High School Lacrosse: Vikings Improve Playoff Positioning with 17-8 Win Over Phantoms

With a week featuring a home and home matchup with league-leading Spring-Ford looming on the horizon, the Vikings could not afford to stumble as Phoenixville visited Thomas J. Keenan Stadium on Wednesday night.

They didn’t.

The Vikings led by two goals off the sticks of Pete Sciafani, and Shawn Laskey sprinted out to a 4-1 first period lead and never looked back on the way to a 17-8 Pioneer Athletic Conference win, moving Perk Valley to within one game of Methacton and kept them ahead of Boyertown for the fourth place slot.

Perkiomen Valley, which improved to 3-3 in league play, 5-3 overall excited the home crowd and continued to pressure Phoenixville into turnovers and defensive gaffes.

In fact, the Vikings may have had death grip on the game by halftime had it not been for the effort of goaltender Nick Lolli. He stoned Viking snipers Ryan Boy and Dennis Flynn on consecutive trips down the field.

“I try to get a read on their stick and their hands in situations like that,” said Lolli. “I was able to get stick on 33’s (Boyd) shot and 24 had me for a second, but hesitated so I was able to block the shot. As a goalie, those circumstances are what I love. Our defense had played great all year, and it’s my job to stop the ball if somehow they get by.”

Boyd and Flynn did exact their revenge to the tune of nine points between the duo (Boyd 3 goals, 4 assists) and Flynn with two goals as Perkiomen Valley, following a tightly contested first half, blew the doors off the Phantoms to start the third period as the posted even goals in the period top cruised to a 13-3 lead heading into the final period.

“It was huge for us to get on the board early,” said Sciafani. “In the games we have lost this year, we have started slow, so it was the most important thing tonight to get up on a team that we should beat.”

“We have got as much talent as any one in the league,” said Vikings head coach Andy Wagner, in his seventh season. “We have times where we don’t play in unison, which is when we get into trouble. We also have to believe in ourselves; the kids have to have as much confidence in themselves as I do in them. If they had gotten a couple of early goals against us, we would have been bickering among ourselves. We need to play 48 minutes as a team, together.”

The Vikings continued their unrelenting assault of the Phantoms' net, cycling the ball and exhibiting patience as they focused on converting each possession into points on the board. That is something that has been missing from the Vikings' repertoire on more than one occasion.

“We worked the ball around more tonight,” said Laskey, who had three points. “We were able to force them into mismatches, which gave us the momentum early on, which we were able to hang onto for most of the game. We need to come out and put this team away tonight, and we did that.”

The Phantoms were overwhelmed by the home club in the third period as Perk Valley tickled the twine seven times to expand their lead to a robust 13-3 bulge as coach Wagner prepared to clear his bench for the final frame, the lone Phantom goal being produced on a nice feed from Matt Randall, who had three goals and an assist, to attacker Evan Panepinto, who sneaked it behind Vikings goaltender Bryce Womack.

Shaun Dickey, Ryan Boyd, Wes Johnson and Jon Ruddy posted fourth period tallies for the Vikings to close out the scoring and emerge from the fray with a 17-8 win.

Phoenixville                  1            1            1            5   - 8

Perkiomen Valley   4            2            7            4  - 17

Scoring

First period

7:38- PV   Laskey from Sciafani

6:37- PV    Sciafani

4:58- PX   Greenwood from Panepinto

3:31- PV    Sciafani from Bickel

  :38- PV    Laskey from Boyd

Second period

9:51- PV   Boyd from Lynn

6:35- PX   Randall from Levine

2:00- PX   Klemetisz from Bohan

Third period

10:00- PV   Sciafani from Lynn

 9:14 - PV   Sciafani from Dickey

 7:53 - PV   Flynn from Laskey

 5:32 - PX   Panepinto from Randall

 4:39 - PV   Boyd from Bohon

 2:34 - PV  Flynn from Boyd

 1:09 - PV  Lynn  (Man Up)

   :57 - PV  Scott 

Fourth period

10:58 – PV  Johnson

10:05 – PV  Boyd from Klementisz

  9:32 - PV   Dickey from Boyd

  8:39 - PX   Randall from D‘ Innocenzo

  6:07 - PX   Bonner from Levine

  4:17 – PX  Randall

  3:42 – PX  D’ Innocenzo

  3:18 – PV  Ruddy from Boyd

  2:47 – PX  Bonner from D’ Innocenzo