There was a rumbling that Conestoga would be challenged. The Pioneers weren’t
exactly going to be handed anything against Springfield (Delaware County). But
what could easily be the best boys lacrosse game so far in Pennsylvania this
season validated what had been thought by many for over a month now: That
Conestoga is the best team in the state. It just took two days to prove it,
since the Pioneers’ 12-9 victory over previously undefeated Springfield was
stopped after the third quarter on April 21 due to lightning and finished
Wednesday afternoon.
Rain. Slick footing. Lightning. A very aggressive,
fast opponent that didn’t know the sting of losing yet this year.
It
didn’t matter.
The Pioneers overcame it all, with a few rocky
twists.
“There was a point against Springfield when we played as well as
we’ve ever played,” said Pioneers’ coach Brian Samson, whose team is now 11-0,
is ranked No. 8 nationally, and has now beaten perennial powers Springfield,
Haverford School, LaSalle, Lower Merion, Emmaus and Downingtown
East.
This wasn’t easy. Springfield came back with four unanswered goals
to take a 7-6. It marked only the second time this season that Conestoga trailed
in a game. It’s when Samson called timeout.
“We just told the kids to
get back in the game and go after the groundballs, that was the key,” Samson
said. “We had to win the effort battle, the groundball plays and the effort
plays. But I have to hand it to our offense. We capitalized off of broken plays,
and had some nice individual plays that turned this around.”
Juniors
Matt Smith and Austin Rogusky led the way for the Pioneers, each scoring three
goals. Juniors Jason Klunder and Ryan Lord finished with two goals each. Klunder
had the game-winning goal in the middle of the fourth quarter.
“I
learned after this game that we can play through adversity, we didn’t have the
ball and we had three penalties the first four minutes of the fourth quarter,
and we just hung in there,” Samson said. “We were a man down three times, and we
only gave up one goal. To me, that was impressive. The character of this group
is coming out more and more. Their backs were up against the wall and they
performed under pressure. And performed well.”
Conestoga, however, did
suffer one major setback. The Pioneers lost sophomore long-stick midfielder
Brian Dailey, who went down with a concussion and will be out
indefinitely.
“We’ll have to fill in Brian’s shoes, and I think we can
do it,” Samson said. “Brian is a game-changer. Losing him will be different, but
I think we should get Brian back in at least a week.”
The Pioneers won’t
have it any easier, the circle on their chests only got bigger. And those
challenges will come soon, facing Catholic League powerhouse in St. Joseph’s
Prep this Saturday, with Central League power Radnor still to play Tuesday,
April 28.
“Springfield is a very good team, and they had it difficult in
taking two trips to Chester County in two days,” Samson said. “This was a great
win for us, and we just want to build more on this. But beating Springfield
told our kids they could beat anyone in the state.”
Joseph
Santoliquito covers high schools for the Philadelphia Daily News and is a
frequent contributor to MaxPreps.com. He can be contacted at
JSantoliquito@yahoo.com.
