Fourth time's a charm: Rams down OJR for title

For three years in a row, head coach Kevin Donnelly and his Rams watched as the Wildcats of Owen J. Roberts High School celebrated a PAC-10 championship on their home field of Coach McNelly Stadium.

On Friday night, Spring-Ford, led by its “four horsemen”, stormed out to an early five goal lead and a 20-13 thumping of the defending champs, claiming the Rams first boys' PAC-10 lacrosse title since 2007.

“Of course I would have rather won it earlier,” said senior Drew Thomas, who got the Rams offensive assault going by scoring two goals in a span of less than a minute in the first quarter. “But to win this championship in my senior year is just awesome. We knew what we had to do. We approached the season as unfinished business and have practiced harder this year and hit the weight room more than we ever had before. This is awesome.”

Brian Bock (four goals, assist) scored a first half hat trick and Thomas (four goals, two assists) added another as the Rams took a 12-5 lead into the intermission.

“We practiced harder this week than I can ever remember,” said goaltender Jared Novia.

“It is hitting me a lot harder emotionally than I thought it would. I can’t even describe the feeling right now. Everything we have gone through was worth the wait,” Novia said.

Following the break, the Wildcats scored four goals in a row to cut the Rams lead to three. Realizing that momentum was shifting, Donnelly abruptly called a time out to reorganize his troops, who had gotten overzealous in the offensive zone while leaving Novia and his defense with little support.

Following the time out, Spring-Ford, led by sophomore Paul Major, who posted five second half goals, regained their swagger and rumbled to 20-12 lead before Owen J. Roberts tacked on a goal in the last minute to close out the scoring.

“After the time out, we flicked the switch,” added Novia, who had nine saves overall. “We slowed it down on the offense, which gave our defense more time in between possessions to catch their breath. We just got a little too amped up with adrenaline and it made us force the ball a bit.”

The “four horsemen,” of Brian Bach, Drew Thomas, Zach Manzo, and Paul Major combined for 14 goals and 8 assists on the night, while Spring-Ford rifled 42 shots on goal, converted 15-of-17 clearing attempts, claimed 34 ground balls and won 16-of 33 faceoffs.

“This is amazing,” said Major. “This is what we dreamed of. During the time out, coach stressed that we needed to 'possess the ball, possess the ball.' That was what we needed to do more than anything. When we were patient, we controlled the play and were able to do get the lead.

Major was gracious to the Rams vanquished opponents.

"Hand it to Owen J: of the three games we played them this year, they really brought it tonight,” Major said.

Owen J. Roberts             4 1 5 3 – 13

Spring-Ford                    7 5 5 3 – 20

Owen J. Roberts  Wildcats scoring

Chris Antich- 3 goals

Kohl Batdorf- 6 goal, assist

Kevin Higgins- 2 goals, assist

John Pennell- 5 assists

Jake Snelling- 1goal, 1assist

Dylan Swope- 2 assist

Nate Blevins- 1goal

Tyler Graham -1assist

Mike Lenge- 1assist

Goaltending-  Szczecinski  6 saves

Spring-Ford  Rams scoring

Drew Thomas- 4goals, 3assists

Paul Major- 5goals, 3assists

Brian Bock -4goals, 1assist

Zach Monzo- 1goal, 2assists

Troy Szostek- 2goal, 2assist

Thomas Pham- 1goal, 1assist

Bjorn Ullman- 1goal

Matt Glowacki -1goal, 1assist

Jackson Ranheim- 1goal, assist

Goal tending- Jared Novia 9 saves