MID-PENN REPORT 3/31

STATE COLLEGE 8 LOWER DAUPHIN 7

The Little Lions got out to a 4-2 lead in the opening frame and were able to hold that lead to a 8-7 victory despite the Falcons chipping away the rest of the afternoon. State College moves to 2-2 as LD falls to 1-3 with three one goal losses, all with a final score of 7-8. Garrett Schug led the Falcons with 4 goals and 1 assist.

MECHANCISBURG 10 BISHOP MCDEVITT 9

The Crusaders would come out early and often opening up a 4-0 lead on the Wildcats early in the first period. Mechanicsburg would answer by scoring a short handed goal and rattling off 5 unanswered of their own to take it to 5-5 at the half. The score would be tight until Mechanicsburg was able to get a 10-8 lead. The Crusaders would bring it with in one with a look to tie at the end of the game but ultimately fell short. Gracen Hilsinger, Alec Martin, Sam Shipman, and Jaryn Ruth all had 2 goals a piece in well balanced outing for the Wildcats who move to 1-1.

HERSHEY 19 CHAMBERSBURG 3

Hershey moves to 3-0 in convincing fashion over Chambersburg. With a 4-1 lead at the start of the second quarter Hershey opened it up with 7 goals in the frame to take a commanding 11-1 lead. Jake Wilson has another monster day with 6 goals while Brook Briggs managed two scores of his own with a whopping 8 assists.

TRINITY 17 CD EAST 0

Trinity had 12 different players find the back of the net for them in route to 17-0 victory over East. Sophomore Peyton Masaracchia bursts onto the scene as the leading goal scorer with 5 on the day.

MID-PENN PREVIEW 3/31

CUMBERLAND VALLEY (3-0) AT CARLISLE (2-0)

POSTPONED TO 4/1

LOWER DAUPHIN (1-2) AT STATE COLLEGE (1-2)

LD has been in three close games already to start the season having lost to Carlisle and Governor Mifflin by one goal each. A tough road trip means they could be in for number four Tuesday night. State College and Brady Franks grabbed their first win over CD East and will work to keep that momentum moving forward. Garrett Schugg and Brennen Foster will lead the Falcon offense. Nick Mattis will look to slow down Franks and company on defense.

PALMYRA (0-3) AT NORTHERN YORK (1-2)

POSTPONED

CHAMBERSBURG (1-1) AT HERSHEY (2-0)

Hershey is off to another great start and seems set on winning their 5th straight Keystone Division Title. They have outscored their first two opponents 30-11 led by Jake Wilson's amazing 15 goals in those games. For Chambersburg to have a chance they must find a way to slow Wilson down and get Jake Pierson and Grant Swisher in a position where they can match goals. It should be a great game at the face-off X between Collin Bricker and Matt Stewart.

MORE AFTER THE BREAK

UPCOMING SCHEDULE, STANDINGS, & STATS 3/27

SATURDAY MARCH 28TH
Central York (0-1) at Hershey (1-0) 10:00am
Trinity (1-0) at Elizabethtown (2-0) 10:00am
Chambersburg (1-1) at Red Lion (1-1) 10:00am
Mechanicsburg (0-1) at Spring Grove (1-1) 10:00am
Lancaster Country Day (1-1) at Central Dauphin (1-1) 10:00am
Lower Dauphin (1-1) at Governor Mifflin (2-0) 11:00am
Exeter Township (0-1) at Cumberland Valley (2-0) 11:00am
Northern York (1-2) at Dallastown (1-0) 2:00pm

STANDINGS & STAT LEADERS AFTER THE BREAK

MID-PENN REPORT 3/26

CARLISLE 7 PALMYRA 6 (OT)

The Herd moves to 2-0 after another 1 goal thriller. This one would need extra frames to complete. Carlisle got the early 2-0 lead when Palmyra was able to come back and knot things up at 3-3 at the half. It would remain close through regulation with Justin Moore scoring the deciding goal in OT for the Herd. Sophomore George Faller led all scorers with 4 goals for Carlisle.  Ethan Gain busted onto the scene for the Cougars has he put up 3 goals and assist on the afternoon. This marks two straight tightly contested bouts for the Herd and seems to indicate the Commonwealth will be a season long race. Excellent bounce back game for Palmyra following  difficult loss to CV.

