SPRINGFIELD, PA- What started out as a tightly contested match yesterday, quickly turned into second team practice as Cardinal O’Hara's offense picked up the pace leading to a 12-2 victory over Conwell-Egan.
Penalties were a big theme on the day as chippy play carried on throughout the afternoon. The Lions gave the referee’s arm a good workout as they caught eight penalties for a total 10 minutes and 30 seconds; which is essentially like playing a quarter one man down.
“The team cannot beat themselves like that and they need to do a better job staying under control, said Cardinal O’Hara’s head coach John Patterson.
Despite coming off an 8-7 overtime victory against Bonner-Prendergast, (their first PCL win in four years), the Lions proved too be too much to handle for the Conwell-Egan defense. One of the more impressive moments of the game came in the second quarter with Cardinal O’Hara down a man. Senior defenseman Anthony Amoroso was sent to the box for two minutes due to two unsportsmanlike penalties, The Eagles then spent the majority of the next two minutes struggling to get any shots off; O’Hara’s penalty kill was patient and ferocious.
Penalties kept the game competitive as it went to the half 2-1, but once the third quarter rolled around, it was all O’Hara. The Lions came out hot in the second half and went on a 10-1 run to lock up the victory. After the run, back up goalies made their way to the field and it was all but over from there. A major reason for the team’s 10-1 run was Cardinal O’Hara’s face-off specialist Matthew Kirby, who managed to win an astounding 15 of 18 face-off attempts on the day.
With Kirby taking face-offs, the third quarter basically turned into a routine of Kirby winning the face-off, O’Hara gaining possession, the offense passing the ball around, and then shooting till they scored. One could count Egan’s third quarter possessions on one hand; it was what some people refer to as “domination”.
When asked about his impressive day post-game, Kirby thought he played well but his focus was more on his team.
“I just wanted to help my team get the win,” said Kirby.
Two other standout players from O’Hara’s victory were sophomore attackman Tommy O’Hara, who finished the day with two goals and two assists, and sophomore attackman Michael Tolski, who had one goal and three assists.
Patterson was happy to get the win, but was not too thrilled about the penalties. “If we can nip those in the bud, I think this is a much better, much cleaner game.”
Post-game, Patterson stressed to his team the importance of concentrating on the fundamentals of the game. “We can’t have eight penalties, we have to be passing and sharing the ball, you know doing the things good lacrosse teams do,” said Patterson, “They play for each other and play with each other. We had a bit of a problem with that early on today.”
Cardinal O’Hara’s next game comes on the road against West Chester Henderson. Coach Patterson is hopeful his team can nip their penalty problems in the bud before the contest. He also added that if they want to be able to play and contend against a team like West Chester Henderson, they need to remain focused on the basics.
Looking ahead: Conwell-Egan will host Father Judge in their next PCL match up, at home, on April 6th (3:45PM).