SF Rams Boys Lacrosse Ready to Make a Post Season Run

The SF Rams season has been as exciting as it has been frustrating so far.  While the Rams continue to plow through the PAC-10, their out of conference schedule was very frustrating as it lost to all three, highly ranked, out of conference opponents (Avon Grove, Chatam (NJ Group 2 State Champions 2012), and Great Valley).  As the team opens up the PAC-10 Tournament defense as 2 time Conference Champs in 2011 and 2012, they hope to apply what they have learned from those tough loses, to make a run further than any Spring-Ford team ever has in the Lacrosse post-season.

Over the last two weeks, the Rams had suffered some tough defeats in losing to Chatam and Great Valley in consecutive games only to come back and close out PAC-10 action with 2 decisive victorys including a 15-0 shutout to close out the season.

From the offensive side of the ball, there is plenty of firepower to create matchup problems all over the field.  Seniors Paul Major and DJ Young have respectively led the attack and midfield scoring punch with a strong supporting cast of Alex Marte, Christian McCormick, Troy Szostek, and Casey Pettine.  Zach Hare and Mason Pinciotti are also threats to provide scoring punch.  All our capable of creating their own shots and finish very well.  The kink in it all has been that consistency of getting everyone involved and controlling the pace of the game by sustaining possession.  If Spring-Ford can weave that magic together, this offense is nearly unstoppable.  They will need to be all that to go far.

Defensively, as expected Senior Ian Hare has led the close defense unit in shutting down opposing offenses.  Only 4 teams have scored double digit goals on them all year.  The Spring-Ford goalie tandem of Matt Messerle and Greg Bresnan has been stingy in only giving up 6.94 goals per game.  They will need to be good at locking down teams early in games to give the offense a chance to build a lead.  Where the defense will struggle is if it is trailing as they have not been as strong in creating turnovers and rely mostly on getting the saves they need and some of the ones they shouldn't make to get the ball back to the power-house offense.

When Spring-Ford plays together as a complete team, they will have no match in the PAC-10.  The opponents will hang their hats on the chance that SF might get lulled in to a sense of security and allow teams to get back into games which they have also shown a propensity to do this year.  Expect the Senior leadership to step up and will this team to play it's best lacrosse of the year and extend their season to Thursday and beyond.

PAC-10 TOURNAMENT CAPSULES:

Game 1: Tuesday May 7 at 5:00 PM Phoenixville High School Football Stadium

#1 Spring-Ford Rams vs. #4 Boyertown Bears

Spring-Ford Rams:

Look for Spring-Ford to dominate the possession time early by winning face-offs.  In both regular season games, Freshman face off specialist, Matt Della Croce dominated at the face off X and the offense led by Paul Major made sure they didn't waste their opportunities.  Defensively, the Rams will mix the D strategy between their Zone and Man-to-Man depending on the situation.  SF was successful in limiting the Bears to mostly outside shots and will look to do the same.  Matt Messerle will be in net and will have to be at the top of his game as the Bears have some heavy artillery capable of scoring from the outside and a bull of player in Tyler Fuhrman who can pentrate and score.  If the D can give him good looks at those shots, he should be able to tame the Bears

Boyertown Bears:

What a roll this team is on.  Just 10 days ago, their outlook was very bleak and their chances of being in the tournament were very slim.  A much needed win over Methacton forced a critical matchup with Perkiomen Valley who held the #4 spot going into the last week but on Saturday Boyertown overcame an 8 goal 2nd quarter deficit to win 14-13 forcing a play in game which they led from start to finish on Monday in blasting PV out of the tournament 15-6.  Right now, Tyler Fuhrman is a beast, scoring an astonishing 12 goals and dishing out 6 assists in two must win games this weekend.  He can literally carry two or three guys to the net and still get his shot off but he also opens the field up for others like Chris Lees and Chris Stutzman, who are a dangerous duo of finishers to compliment Fuhrman. Defensively the Bears will be hard pressed to slow down the Rams.  In two games this season, the Rams have scored 37 goals.  Goalie Austin Mutter is the only reason it's not significantly more.  Mutter is a difference maker but there are only so many shots a goalie can stop.  He will need to be all that tonight.

This game will come down to the face-off X.  If SF continues to dominate there, this game should be very similar to the regular season outcomes.  Can Boyertown sustain this amazing run they are on?  They have a lot of momentum and have played two critical must win games in the last 3 days while SF finished up with two blowout wins where the whole roster saw plenty of time.  Will the Bears be able to stoke the fire?  Will SF be rusty?  We will see at 5 PM tonight.  Spring-Ford should be able to get it's chances and if the past is any indication, they should win this game and move on to the championship on Thursday.

Game 2: Tuesday May 7th at 6:30 PM Phoenixville High School Football Stadium

#2 Owen J. Roberts Wildcats vs. #3 Methacton Warriors

Owen J. Roberts:

A talented squad are the Wildcats.  They are one of the best transition/unsettled teams in the area.  When the game is wide open, these guys move the ball with precision and speed and they don't miss those in tight shots created by the movement.  Led by Chris Antich and Ryan Kent, these two can connect in the half field sets by working together to find each other for high quality looks to which they often bury.  John Pennell could be the difference maker coming off injury to return late in the season.  A top notch feeder that opens the game up for other finishers, Pennell is a welcome sight to the Wildcat offense.  Newcomes Zach DeCarlo and Austin Delgatto has also fueled the resurgent offense.  Defensively, Christian Wood will stand tall in net and can take over the game when he gets on one of his streaks. The key to their defensive effort in this game will be how well their midfield defense handles the Warriors patient offense from up top.

Methacton:

Methacton has quietly built confidence in themselves from the mid-point of the season.  While they lack the overall depth of the Wildcats, their top 10 players match up well and can do damage.  Dom Germano and Luke Herber can initiate from up top and have given OJR midfield defenders fits in thier two games including Methacton's stunning 10-9 OT mid-season upset of Owen J. Roberts.  Young attackmen, Aiden Deneckie and Keith White are quickly forming a stout two man game working the ball back and forth with each other until the right opportunity for either to finish, and finish they have of late.  The defense is led by Junior Andrew DeSana who draws every opponents #1 attackman.  He is the real deal and the others rely on him to shut it down.  Jake Blitzer has had a strong season in goal and once he gets that first save under his belt, he gets better as the game goes along.

This game will come down to which team can put its imprint on the game.  These two split their games each winning on it own home turf.  In Methacton's victory, they were able to slow the game down and break down the Wildcats from up top which opened up scoring opportunities down low.  At OJR, the game was decided when the Wildcats were able to break open the pace of the game and ran the Warriors off the field in the 4th quarter with a 4-0 run to close the game out. Owen J. Roberts is the favorite here but don't count out Methacton as they have shown, they can take down the Wildcats.

The winners will face off Thursday night May 9th, at 6:30 PM at Phoenixville High School.  If history holds form, Owen J. Roberts will square off with Spring-Ford High school as it has the previous 8 times the PAC-10 championship game has been held. However, Boyertown and Methacton don't have just a chance, they expect to be creating their own history.  Should be a great two games tonight.