CENTRAL DAUPHIN 9 CHAMBERSBURG 8 (OT)
Rams move to 1-1 in this over time thriller on the road over Chambersburg. Trojans fall to 1-1 with back to back one goal games. Chambersburg led 7-5 headed into the 4th quarter when CD went on a 3-1 run to tie and send the game into OT. After a couple of great CD saves Damien Koussis hit the game winner with 54 seconds left in OT. Ian Harper led CD with 3 goals and Grant Swisher had another excellent night for the Trojans with 3 goals and 3 assists.

LOWER DAUPHIN 11 NORTHERN YORK 8
A tight one through out saw a 2-2 score at the end of the first quarter and a 5-4 Northern lead at the end of the half. LD got back in control during the 3rd quarter to lead 9-7 and then pulled away in the 4th for their first victory of the season (1-1). The Polar Bears will fall to 1-2. Garrett Schug led the Falcons with 3 goals and 1 assist. Derek Myers and Josh Petery did the heavy lifting for the Polar Bears as each had 4 goals on the night. Jared Hayes had an excellent night in the net for Northern with 25 saves.

MORE AFTER THE BREAK

MID-PENN PREVIEW 3/26

Another jammed pack day in the Mid-Penn as 12 of the leagues 13 teams play in conference games. 

HERSHEY (1-0) AT TRINITY (1-0) 

 Trinity faces another tough opponent after Tuesdays come from behind victory over CD. The Shamrocks will look to avoid the first half slow start as they face one of their more difficult match-ups of the season. Offensively look for Jesse Altmeyer to continue to distribute while Mark Mandack and the Hergenroder brothers (Mark and Steve) look to score. Hershey's Jake Wilson had a monster day with 7 goals on 1 assist as the Trojans opened strong against State College at home. This will be an early test on the road for Hershey.

CENTRAL DAUPHIN (0-1) AT CHAMBERSBURG (1-0)

Chambersburg looks to get to 2-0 after a fantastic come from behind victory against McDevitt on Tuesday. Look for Jake Pierson and Grant Swisher to be heavily involved in the offensive game plan. For CD this is a prime opportunity to erase memories of their loss to Trinity. Damien Koussis and Chris Martin will be a big part of their attack.

MORE AFTER THE BREAK

MID-PENN REPORT 3/24

Carlisle 8 Lower Dauphin 7
LD jumped out to a 3-0 lead at the end of the first quarter. Carlisle answered with a 4 goal run to make it 4-3 Herd at the half. Carlisle would continue scoring to move it 8-5 at the end of the third and hold on for the 8-7 victory. LD Junior Brennan Foster bursts onto the MP lacrosse scene with 4 goals on the night. Drew Amsley led Carlisle with three scores of his own.

Trinity 9 CD 5
 CD lead 5-1 in the second quarter as Trinity would go on to out score the Rams 8-0 in the rest of the way for the come from behind victory. Mark Hergenroder returns after missing last season to lead the rocks with 3 goals and 3 assists. Damien Koussis led the Rams scoring effort with 3 goals and 2 assists.

Cumberland Valley 9 Palmyra 3
 CV got going early and never looked back. Leading 5-1 at the end of the first the Eagles seemed to have the Cougars under control all afternoon. Seniors Rod Jamieson and John Miller lead all scorers with 3 goals each.

MORE AFTER THE BREAK

MID-PENN PREVIEW - 3/24

A whole lot of action on Tuesday as every Mid-Penn team will play, most of them openers for both squads. Typically teams prefer to open out of conference but due to weather related issues on Friday and Saturday all teams had to post pone their opening games and will need to hit the ground running today.

Trinity at Central Dauphin 4:15pm

The Rams just missed the district post season but did manage to defeat the Shamrocks in their final game of the 2014 season. CD has defeated Trinity's in four of their last five meetings including the district playoffs.  Both teams lost a lot to graduation but certainly have pieces capable of stepping in and producing right away.

