April 13, 2006 Issue                                               

©2006 The Chestnut Hill Local

CHA survives late lacrosse rally by GA
by TOM UTESCHER

BRUNO PETRILLO of Chestnut Hill Academy cradles the ball as he scrambles to elude Jeff Cragg of Germantown Academy. CHA escaped with a 7-6 victory in the game last Friday. (Photo by Lene White)

Back from a successful training trip to Florida, Chestnut Hill Academy’s lacrosse Blue Devils were cruising along in their Pennsylvania debut last Friday, leading the Germantown Academy junior varsity, 7-2, early in the third period.

The host Patriots put a scare into the visitors after that, though, scoring the last four goals of the day – one with 25 seconds remaining – before CHA escaped with a 7-6 victory.

Jon Salem rang up a hat trick for the visiting Blue Devils, who added this latest win to the 4-1-1 record they achieved in Florida. Chestnut Hill started its lacrosse program just a year ago, and this season the team again will face varsity teams from non-league schools and junior varsity clubs within the challenging Inter-Ac League.

“We’re a young program, and Inter-Ac lacrosse is some of the best high school lacrosse in the country,” said CHA head coach Kevin Plummer. “We’re looking forward to when we can play everybody varsity-to-varsity. First, we need to make sure we handle ourselves well against the league JV teams we’re playing now.”

GA’s JVs came away from the contest with a record of 2-2, receiving two goals apiece from J.R. Borneman (one assist) and Greg Auerbach. Alex Sills, the GA keeper, finished up with 10 saves, and Brett Shandler made nine stops in the net for Chestnut Hill.

The coaches on each side had to adjust to an unceasing stream of penalties, as one official in particular couldn’t seem to leave his whistle alone. Although were meted out to both teams, the sheer quantity of the calls disrupted the flow of the game.

After Salem snaked through the Patriot defense to score in the middle of the first quarter, GA took advantage of a man-up situation soon after. Borneman notched his first of the afternoon with an assist from Zach Zapala, tying the match at 1-1 with 3:37 to go. That’s the way the period ended, after GA’s Sills saved a strong CHA shot by Taylor Rooke in the final minute.

GA’s David Byrne (right) shadows CHA’s Bruno Petrillo.. (Photo by Lene White)

Seizing the opening face-off for the second stanza, GA went right down the field, and Jeff Cragg fed the ball to Auerbach for what would be the Patriots’ only lead of the day. CHA tied it at 2-2 just seconds after a GA player was released from the penalty box after a slashing call. Taking a pass from Nick Ruff, Bruno Petrillo drilled a shot into the cage from the top of the offensive set.

With one of their men in the box for a slash, the Devils took the lead for good while playing a man down as Salem made a solo charge at the cage from 30 yards out on the right side. This marker came in the middle of the quarter, and the Patriots were down only 3-2 at this point, but their plight would grow considerably worse as Chestnut Hill funneled in three goals during the last 98 seconds of the first half.

Coming from out in the flat on the left side, Tyler Stout dodged a defender to fire the first goal in the string. Stout threatened from the same side a minute later, but this time he passed the ball inside to Rooke for the score. Finally, Salem dashed in and leapt into the air to shoot from a few meters off the right post. His ball tousled the twine with four seconds on the clock, and the half ended with CHA up, 6-2.

The halftime talks on both sides must have emphasized defense because neither squad added to its total in the third quarter. When CHA’s Dante LaRuffa scored from up top in the first minute of the fourth frame, the visitors owned a 7-2 advantage and it seemed that they might just coast to victory from there.

The Patriots, however, had other ideas. With a little over seven minutes remaining in the game, Borneman deposited his second goal to initiate a GA rally. And a minute after that, Zapala assisted on a strike by Cragg, making it 7-4. The comeback stalled briefly when one of the Pats was shipped off to the box, but Sill helped kill the penalty by turning away a shot by CHA’s Petrillo.

The next two penalties went against the Devils, and while the clock was still ticking on the second infraction, GA’s Rob Frisbee found the net on an outside shot from the left, bringing the hosts within two points with 3:52 left to play.

Down the stretch, GA was able to avoid the penalty box, but not so CHA. The result was another man-up goal by the Patriots, with Auerbach cashing in on an assist from Borneman. At this point, though, there were only 25 seconds to go, and Chestnut Hill held onto the lead to take home a victory.

CHA’s Plummer said several factors contributed to the Patriots’ rally. “GA put some nice combinations together, and I also thought we had some tough calls against us,” the coach said. “It’s true that we play a physical style of lacrosse, but there were too many whistles today. These kids are in high school, and they’re aware that they’ve signed up for a physical game.”

He added that the Blue Devils could’ve helped themselves by making a higher percentage of their shots.

”We have to put some more challenging shots on the cage, not just shoot high-to-high or low-to-low,” he said. “We’re trying to overpower goalies, and at this level they’re not scared of power. You’ve got to place the ball.”

Plummer was pleased with how the team had performed during spring break at the Disney World Training Complex in Florida, where all of their matches were against varsity opponents, largely from New England.

“When you beat a school like Buckingham Browne & Nichols, which challenges for the independent school league title in Boston year-in and year-out, you’re making some progress toward the next level,” he said.