But the Warriors reeled off nine straight wins until falling to Pioneer Athletic Conference member Spring-Ford, 10-9 in overtime. Following league wins over Wissahickon and Upper Merion, Methacton lost the crucial game to Upper Dublin, but it finished with an impressive 24-4 rout of Cheltenham.
The team was led by four first-team all-conference selections, senior attacker
T.J. White (50 goals, 22 assists), senior middie
Bert Park (27 goals, 19 assists), senior defender
Ryan Butler (82 takeaways, 61 groundballs) and senior goalie
Joe Benci (61 percent save percentage, two shutouts, two games allowing just one goal).
Second-team picks included junior attacker
Scott Earley (39 goals, 19 assists) and junior defender
Nick Warriner (57 takeaways, 41 groundballs) and third-team selections were senior middie
Kevin Vawter (18 goals, 58 groundballs) and junior middie
Calvin Miller (won 67 percent of face-offs, 11 goals).
Other contributors were freshman defender
Dave Evan (honorable mention pick), and two senior defenders that were strong playing the body,
Tim Goff (40 groundballs, 39 hits) and
Kevin Schimpf (41 hits).
“We lose 10 seniors that played,” said Weston. “We lose some strong first-team guys, but next year there is another group of 10, 11, 12 juniors that will be contributors as seniors.
“We should be strong. I was hoping we could make it this far, which was the plan. I looked at the kids and how long it would take to get to the playoffs and I thought we could make a run this year.”
Weston, who played at Division III power Denison and also was an assistant coach at Penn Charter when it won the state crown in 1989, knows what it takes to compete at the state level. In fact, he coach a state championship team in Virginia, Episcopal, before coming back to Philadelphia to become a school psychologist and coach at Methacton three years ago.
Next year Methacton moves into the Pioneer Athletic Conference where it should be an immediate contender.
“I am really excited about how far we came in such a short period of time,” Weston said. “The coaching staff has been fantastic; we have committed individuals who believe in the system. Everybody bought into the philosophy and it paid off.”
EPSLA quarterfinals are Tuesday and Wednesday The EPSLA playoffs have reached the quarterfinal round. Two games will be played at night both on Tuesday and Wednesday at Conestoga and Central Bucks West.
On Tuesday top-seeded Malvern Prep (19-2) meets eighth-seeded Springfield-Delco (16-5) at Conestoga in the 6 p.m. opener. That game is followed by a matchup between fourth-seeded Ridley (19-2) and 12th-seeded Penn Charter (15-11).
On Wednesday second-seeded La Salle (27-2) plays seventh-seeded St. Joseph’s Prep (22-4) at CB West at 6 p.m. and third-seeded Haverford School (16-6) faces sixth-seeded Downingtown East (15-6) at 8 p.m.
Perennial power Ridley, the Central League champion, did not make it to the quarterfinals last year. But this year the Green Raiders’ defense has led it back to contention for an EPSLA title.
In Friday’s 7-2 first-round victory over league rival Penncrest, long poles
Steve Gregg (the league MVP at long-stick middie),
John McSorley, John Harshaw,
Tim Grenier, and
Pat Glenn were brilliant in front of junior goalie
Scott Kellett (10 saves). Ridley has allowed more than six goals only three times all year and no one has scored 10 against the Raiders.
“Scotty Kellett saved us in in the second half,” said Ridley coach
Kevin Ellers of the win over Penncrest. “Three or four times he had really nice saves. But the defense has doen the job all year; they have been consistently good.
“That’s why we are 19-2. The main thing for us is getting more offensive production. We can put the ball on net, we just have not been finishing. If we ever do that, good things will happen because the defense has played extraordinarily all year.”
Ellers said the race for the EPSLA title is keener than ever because this is the last year of the tournament. Next year the PIAA takes over jurisdiction of boys’ lacrosse in Pennsylvania and the Inter-Ac League will not be involved.
While this has caused much discussion on pros and cons, Ellers, for one, does not like it.
“The teams in the Inter-Ac are all quality programs and to beat them you have to play four quarters,” he said. “I am going to miss it next year; I wish it wasn’t going anywhere.
“I will miss it because it’s the best competition. My best memories of the games are the ones where the competition level is the highest. The kids love it.”