Spring-Ford's Major Caps Amazing Game with Goal in 2nd OT to Send the Rams to Their 3rd Straight PAC-10 Championship in Boys Lacrosse

As was said in yesterday's preview, throw everything you think you know about these two teams, out the window and just watch to see what happens.  For the over 1000 fans at Phoenixville High School, they were rewarded with an instant classic.  A great crowd with an amazing energy flowed throw the stands and the boys fed off it and gave the crowd a tremendous game.

Paul Major's 3rd goal of the night during the 2nd OT to send the Spring-Ford Rams to their 3rd straight PAC-10 Championship over Owen J. Roberts, 10-9.  The Spring-Ford Attack accounted for all 10 Ram goals on the night.  Casey Pettine led all scorers with 4 goals while Christian McCormick added 3 goals and 2 assists.  All 3 Seniors playing in their last conference high school game, delivered a dominating offensive performance.

The game started in quick fashion when McCormick finished off a dodge from behind the net to beat Christian Wood for the games first goal.  The Rams would extend that lead to 3-0 before Chris Antich would rip a shot by Matt Messerle into the upper corner, who got going with 2 quick saves on lasers from inside 8 yards prior to the goal,  cutting the lead to 3-1.  Casey Pettine and Major would net two more to end the first with Spring-Ford in control at 5-1.  A short bench with two key offensive starters missing due to injury, many may of thought it might be too tough a hill to climb.  As was predicted though, Owen J. Roberts had runs left in them.

To start the 2nd, McCormick would again get the first goal of the period after drawing his man out and split dodging by his man, putting one in the corner for what looked to be a comfortable 6-1 lead.  However, the one flaw in the Rams season has been their propensity to take penalties and allow teams to get back into games. That 6th goal would be the last the Rams would see until the beginning of the 4th quarter. A stretch that spanned nearly 24 minutes as Christian Wood began to do his best super hero impression, stoning the Rams left, right, up, down and anywhere they shot.

At 6-1, the Wildcats would net 2 more on the man up and one more even up as James Pannell, Will Snelling and Antich cut the lead to 6-4.  However, Owen. J. Roberts would start the 2nd half with the ball as the Rams were man down with 45 seconds to go before half.  Matt Messerle made a save with 10 seconds left to keep it at 6-4 but clearly, the Wildcats were going in to the half with the momentum and confidence they could win the game.

In the 3rd, Wood (16 saves) and Messerle (16 saves) began dueling.  Wood was flashing body parts and stick all over the place frustrating the Rams, including a kick save (and yes a "beauty") with the rest of his body going in one direction while his left foot went the other way to kick it away.  Messerle was getting peppered through out the third as the Wildcats would outshoot the Rams 44-36 on the night.  He would come up with 6 saves in the quarter.

From the offensive side, while both goalies put on their performance, Nick Tordone and Pannell would tie the game up for Owen J. Roberts.  For the Rams, they only found Wood making saves or hitting the cross bar 3 times, one of which ending up going down the other end on a fast break that Pannell potted as the third quarter ended tied at 6.

To start the 4th, the Rams would be man up and McCormick would end the scoring drought for Spring-Ford with a goal 16 seconds in to put the Rams ahead at 7-6. Spring-Ford would come right back on it's next possession and Pettine secured his hat trick off the crease with a nice feed from McCormick and the Rams seemed to be getting on it's own roll at 8-6 with 10 minutes to go in the 4th.  Yet again, the Cats would get it back down to one on a goal from Pannell to get OJR back within 1 at 8-7.

Spring-Ford needed to settle down despite having the lead, it still seemed as if Owen J. Roberts was executing their offense every time down the field.  If not for Messerle coming up with some clutch saves including stuffing a low, diving shot from Sam Garges (3 assists on the night) and some clutch forced turnovers by Ian Hare, Troy Szostek, and Kyle Hofner, the Rams would have been in deep trouble.

Pettine would get a critical goal off a dodge and feed from Major to give the Rams what should have been enough of a lead to close out the game.  Messerle came up with two more saves to preserve that lead and Spring-Ford had the ball back with just under 3 minutes to go.  However, Spring-Ford would twice turn the ball over and on a third possession instead of killing the clock, inexplicably took a shot which naturally Wood would save.  After another goal by Pannell, Tordone would net his 2nd of the night to tie the game at 9 with 11 seconds left.

Flashback to last year, Spring-Ford trailing in the 4th only to come back and take a 1 goal lead.  Messerle made a save with 18 seconds left but a missed interference call allowed OJR to pick up a loose ball and tie the game with just over 9 seconds left.  Justin Kelly would win the faceoff to start a fast break that ended with Pettine feeding Zach Monzo who scored with 0.4 seconds left to win it 9-8.  This time Matt Della Croce won the face off for the Rams who would get 2 shots off in the last 11 seconds, neither of which were on cage and we were heading to overtime.

The Wildcats would get the first possession after a face off violation.  They got 2 good looks at the cage, one of which was blocked by Ian Hare and the rebound off the scramble, Messerle gobbled up on a dangerous low shot thru a cluster of bodies that he didn't see until the last second.  The first OT featured some tense moments as both teams were struggling to complete passes they make in their sleep but neither team would see any quality looks nor shots and we headed to the 2nd OT.

The first 90 seconds of the 2nd OT would see Owen J. Roberts repeatedely get great looks from the wing and after 5 shots that either went wide or were deflected by Messerle, OJR would call timeout.  Coming out of the timeout, for some reason the Wildcats ran 2 guys off the field and naturally 2 guys ran back on.  The problem was that they ended up with 7 guys on the field.  As soon as the whistle blew, the Ram bench began shouting for a count and the officials stopped play and gave possession back to SF because the Wildcats had too many men on the field.  SF would clear into the offensive end and call their own timeout.

In games like this, often something seen on the field by players ends up trumping whatever strategy was drawn up in the huddle.  With players like Major, he would see something and make an on-field audible.  Major got McCormick to set a pick for him that he ran off to get some room.  Initially the OJR defense was able to push Major off his line and it appeared as if Major would just pull the ball out and reset. Instead he saw an opening from the wing to get in between the top side defensemen and his own defender where he was able to get to the middle of the field.  He was not to be denied.  Major buried the shot low to the off stick side and then promptly buried under a sea of teammates.  

Two years in a row, a senior for Spring-Ford would use his last shot of PAC-10 play to score the game winning, Championship goal.  An absolutely stunning end to a series that gets crazier every time they meet.  Spring-Ford now has won the last 3 Conference Championships and in the 7 years since the tourney inception, Spring-Ford now has 4 PAC-10 titles.  Fittingly, Owen J. Roberts owns the other 3.

Games like these neither team deserves to lose but someone was going to.  But nobody loses when two teams play the game the right way, with the right intensity, and with the competitve fire these two squads play.  The fans were spectacular as both student sections had plenty of things to cheer for and some great back and forth chants that added to the flavor of the game.  Both schools should be very proud of their teams and their fans as this game was an instant classic and the fan support was incredible.  Congratulations to both programs and to the Rams for winning the championhip.

Both teams are expected to receive District Playoff bids which will be determined on Sunday with 1st round games expected to be played on Tuesday.  Needless to say, next years Owen J. Roberts-Spring-Ford rivalry will be raised to a whole new level. These two teams expect greatness and they deliver, don't miss this action next year, you'll want to see what happens next.