BY MARC NARDUCCI
(Photos by Zack Beavers, James Quinn & Mike Nance: Videos Marc Narducci & Jack Verdeur)
Springside Chestnut Hill Academy Hayes Schreiner took to playing goalie immediately
As it so often happens in lacrosse, Springside Chestnut Hill Academy junior Hayes Schreiner didn’t originally intend to play goalie.
In sixth grade Schreiner was playing for his team Triple H, and the starting goalie had to miss some time to play in a baseball tournament.
Schreiner, who was playing attack at the time, was asked to fill in at goal.
Springside Chestnut Hill junior goalie Hayes Schreiner - PSD Photo by Marc Narducci
Luckily, Schreiner had the resources to prepare him to play goal. His father Todd not only played goalie at Lehigh, but professionally for the Philadelphia Barrage and the Rochester Rattlers.
“My dad trained me for a couple of days, and we went out and won the tournament,” Schreiner said.
And since then, Schreiner hasn’t looked back.
“I don’t know where I would be if I still played attack,” Schreiner said. “I was slow.”
That’s certainly not the case in goal. He became so proficient at his craft, that Schreiner attracted college interest.
In September, he made a verbal commitment to attend Penn State.
“When I went up there, I loved the team bonding that they had and everybody seemed so close,” he said. “The campus, the school spirit, everything seemed so awesome up there everybody I know who goes there loves, it.”
Schreiner added that the coaching staff is also impressive. He also says that making the decision early in his junior year, has taken a big load off his mind.
“Now I can worry about playing and winning games,” he said. “Before, I was thinking about it a lot, but now it is just winning games, doing well in school and having fun with the guy.”
He comes from a lacrosse family, with his mother having played at Washington College in Maryland.
As much as Schreiner enjoys playing goalie, there was an adjustment period. Anybody would have to adjust to having balls fired at you left and right at frightening speeds. And despite the padding, when a rocket shot hits a goalie in an unpadded part, it truly smarts. In other words, it takes a lot of courage to stand in goal and face some of those blasts.
“I have gotten used to it and it definitely has gotten a lot easier, but at first it was tough,” Schreiner said. “Now it’s just ‘find the ball, get the ball."
SCHA junior goalie Hayes Schreiner has made a verbal commitment to play at Penn State - PSD Photo by James Quinn
If only it were so easy, but Schreiner has had some big games, whether in victory or defeat.
As a freshman, he was the backup to Tyler Guzik, now a goalie at High Point.
Last season Schreiner was the starting goalie. He says playing in the Inter-Ac has greatly helped his game.
“Last year playing in the Inter-Ac made me a totally different player,” he said. “I got to see harder shots, better players. We have so many of the top guys in each class that I am going against once a week at least and definitely helped make me a better player.”
Most of all, he will enjoy competing in the Big 10.
“I have watched so many games and it looks like so much fun,” he said. “The atmosphere is great and I can’t wait to get up there, but I have to finish up this year, finish up next year and hopefully try to win an Inter-Ac championship.”
Inter-Ac Standings (Through games played Saturday April 22)
Haverford School 4-0, 9-2
Episcopal Academy 3-1, 9-5
Malvern Prep 3-1, 8-5
Springside Chestnut Hill Academy 2-2, 8-5
Penn Charter 0-4, 5-9
Germantown Academy 0-4, 3-7
Two nationally ranked teams from the Inter-Ac
Last week Haverford School and Malvern Prep appeared in the National Lacrosse Foundation Top 25 rankings. The ratings came out on Tuesday April 18.
Haverford School was the No. 7 team nationally and Malvern Prep was No. 18, one below another Southeastern PA program, Radnor.
Penn Charter remains strong despite injuries
William Penn Charter coach Pat McDonough has been trying to keep the spirits up on his team and he’s doing a good job, which is not easy due to all the injuries the Quakers have suffered.
“We lost at least three guys to injuries and another four or five have been sick and we’re not a deep team to begin with,” McDonough said following his team’s 20-5 loss at Malvern Prep. “All of a sudden you lose a lot of key players and probably five of them are starters and it just becomes difficult to have to compete at a level like this.”
McDonough’s main goal is to make sure his players who are available continue playing hard, which has been the case.
“Nobody is going to feel sorry for you in the league so you got to kind of figure it out and young guys got to get experience and hopefully they can improve their game as we go and we go from there.”
One of the highlights in the loss to Malvern Prep was a hat trick by senior Chet Kempinski. Scoring the other goals were senior Nick Walter and junior Gavin Michener.
Penn Charter senior Chet Kempinski (PSD photo by Zack Beavers)
Haverford School keeps rolling
The Haverford School remained the lone unbeaten team in Inter-Ac play with an 8-5 win over Springside Chestnut Hill Academy and a 16-5 win over Germantown Academy.