For CD look for Chris Martin and Derek Quaid to be involved in the offense right away. For the Rocks we expect Junior Jesse Altemeyer to continue to produce goals and assists along side his fellow classmates Vinny Oliverio, Mark Mandack, and Bryce Amos. Senior Mark Hergenroder returns to play after missing last season with a leg injury and should be a major factor all game.

MORE GAMES AFTER THE JUMP

PENN LIVE MID-PENN PREVIEWS

COMMONWEALTH DIVISION PREVIEW

KEYSTONE DIVISION PREVIEW

THE SENTINEL - LACROSSE PREVIEW

FROM CUMBERLINK.COM

CARLISLE THUNDERING HERD

Coach: Steve Kidder

Division: Commonwealth

Last year: 18-4, 14-1

Key losses: Max Breschi, Sid Ewell, Mark Bowser, Hunter Scott, Colin Wallace, John Mundell

Key returnees: Drew Amlsey, sr.; George Faller, so.; Tim Roesler, sr.; Derrick Coleman, jr.; Bryce Stevenson, jr.; Nate Barnes, so.; Dean Zagorica, sr.; Trevor Weis, so.; Justin Moore, jr.; Matt Fuller, sr.; Levi Negley, sr.; Conor Bremer, sr.

Key newcomers: Dom Gaito, so.; Ethan Blum, so.; Ryan Godfrey, so.; Connor Amsley, so.; Phil Weis, so.

Next Match: Friday at Penn Manor, 4

Breakdown: Carlisle’s offense was gutted by graduation, but the returning players will aim for another run to the district championships if they can help the new players grow.

MORE AFTER THE BREAK

DISTRICT SEMIFINAL DOUBLE HEADER

PIAA District Playoffs Round 3- Semifinals

Tuesday, May 20th, 5:00 and 7:00pm

Lower Dauphin Middle Schoool

    If you are looking for one of the best nights of local lacrosse here in the Central PA than look no further than next Tuesday night when Mid Penn powers Hershey and Carlisle will take on Wilson and Manheim Township respectively. This is an excellent opportunity to view high school lacrosse played at a very high level.

     This is the second straight year we have been fortunate enough to have two Mid Penn teams make it to the semifinals in districts and this will be some of the best lacrosse played in the area all year.

   Carlisle is the number two seed taking on number three seeded Manheim Township at 5:00pm and will be followed by Hershey who is a five seed playing number one overall seed Wilson West Lawn at 7:00pm. Both games will be held at Lower Dauphin Middle School so you will be able to see two great games at one location!

    If you are unable to attend the games we will be doing live scoring coverage for both from our twitter account. To follow us on twitter click HERE.

PIAA DISTRICT 3 PLAYOFF SEEDING

     The field is set!

     Saturday is the Mid Penn Championship and then for several Mid Penn teams it will be off to the district playoffs.
     Carlisle (2), Hershey (5), and Trinity (8) have had their sites set on the post season all spring and have had little to worry about as top ten finishes were hardly in doubt the past few weeks. For the Trojans and Herd it will be their fourth straight trips to districts and this will be the Shamrock's third straight.
     CV (17) and CD (18) rankings did not move from yesterday and they were squarely on the bubble but will miss out this year. Northern's (20) late season 8 game winning streak gave them hope but would ultimately would not be enough to get them in as their 2-7 start left to much ground to make up. Palmyra (25), Chambersburg (26), and Lower Dauphin (27) all managed top 30 finishes.

We will be doing live twitter scoring updates from as many district games as possible (Follow Here) and we will update you on which ones we will be covering shortly.

