Warriors Come Up Short Against OJR

Methacton fell to 8-4 overall (6-3 PAC-10) with a 9-7 home loss to visiting Owen J. Roberts.  

The hosts held most of the possession in the early going but were unable to connect on multiple opportunities.  Senior Clay Sobocinski scored his team leading 19th goal of the year assisted by Senior Sean Aronow.  OJR answered just over a minute later as Kohl Batdorf finished a Jarret Szczecinski pass to bring the score to 1-1.  The visiting Wildcats took the lead with an individual tally from Nick Tordone with under 30 seconds in the quarter. 

In the second quarter, the visitors stretched their lead to 4-1 on goals by Bleving and John Pennell.  Sophomore Matt McClay was able to answer for the host scoring on an individual effort with just over a minute left in the half and the half would close with the margin at two.

The third quarter belonged to Methacton as they brought the tally to four all.  Sobocinski finished a Matt Brasher pass in an extra man situation then Cody Ridgway finished a pass from Sobocinski in an unsettled situation to tie the game.  OJR's Batdorf responded a minute later on an unassisted goal but an unncessary roughness penalty on OJR gave the hosts another extra man opportunity.  The man-up proved deadly as Brasher found Sobocinski again on the right pipe to score his 21st of the year and lock the score at 5-5. 

The host Warriors maintained the momentum entering the fourth quarter and Senior Scott Markle, leading the break after collecting a ground ball in his own defensive end, found Senior Sean Aronow who put it away to give the hosts the early fourth quarter lead.  That would be the last time the hosts held the momentum as the visitors tied the score with 7:43 remaining in the contest.  Just over a minute later, a miscommunication in the defensive end and a bit of bad luck ended with a Methacton defender putting a ball past his own goalie to give the visiting Wildcats the lead.  With the momentum now on their side, OJR added another two tallies while the host Warriors pressed defensively to gain possession.  Methacton would find the net one more time with just over a minute left as Ridgway collected a loose ball in front of the net to close the gap to two but OJR controlled the ensuing faceoff and was able to run out the time with a two goal lead. 

Coach Ryan said of the loss "I was happy with our work in both the offensive and defensive ends, but we just didn't finish our offensive opportunities the way we would like to.  Lacrosse is a game of momentum and I thought the own goal in the fourth quarter was really deflating after the guys worked so hard to get back into the game. "

While he was displeased with the outcome Coach Ryan added "I couldn't be happier with the level of effort we're getting from our guys across the board.  Scott Markle in particular has been phenomenal for us and did a great job against a talented offensive player [Batdorf]."  Markle collected a season high eight ground balls on the day and was a defensive force creating 5 caused turnovers.  Coach Ryan also praised the work of his faceoff players saying "Pete [Alloway] did an excellent job stepping in for Eli [Miller].  Gabe Ferraro was also excellent in wing play."

The Warriors return to action on Tuesday 4/26 as they host Pheonixville in another PAC-10 match-up. 

Scoring:

Methacton: Sobocinski (3), Ridgway (2), Aronow (1), McClay (1)

Owen J. Roberts:  Tordone (3), Batdorf (2), Pennell (1), Bleving (1), Higgins (1), Keat (1)

Assists:

Methacton:  Brasher (2), Aronow (1), Sobocinski (1), S. Markle (1)

Owen J. Roberts:  Graham (2), Higgins (1), Batdorf (1), Szczeninski (1)

Saves:

Methacton:  Murphy (7)

Owen J. Roberts:  Szczepanic (12)