In the win over an improved SCH team, junior goalie Brody Murphy, a Richmond commit, had 14 saves. Junior Ben McCarthy, a Duke commit, and sophomore Griff Meyer, combined to go 10-for-17 on faceoffs.
Meyer led the way with five ground balls, while junior Connor Nolen and McCarthy each had four. Junior Will Burfeind and senior Wells Flinn, who is headed to Air Force, each scored twice.
Nolen had a goal and two assists, while juniors Aydan DiRocco (U.S. Naval Academy) and Brady O’Kane (Delaware) each scored once. Junior Jack Long (Michigan) added an assist.
McCarthy was 19-for-21 in faceoffs and had 10 ground balls and two goals in the win over Germantown Academy.
O’Kane led the offense with four goals while Aydan DiRocco had three goals and two assists.
Haverford School Lacrosse (Photos by Mike Nance for PSD)
Two more for Episcopal Academy
The Episcopal Academy had two more Inter-Ac wins, beating Penn Charter, 11-7 and then earning a 9-8 overtime win over Springside Chestnut Hill Academy.
Junior Dylan Jaszcz (Penn State) and Keegan Nash each scored twice. Jaszcz also added an assist. Jack Guido made nine saves and Will Hohn (Monmouth) was 9-for-13 on faceoffs and added an assist. TJ Lamb (Cornell) had a goal and two assists and Eddie Jones (Villanova) and Jake Manion both had a goal and an assist, while John Malone and Pat McDermott each scored a goal.
In the overtime win over SCH, Lucas Slate (Richmond) scored the game-winner. Jones and Slate (Richmond) each had a hat trick, Lamb contributed two goals and two assists and Jaszcz scored the other goal. Charlie Kraftson had two assists and Manion had one and Guido made 11 saves.
Episcopal Academy vs. Penn Charter - PSD Gallery by Zack Beavers
Springside Chestnut Hill Academy Strong in defeat
Springside Chestnut Hill Academy went 0-2 last week in Inter-Ac play, but one loss was to Haverford School, 8-5 and another 9-8 in OT to Episcopal Academy. The Blue Devils have been competitive with everybody in the Inter-Ac.
Against Haverford School, Schreiner had 15 saves while junior Fairfield commit Finn Dougherty added two goals and one assist. Other goal scorers were Brendan Dundas, Alec Tulio and Jake Olin. Junior Ross Prince, a Georgetown commit, was 9-fo-17 on faceoffs.
Against EA, Dundas, a senior Monmouth commit, contributed three goals. Tulio added a goal and two assists and Cole Carberrry had a goal and one assist. Also scoring goals were Dougherty, junior Stevie Pileggi, a St. Joseph’s University commit, and Olin. Prince was 12-for-19 on faceoffs and also had nine ground balls and an assist and Schreiner contributed 16 saves.
Malvern Prep moving up
Since suffering a five-game losing streak, Malvern Prep has won five in a row. That included Inter-Ac wins over Germantown Academy, 11-6 and Penn Charter, 20-5 and then Saturday’s 11-7 win over Academy of the New Church at Penn State. ANC was ranked No. 20 nationally in the aforementioned NFL rankings.
The Penn Charter game gave Malvern Prep a chance to play a lot of players. Twelve different players scored.
Against ANC, sophomore Mike Ortleib had five goals and one assist. Senior Cornell commit AJ Nikolic added three goals and three assists and junior Brown commit Ennis Udo added three goals and one assist. Senior Cullen Lotz and sophomore Jake Bickel each had an assist and senior goalie Christopher Rabena contributed eight saves.
So what has turned it around for the Friars?
Malvern Prep vs. Penn Charter - PSD Game Highlights by Marc Narducci
“I think it sounds cliché but we’re getting back to basics, especially on the offensive end,” Malvern Prep coach Matt Mackrides said. “We are sharing the ball, being a little less selfish and it comes down to growth and a little bit more trust throughout the field.”
Germantown Academy update
Germantown Academy played stiff competition during an 0-3 week, falling 11-7 to Malvern Prep, 15-5 to Haverford School and 20-7 in a non-league matchup with Westtown.
In the game with Malvern, senior captain and Trinity comitt Josh Gibbs, led the way with a hat trick and senior captain Rocco Ippolodo scored two goals. Single goals were scored by senior captain Walker Schwartz and junior Anthony Lara, while sophomore Jack Donovan made 10 saves.
Germantown Academy senior Josh Gibbs #22 in game vs. Episcopal Academy. (PSD video by Jack Verdeur)
In the defeat to Haverford School, Ippoldo and senior captain Dean Schacklett each scored twice, and Schwartz added a goal and an assist.
Schacklett had two goals against Westtown and was 13-for-26 on faceoffs, while Schwartz added two goals and one assist. Gibbs and Ippolodo each had a goal and an assist and Lara added a goal.