Rams survive early surge, send Cardinals flying

Then there was one.

Following Monday night’s action in the PIAA District One boys lacrosse playoffs, Spring-Ford is the only Pioneer Athletic Conference team to survive the first round, "survive" being the operative word.

The Rams hosted Suburban One Conference perennial district qualifier Upper Dublin (12-7). The Flying Cardinals got off to great start, fueled by the emotion of seniors Will Beury and Andy Lunney as the duo posted goals in the first seven minutes, giving their team a 2-0 lead as the home team faithful were still finding their seats.

Upper Dublin extended the lead to three when Beury found midfielder Leighton Young sliding through the slot giving Young a feed as he beat Rams goaltender Jared Novia on the short side.

“We were pumped to get started tonight,” said Beury. “Our plan was to possess the ball and look for the cutters. They [Spring-Ford] made some adjustments and got more disciplined with their zone and stopped chasing us. After that, we had a tough time penetrating.”

It was Upper Dublin that ended the first quarter on a high note as Lunney (2 goals, assist) found the twine for the second time with 34.3 seconds left, answering the Rams' first tally of the game by senior Brian Bock.

“We just didn’t play to start the game,” said Rams head coach Kevin Donnelly. “Fortunately for us, we were able to get it going. At this level we have to come out and play our game from the start. It’s great to be challenged, but for my blood pressure I would rather win by ten.”

“I was very pleased with the intensity we had to start the game,” said John Levine. “These guys left absolutely everything out on that field. We came in here as a 22 seed and to battle them like that says a lot about our kids. If they told us we had a game on Thursday we would be ready against anyone, that’s how much they love to play this game with each other.”

Spring-Ford’s offense got on track in the second quarter by cutting the UD lead to one when senior Drew Thomas (4 goals, 3 assists), who had a hat trick in the period, scored with 8.7 seconds left to give the home squad a boost as they headed into the intermission.

“They really gave our game back to us in the beginning of the game,” said Drew Thomas. “We didn’t adjust right away defensively and we kept shooting the ball wide and into the goalie in the first half. We just talked at halftime about getting back to our game and focusing on each possession.”

Spring-Ford tied the game for the first time since the opening faceoff at the 10:50 mark of the third quarter when Thomas found Max Ullman cutting to the net and hit him in stride. Ullman put the feed past sophomore goaltender Jack Deragon.

“Their goalie played good at the start, give him credit,” said Brian Bock, who had four goals, and an assist. “It didn’t hurt that we shot it into him the entire first half. We wanted to be sure to be more accurate with our shots in the second half and attack in the zone.”

Thomas scored his fourth goal of the evening with 6:48 left in the third to give Spring-Ford its first lead of the night at 7-6, before the squads exchanged goals by Brian Bock and Drew Potts to head into the final period with the Rams leading 8-7.

With 30 seconds remaining in the third period, the Flying Cardinals got a golden opportunity to tie the game when Max Ullman was called for a technical foul, giving the Cards a man up chance as they closed out the third and started the fourth period, but the Rams prevented them from converting.

Ten seconds after the Ullman penalty expired, U-D attacker Andrew Lunney was called for a slash, which gave Spring-Ford its own chance with the extra man. They took full advantage, as Bock (4 goals, assist) promptly deposited a feed from Thomas into the net, giving the Rams a two goal lead.

“That was a huge turn around for us,” added Donnelly. “We kept them from scoring and Brian did a great job sliding through the opening to get us that two goal lead. That was the game right there. Our defense did a great job limiting their chances during their man advantage.”  

With time dwindling in regulation and the Rams clinging to a one-goal lead, Beury (4 goals, 3 assists) carried the ball deep into the Spring-Ford zone, but after being smothered by the Rams defense, Beury had no option but to toss it out front to Leighton Young, who sent a shot toward the Rams net as time expired. It sailed just wide, ending the Upper Dublin season and propelling the Rams into a second round match with Garnet Valley Thursday night at 7:30pm.

“I was coming down righty and buried myself and couldn’t make a pass,” added Beury. “Then, when I went to roll, they stayed disciplined and gave me no shot angle so I had to pass it back in front.”

Other PAC-10 scores- Abington 12 Boyertown 4, Bishop Shanahan 7 Methacton 1, Hatboro-Horham 13 Owen J. Roberts 9.

Upper Dublin                4            2            1            2            -9

Spring-Ford                 1            4            3            2            -10

Upper Dublin scoring

Will Beury- 4 goals, 3 assists

Andy Lunney-  2 goals, assist

Leighton Young-  2 goals, 2 assists

Liam Duke- assist

Drew Potts- goal

Spring-Ford scoring

Drew Thomas- 4 goals, 3 assists

Brian Bock- 4 goals, assist

Thomas Pham- assist

Paul Major- goals, assist

Zach Manzo- assist

Max Ullman- goal

Goaltending-  Novia (SF)  7 saves

                        Deragon 13 saves