(More after the break)

MID PENN REPORT - 5/7/14

NORTHERN YORK 7 CUMBERLAND VALLEY 5
- Northern Yotk strikes again as they have now won eight straight games and have put a serious damper into CV's and CD's district playoff hopes. The Polar Bears finish the regular season tonight at home against McDevitt where they will look to win their ninth straight game and end the season 10-7.  The last district ranking had them at 21 and we expect them to move up a few slots. We are not sure if they will have enough to get into the top 16 at this point.
    CV opened the scoring in the first quarter with Nick Zumbrum getting his lone goal of the evening. Northern would go onto score four straight to end the half up 4-1. They extended that lead to 6-2 at the end of the third quarter. The Eagles attempted to fight back but could only bring it within two scores. CV will finish the season at 10-8 after going 3-3 down the stretch. They were ranked 15th for districts but this loss puts their playoff hopes up serious jeopardy.
     Andrew Sade continues to be impressive in the ladder half of the season for the Polar Bears scoring 3 goals. Grant Rutter followed with 2 goals and Zach Martick is one of the best distributors in the Mid Penn as he garnered 4 assists on the night. Goal Keeper Gerald Slothhower (10 saves) for Northern led a great defensive effort against a high powered Eagles offense.
     The Eagles and Coach Bogazyck will be forced to wait and see for districts. CV managed a nice turn around this year from their disappointing 6-11 campaign last year.

HERSHEY 16 CHAMBERSBURG 4
- Hershey continues their resurgence after losing to Carlisle by winning their fourth straight game. Their margin of victory is now 56-11 over that stretch. The Trojans are clearly getting back to form against a quality Chambersburg team and look to be firing on all cylinders in anticipation of Saturday's Mid Penn Championship Game.
     The scoring was early and often for Coach Schein's team as they scored the first 14 goals of the game. Chamberssurg did not find the net till the fourth quarter. Hershey was led in scoring by senior Logan Calhoun who had 3 goals and 4 assists. Karl VanBlargen netted 3 goals and 2 assists while attack-man Joe Olives scored a pair of his own. Hershey looks finish the regular season with 5 straights wins tomorrow at 4:00pm against State College at home.
     Nick Lombardozzi was the only player for Chambersburg to find the stat book as he had 2 goals unassisted. Clearly Coach Flohr's team had some difficulties on the offense end last night. They will finish the regular season with a record of 8-8. They were ranked 20th headed into this week and had a long shot at districts. With back to back losses to Trinity and Hershey we do not expect them to make the post season.

LOWER DAUPHIN 17 BISHOP MCDEVITT 4
- The Falcons snapped their three game losing skid and will end the season at 7-9. They are to far back (ranked 28th) to be able to get into the playoffs but the fact we have talked about them to this point is a victory for a program coming off a 4-12 season last year. Their 2014 campaign was highlighted by a mid season stretch that saw them win six of eight games were they put together a four game winning streak. A win over State College and 1 goal losses to Northern, Palmyra, and CD show you that this is a much improved team who was very close to a district run.
    McDevitt has now lost four straight and will finish the season against red hot Northern on the road tonight. The Crusaders have had a difficult season where they could never really seem to get things going on both sides of the ball. Coach Walter is one of the better young coaches in the league and we expect them to continue to improve and build in the future.
   This game belonged to LD early and often. With a 7-3 halftime lead the third quarter was were the Falcons were able to open the game up scoring 6 unanswered goals in route to a great offensive evening. Garrett Schugg played excellent lacrosse with 4 goals and 3 assists. Mike Mattis put a nice finishing night on his season with 4 goals of his own. For the Crusaders it was Nick Lokitus with 2 goals and 1 assist who lead them in the scorers book.

PALMYRA 17 CD EAST 3
- The Cougars finished the season strong with back to back wins by a margin of 32-3 after losing four straight. A monstrous stat sheet was highlighted by senior attack-man Joey Hess and his 3 goals/5 assists. Trevor Frye (3 goals, 1 assist) and Nick Mazzocca (2 goals, 2 assists) were also prominently featured. This was the Cougars final regular season game in a year that will see them go 9-9 and miss out on the district playoffs. Had it not be for a series of close losses (7 losses by a total of 12 points) who knows how far they might have gone. Hess continues his strong late season push for league MVP as he now has a league leading 83 points (39 goals, 44 assists).
     Coach Gatano's team got going early and never looked back. An 8-2 first quarter would extend as Palmyra scored 9 more unanswered goals. East showed some fight early with Chrystian Hess and Shawn Stickle each scoring early but ultimately they were over matched. The Panthers will have their last shot at avoiding a win less season against Mifflinburg tonight at 6:00pm.

