Pollick's hat-trick nets first win for PJP2

It's hard enough to start a high school varsity sports team. To do it two years in a row might overwhelm some programs, but not Pope John Paul II High School.

The school's athletic program etched another successful chapter in its inaugural year Monday afternoon as the Golden Panthers lacrosse squad defeated Phoenixville 6-3 for its first win of the season.

Just two years ago, boy’s lacrosse was a club sport at St. Pius X High, one of the two schools that merged to form Pope John Paul II. St. Pius's final year happened to be its lacrosse team's first year as a varsity sport.

After opening their PAC-10 schedule with road trips to AAAA powers Boyertown and Spring-Ford, the PJP2 faithful showed up in force to cheer on their squad. They were not disappointed.

The Golden Panthers never trailed. With 10:18 remaining in the first period, James Salvo took a great feed from Matt Bildstein (4 points), which he promptly deposited behind Phantoms goaltender Nick Lolli to give PJP2 the lead.

Pope John Paul II (1-2) continued to pressure the Phantoms defenders, slicing through the offensive zone with great cycling. Bildstein would again make his presence known as he hit Joe Dedrick in stride for a scoring chance that Dedrick cashed in on with 9:35 left in second period.

“This is big game for us as a team,” said first year head coach Brian Kilpatrick, who coached for three years previously at Lansdale Catholic. “We are here to work hard and establish ourselves as a program. This will go a long way to helping with that. Teams will know that they can’t take us lightly.”

Josh Bildstein was fantastic in net for PJP2.  He didn't allow a first period tally until Alex Clark was able to squeak the ball by him on his short side with just 46 seconds left before the break.

The Golden Panthers wasted no time in responding as Nick Pollick worked his way into the slot before unleashing a 15-foot laser into the upper portion of the net to regain PJP2’s two goal advantage.

Pollick followed up his first half heroics with two second-half tallies and James Salvo posted another to prevent Phoenixville from mounting a serious comeback threat.

Next up for the Golden Panthers is a measuring stick game with three-time defending PAC-10 champion Owen J. Roberts, which lost to Spring-Ford on Monday.