Article Tools

CHRISTOPHER DOLAN / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER Crestwood freshman Anthony Caporuscio (17) passes the ball as Lansdale Catholics Pat Burnham defends during Saturdays state quarterfinal game at Emmaus High School. Caporuscio scored five goals in Crestwoods 12-9 loss.

CHRISTOPHER DOLAN / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER Crestwood attacker Zach Anderson (13) sends the ball over Lansdale Catholics Seamus Horan for a goal during their PIAA Class AA boys lacrosse quarterfinal game Saturday.

EMMAUS The Crestwood boys lacrosse team is always looking to learn something when it takes the field.

Saturday, the Comets discovered that they can go toe-to-toe with the best teams in Pennsylvania even though they are still a relative newcomer to the sport.

Making their first-ever appearance in the PIAA Class AA quarterfinals, the Comets gave perennial power Lansdale Catholic all it could handle before the Crusaders pulled away late for a 12-9 victory.

The win propelled Lansdale Catholic (17-5) into the state semifinals opposite Springfield, which also won 12-9 in its Saturday quarterfinal against Allentown Central Catholic.

Crestwoods season just its seventh in school history ended with its deepest playoff run yet.

Weve had a hard season with a lot of really good teams up in District 2. Thats what helps prepare us, and it would have prepared anybody that was in our shoes to come down here and start to run with some of the best teams in the state, Comets head coach Brian Zabroski said. These teams that are from the Lehigh Valley and the Philadelphia area, they have a long history of lacrosse. With us its still somewhat new to our group.

But to come down here and be in the game 10-9 with a few minutes left, were running with them. Were real proud of that.

The District 12 champion Crusaders opened the contest with a flurry, knocking in three goals during the games first three minutes to put the Comets on their heels. Ryan Flanegan scored two of the goals and Nick Heiler added the third.

The District 2 champs were hardly fazed. The Comets answered at the 6:04 mark of the opening quarter when Owen Grigas crossed in front of the net and buried a one-timer to put his team on the board. Then, with 39 seconds remaining in the quarter, freshman Anthony Caporuscio took a Matt Tirpak feed and sent it home for the first of his game-high five goals, cutting the deficit to 3-2 after 12 minutes.

After killing off a three-minute penalty, Lansdale Catholics Joe Walsh scored unassisted to make it 4-2 three minutes into the second quarter. But Caporuscio and Tirpak again teamed up for Crestwood just 11 seconds later, and two minutes after that Caporuscio weaved his way through traffic and scored again to knot the game at 4-4 midway through the period.

We were down a quick three goals, but that goes to the guys for having a lot of heart, Zabroski said.

Kyle Richards gave the Comets their first lead (5-4) with an unassisted tally, only to see the Crusaders run off three more goals in a span of 90 seconds to go back on top 7-5. Grigas capped the first-half scoring by bouncing one in off the turf following a Caporuscio pass to slice the Lansdale Catholic lead to 7-6 at intermission.

Caporuscios fourth goal 24 seconds into the second half was a thing of beauty, as he went behind his back to score a backhand goal and pull the Comets even at 7-7.

Anthony is an experienced player, hes dynamic, Zabroski said. He never stays still and hes creative with the ball, and that makes him a very hard player to defend.

Later in the period, Zachary Anderson and Caporuscio scored back-to-back goals, the latter with 2:07 remaining, giving the Comets their final lead at 9-8.

However, a crosscheck penalty gave the Crusaders a power play opportunity, and they took advantage as Michael Basilli scored to tie the game (9-9) for the fifth and final time.

Flanegan put the Crusaders on top to stay at 8:39 of the fourth, scoring an unassisted goal to make it 10-9. While the Comets had several scoring chances in the fourth quarter, they were unable to convert.

After getting a turnover with 1:07 to play, Crestwood had the ball back. However, a Flanegan steal led to a breakaway for Grady Kelly, whose goal with 38 seconds left all but clinched the victory.

It was awesome, Kelly said. Our middies and defense did a good job on the ground ball and Ryan Flanegan had his head up and all I had to do was put the ball away with a one-on-one.

Seconds later, the Crusaders won the faceoff and Basilli scored unassisted to complete the hard-fought win.

It was two great teams in the quarterfinals of states. Probably this was our best game of the year, the hardest fought, Kelly said. They came out and competed the entire game right to the last minute. When we came in we knew it was going to be a close game like this. We knew it was going to come down to the wire, but we always felt we were going to pull it out.

The loss marked the end of the Comets 13-8 campaign, one that included their second district championship and a state playoff win over District 4 champ Lewisburg.

Were always developing. Being able to get this far, this deep into the playoffs shows that the guys have a good firm commitment on working hard and trying to learn the game, Zabroski said. Lansdale Catholic is one of the best teams in the state, and here we are hanging around and on June 3, were still playing lacrosse. Theres only eight other teams in Double-A still playing right now, and were one of them, so were real proud of that.

With several underclassmen returning next season, Crestwoods program is on firm ground heading into season No. 8.

The future looks bright, Zabroski said. Were always developing, weve got a lot of new players out here. The next couple of years were just going to continue to work and play the good games. Were going to win some, were going to lose some, but we try to learn something from every game and were going to learn a lot from this game, and take that into next season hopefully.

Crestwood goals: Anthony Caporuscio (5), Owen Grigas (2), Kyle Richards, Zachary Anderson.

Crestwood assists: Matt Tirpak (2), Kyle Richards, Anthony Caporuscio, Wyatt Malia.

Crestwood saves: Reed Karaska (11).

Lansdale Catholic goals: Ryan Flanegan (4), Joe Walsh (3), Nick Heiler (2), Michael Basilli (2), Grady Kelly.

Lansdale Catholic assists: Grady Kelly (2), Joe Walsh, Michael Basilli, Ryan Flanegan.

Lansdale Catholic assists: Seamus Horan (10).

See the rest here:

Comets fall to Lansdale Catholic in state quarterfinals - Standard Speaker