Spring-Ford Hangs On Against Methacton 12-10 in Boys Lacrosse

In the last matchup, Methacton matched Spring-Ford goal for goal until the decisive 4th quarter pushed the Rams to victory.  At the outset of this rematch, Spring-Ford looked to establish control of the game early.  Thru the first 14 minutes, they did, but yet again, a lapse in the 2nd quarter allowed the Warriors to get back into it and rattle the Rams.  In the end, some clutch goaltending and timely goals kept Methacton at bay and the Rams grabbed a valuable victory in conference play.

Spring-Ford got off to a fast start as the Hare brothers hooked up on a goal as Senior Ian Hare scooped up a ground ball in the defensive half and crossed midfield hit Sophomore brother Zach Hare who saw a crease in the Methacton D and drove right down and put the shot away to give SF the lead at 1-0.  Two more goals by DJ Young and Zach Hare, both on assists from Paul Major, and Major then adding an unassisted goal to finish off a 4-0 run.  

Out of the Methacton time-out, Owen Sullivan won the next face off cleanly and started a fast break and fed Keith White for his first goal of the day.  Spring-Ford would then finish the quarter on a 2-0 run to push the 1st quarter lead to 6-1. Christian McCormick got his first of the day on a restart of the end line and then with 1 second left in the quarter, Casey Pettine put one by Jake Blitzer on an inside feed from Alex Marte.

To start the second, McCormick would defy gravity dodging in tight from the wing and netting his second of the day.  At this point Spring-Ford was in complete control with a 7-1 lead.  However, a series of Spring-Ford penalties would give the Warriors the chance to climb back in and they did not miss the opportunity.  After killing a man-down, the Rams went down a man and Aidan Deneke flashed from behind a took a feed from White to make it 7-2.  Dom Germano would feed Deneke again off an unsettled situation and Deneke buried it and Spring-Ford was assessed another penalty.

Matt Messerle would make the next save off the bounce shot but the rebound would go right to White who put it away to make 7-4.  The Rams would ease the pain ending the Warrior 3-0 run with a low, wormburner from Steve Bock with an assist from Alex Martento restore the lead to 4 goals at 8-4.  Keith White would then get credit for a controversial goal that appeared to hit the cross bar and bounce well out in front of the goal however, officials ruled it a goal and the lead was reduced to 8-5. Messerle would make another save as time expired but clearly Methacton was ending the half with all the momentum.

The third quarter started wide open.  Messerle again would make an acrobatic save on a high bounce shot and the rebound was picked up by Ian Hare who lugged the ball downfield and let a shot of his own go only to have Blitzer answer back with a big save of his own.  Messerle would then do his best Bernie Parent and make a kick save but SF would go down a man again.  Luke Herber would cash in on that opportunity followed by another by Deneke would all but erase the 7-1 early lead putting Methacton within a goal at 8-7.

Spring-Ford would get a timely goal on a feed by Major to Pettine who faked high and went low to put SF ahead 9-7.  Ben Schimpf would answer back and get Methacton within 1 at 9-8.  Messerle then made a huge one on one save to keep the lead for the Rams and on his outlet drew a slashing penalty on Methacton. Just as the penalty was killed off by the Warriors, Alex Marte would ping the corner with a cannon to get the lead back to 10-8 to end the third.

The game may very well have turned on the opening possession of the 4th. Methacton would gain the opening face off but Messerle would pick off an errant pass and outlet the ball to Mason Pinciotti at midfield who would then turn and find Pettine standing all alone in front of Blitzer and finished it off with what turned out to be the eventual game winner.  Methacton would not back down.  About midway thru the fourth and trailing 12-8, they were able to get off 8 shots on one possession, Messerle would snare 4 of them before giving up a goal by Germano.

On the day, Spring-Ford's Messerle would make 15 saves and Blitzer made 10 saves for Methacton.

The win strengthens Spring-Fords hold on 1st Place with a 10-1 conference record while Methacton drops to 7-3.  Make no mistake, Methacton will be a team that no one will want to face in the PAC-10 Semi-Finals.  The Warriors have methodically built a confident team and with Andrew DeSana on D and Blitzer saving shots, this team remains a threat. Spring-Ford finds themselves in familiar territory looking to close out the regular season with 2 more regular season victories and garner the number 1 seed in the PAC-10's.

Spring-Ford next takes on Phoenixville Friday night at Coach McNelly stadium at 7 PM on Senior Night while Methacton faces Boyertown at Boyertown on Thursday night.