Rams roll to 8-0 in the PAC-10, crush Wildcats 17-4

Coming out of training camp, the Rams were, to a man, focused on three games as a benchmark of how successful their boys' lacrosse season would be.

All three games were versus Owen J. Roberts: a home game, a road game, and a hypothetical fourth consecutive rematch in the PAC-10 championship game.

So far, so good.

With a noisy 17-4 drubbing of the Wildcats on Monday night, Spring-Ford announced its intent to supplant the three-time defending champion as the elite squad of the league.

“We wanted this game so bad,” said Drew Thomas. “We have had a crazy week of practice. The intensity has been ridiculous. We wanted to make no doubt about who is the best team here tonight.”

“It’s all about momentum,” said goaltender Jared Novia, who played a big part in grabbing that momentum for the Rams by making three huge saves in the first period, when Spring-Ford bolted to a 6-0 lead. “We executed like we can tonight. We have practiced controlling the ball and using our speed. My attack men had me spinning all week at practice. The intensity level was crazy.”

“We love beating them,“ added Thomas, who logged four goals and two assists. “We focused on possession all week. We wanted to possess the ball as much as we could, which also keeps it away from their attack.” 

Following the intermission, Spring-Ford continued the barrage against Wildcats goaltenders Gabe Szczepanick and Matt Boyer (four saves each). The Rams got second half goals from six different players, including two from Zach Monzo, who scored four goals in the game and helped on another.

“Our team is all about confidence,” added Novia. “I could feel and see it all the way at the other end of the field.  Our attack was dominant tonight, which helped us control the ball. We played a Spring-Ford 48 minutes of lacrosse tonight.”

The Rams improved to 8-0 in the league and 9-1 overall. They got another outstanding performance from Brian Bock (2 goals, 6 assists) and Paul Major (2 goals, 2 assists).

Six unanswered goals by Spring-Ford at the conclusion of the third and start of the fourth period ended the possibility of any comeback attempt by  Owen J. Roberts.

“I never thought we could do this,” said Major. “This is about as well as we have played all year. We wanted to make sure we played 48 minutes with no let-down. Our defense did a great job stopping them and getting the ball to our attack. This was a complete team effort tonight.”

The Rams allowed just 19 shots for the game and did not allow more than two goals in any period.

“Coach was stressing to make sure our clears and rides are open,” said Bjorn Ulmann. “We are always running, and we rode pretty well tonight, but the key was to keep moving and force them into making mistakes.  Jared is a beast back there. When he makes great saves to start a game, it lets us know we have safety back there. If we make a mistake, he has our back.”

“I’ve known all year that we are capable of this kind of effort,” said Rams head coach Kevin Donnelly. “It’s great for the kids to see that they can. It’s all part of the process, another step in what we are trying to accomplish as a team. Jared and our defense set the tone early. It’s so big for yourgoaltender to keep that early momentum by making saves like that.”

The Rams next travel to Pope John Paul II to take on the Golden Panthers on Wednesday.

As far as their journey to summit of the PAC-10 lacrosse scene, it’s two down, one to go.

Scoring-

First period

11:02   SF- Major from Bock

9:24     SF- Bock from Kelly

6:06     SF-Thomas from Major

3:52     SF- Major from Thomas

  :10     SF- Ulmann from Bock

Second period

 6:25    SF- Monzo from Thomas

 4:16    OJ- Swope from Tordune

 1:49    SF- Thomas from Bock

   :09    SF- Ranheim from Bock

Third period

9:30     SF- Bock from Glowacki

8:42     OJ- Batdorf from Tordune

7:20     SF- Ranheim from Bock

6:44     SF- Thomas from Major

5:48     OJ- Lenge from Batdorf

5:36     SF- Monzon from Bock

3:36     SF- Thomas from Monzo

1:03     SF- Monzo from Bock

Fourth period

9:50     SF- Ulmann

7:15     SF- Monzo

5:10     SF- Szostek

4:20     OJ- Higgins

Owen J. Roberts            0            1            2            1            -4

Spring-Ford                 5            3            6            3            -17