensive midfielder, very rarely do players in
that position get a chance to score. But once Ellis got the ball on his stick, he came roaring down the field and fired just before the third quarter ended.

“We try to push the ball as often as we can as midfielders, and Coach O’Rourke says if you see an opening, don’t give the ball up, take the shot,” Ellis said. “Defense is fun, you get to rough people up, but I got an added bonus with a [personal-best] two goals.”