CEDAR CREST 17 MECHANICSBURG 4
- The Wildcats season comes to an end with a 13th straight loss to Cedar Crest. Their 2-15 mark is a disappointment in season that had a lot of hope coming into it. Senior goal keeper Joe Becker's early season injury was a blow that the then 2-2 Cats could never recover from. In what ultimately became a goalie by committee approach they never seemed to get things going on either side of the field. There were some bright spots and the team has had a great attitude despite the losses. Sophomore long-pole Reagan Pritchett, sophomore midfielder Sam Shipman, and freshman attack-man Alec Martin represent the building blocks for the future of a program that is committed to making serious efforts to move in the right direction.
      Cedar Crest would win the first quarter 4-1 and that would be the trend the rest of the way as they would out score Mechanicsburg 5-1, 5-1, and 3-1 in the remaining frames. Seniors Aaron Heisey, Eddie Martin, and Donnie Houseal all ended the game with a goal a piece. All three of these players have fought hard through out the year and played virtually every quarter.

STANDINGS
Commonwealth Division

TEAM	LEAGUE	OVERALL
*Carlisle	12-0	14-2
Trinity	9-2	14-2
Northern York	7-4	9-7
State College	7-4	8-8
Cumberland Valley	7-5	10-8
Chambersburg	5-7	8-8
Mechanicsburg	1-11	2-15

Keystone Division

TEAM	LEAGUE	OVERALL
*Hershey	10-1	15-2
Central Dauphin	6-5	9-6
Lower Dauphin	5-7	7-9
Palmyra	4-8	9-9
Bishop McDevitt	2-9	3-13
CD East	0-12	0-16

MID PENN PREVIEW - 5/6/14

CHAMBERSBURG (8-7) at HERSHEY (13-2) 4:15PM
- After last nights loss to Trinity, Chambersburg's district playoffs hope are all but gone. They will fall from their 20th ranking and have a very difficult match-up with a Hershey team looking to stay sharp for Saturday's MPC as well as improve there own seeding for districts (currently 6th).
  The Trojans had a suffered a couple tough defeats to Wilson and Carlisle but seemed to have regrouped nicely last week. With Chambersburg today and State College tomorrow they will be looking to keep all their parts finely tuned while Carlisle has four days off before the big game. In order for Hershey to win the MPC and have a good post season run Jake Wilson, Logan Calhoun, and George Briggs will need to be on point at attack. This is the most talented attack unit in the Mid Penn and when they are in rhythm they seem to be unstoppable. When teams get them out of rhythm, as we saw against Carlisle and Trinity, they can get sloppy and that is something we are sure Coach Schein is working to fix.
    Chambersburg has three main threats in Hopple, Pierson, and Lombardozi. They will all need big nights here if they hope to pull off the upset and keep their district playoff chances alive. This will be the Trojans final regular season game of the year and even if they fall to 8-8 it is still a very impressive season after what many thought would be a down year losing 2013 graduate Taylor Tolbert.

CD EAST (0-15) at PALMYRA (8-9) 4:15PM
- This is the Panthers last shot at avoiding an 0-12 Mid Penn season and unfortunately we don't expect them to get the win on the road at Palmyra. The Cougars have been through a difficult season of their own losing a lot of close games but should be able to put together back to back wins to finish at .500.
    Joey Hess is making a serious play for league MVP and we suspect today will be another chance for him to push his stats upward. Hess has shown a tremendous ability to score and feed and is a critical component to his offense. Nick Mazzocca is a capable scorer of his own and clearly benefits from playing with Hess. Look for both of them to be involved early and often in the scoring. Sam Wasson is one of the better keepers in the MP and should finish the year with the most saves in the league.
     CD East will continue to rely on Chrystian Hess and Will Gingrich. We've been saying all season that this program's goals are different than that of most other Mid Penn clubs and we truly hope they can start the rebuilding process this off season.

