PHILADELPHIA - It had all the makings of a showstopper, the PCL’s top two teams, both undefeated in conference play, jockeying for sole possession of the number one spot. But the results were very one sided, as St. Joseph’s Prep beat Archbishop Wood to the tune of a 17-1 victory.
The game was all St. Joe’s from the first draw; once they took the early lead they never looked back. Wood would manage to get on the board mid way through the first, but that is all it could manage, as they were shutout for the remaining three quarters. St. Joes’ goalies Sean Lyons and Nick Cissone both had tremendous afternoons.
As the game carried on, it was just more of the same. Despite St. Joe’s having the advantage, the atmosphere remained competitive; it felt like Wood was just a couple good plays away from starting a comeback. The thing that hurt Wood the most was an inability on face-offs; St. Joe’s is a team that does not waste very many possessions and once they won the face-off the results were very predictable. In the world of lacrosse, there is no defense quite like a good offense.
St. Joes would hang another eight goals on Wood in the game’s second quarter, taking a 16-1 score into the half.
Another goal in the third quarter’s opening minutes would be the cherry on top for St. Joe’s as they looked to kill the clock for the majority of the second half.
Archbishop Wood needed a near perfect game to pull out the win. St. Joe’s capitalized on all of Wood’s mistakes, making them pay for any missteps or blunders they committed on the field. The only mistakes made by St. Joe’s came in the form of two penalties, which left Wood with very little wiggle room. St. Joe’s offense was just too smart and disciplined, they played their own brand of unselfish lacrosse, always looking for the open man and always looking for the highest percentage shot; take senior Kevin Stump for example who shot five for five on the day.
St. Joes’ Head coach Sean DeLaney said the team prepared for this game by focusing on the things they needed to do.
“We were really just getting back to our offenses and our defenses. I think these past couple weeks we’ve been just kind of getting concentrated on our opponents, so this week we just got back to Prep lacrosse,” said DeLaney.
Two of SJP's 17 scored goals:
St. Joes would cruise through the second half, en route to the team’s win. It was a rough day for an undermanned Archbishop Wood team, as they took on such a tough opponent.
“Obviously this is a state ranked team and we were low on numbers, we’re missing two of our starting seniors today. We knew who we were coming in to play and we did the best we could,” said Wood head coach Jared Mayes.
St. Joe’s head coach Sean DeLaney was thrilled with his team’s great overall performance, you know a team played well when their entire bench gets some time on the field. He was also impressed with some of his younger guys, specifically Liam Callahan and Austin Winterle who both walked away with goals.
“Every single day we’re just trying to get a little bit better, we’re not trying to take huge strides every single day, we understand that this is a long season. I think today getting some of these younger guys involved, helping them learn the offense a little better, helping them learn the defenses, it’s going to be a huge part of our overall team success late in the season when those guys have bigger roles,” said DeLaney.
Despite the down day, Wood head coach Jared Mayes thought his team did some things well. Archbishop Wood will not be looking to harbor on this loss, coach Mayes explained that his team will be back out there working hard on the field tomorrow.
Looking ahead: St. Joe’s Prep will play its next league matchup on the road this Friday vs. Conwell-Egan. Archbishop Wood will play Archbishop Ryan on the road on Wednesday, April 27th. Both games are scheduled to begin at 3:45pm