BISHOP MCDEVITT (3-12) at LOWER DAUPHIN (6-9) 4:30PM
- The Falcons were in the midst of a mid season turn around with four straight wins and were eyeing their first winning season since 2009. A three game skid will prevent that from happening but it is still a spring that has seen this club make some major strides into the middle of the Mid Penn pack. A season ending win against Keystone opponent McDevitt would be a nice cap on year everyone in Hummelstown can be proud of. Mike Mattis will again be the Falcons main player to keep an eye on scoring wise and Justin Guevarez is an underrated goalie with the ability to change games.
     For the Crusaders it has not been an ideal follow up to a 2013 season that saw them go 7-10 after going 1-14 in 2012. For a younger program just starting to come up regression is expected and Coach Walter lost a lot of fire power in the off season. Senior Nick Sukniac and the Hanes brothers have put forth great efforts and despite the poor W-L record they have been a better team then they were earlier in the program's history. Despite losing five of their last six games their offense seems to have a found a sync against quality opponents. Their final game of the spring will be Wednesday night at Northern York.

NORTHERN YORK (8-7) at CUMBERLAND VALLEY (10-7) 7:00PM
- The Polar Bears may be on the outside (currently ranked 21st) looking in on districts but that does not mean they can't crush some dreams on the way. After beating the Rams at home on Friday to jeopardize their district chances they will head to Cumberland Valley and look to do the same to a 15th ranked Eagles squad. Cumberland Valley needs to win this game to control their destiny as it is their final match of the regular season.
     Northern has an excellent shot at finishing .500 or better with CV tonight and McDevitt at home tomorrow night. Although the playoffs are becoming a long shot we expect Coach Miller to have his team giving 100%. Northern has won 6 straight games and is aiming to finish the year on an 8 game winning streak. Zach Martick is leading the Polar Bears with 51 points courtesy of his 35 assists on the year. He can score but is one of the better assist men in the league. Derek Myers, Grant Rutter, and Sam Haak are all 20+ goal scorers and it is apparent they can hurt you from a number of different spots.
     The Eagles have won three out of their last four and have had a nice turn around after a disappointing 2013. Coach Bogazyck team is one that has improved a lot since the start of the season and a very difficult opening schedule. They have won seven of their last nine games and a win here would allow them to advance to post season play. Tommy Lehman (41 goals) and Nick Zumbrum (29) have been an absolute force as of late and if their defense and Nic Brown are on their game who knows how far they could go. A possible first round game with West York would be an excellent setup if the chips fall that way.

MECHANICSBURG (2-14) at CEDAR CREST (5-12) 7:00PM
- The Wildcats venture out of conference tonight with a shot at a winnable game against Lancaster-Lebanon opponent Cedar Crest. The Falcons have a 76.2 laxpower.com ranking (Mechanicsburg is 71.4) and have lost six of their last seven games only scoring 43 points in that span.
    Offensive and defensive woes have plagued the Cats all season. Coach Brisbane will be doing everything in his power to get his seniors a win in their final game and bookend the season with victories. Having lost 12 straight and only scored 30 goals in that period this is a team that is looking to put the building blocks in place to develop a program structure and change the culture on Broad Street. Senior Aaron Heisey is an underrated player with an excellent outside shot. He has led the Cats all year (17 goals) in scoring and we have little doubt his numbers are not a true reflection of his abilities.

MID PENN REPORT - 5/5/14

* The Mid Penn Championship game has been rescheduled from Thursday 5/8 to Saturday 5/10 at 1:00pm. The location remains Landis Field. The reason for the change is the extremely large number of make up games and rescheduling Mid Penn teams have gone through this season mainly due to inclement weather.

TRINITY 12 CHAMBERSBURG 5
- Trinity has set the record at 14 wins for the most wins in their programs history. This record extends back to the Harrisburg Academy program which was the first high school team in the area 47 years ago. A remarkable achievement for Coaches Heisey, Healey, Gonzales, and their team. The Shamrocks defeated a quality opponent in Chambersburg and are now locked in for the district playoffs next week. Trinity was able to get up early with a 4-2 lead at the end of the first and extend that to 7-3 by half time. Sophmore Jesse Altmeyer continues to storm up the Mid Penn scoring ranks as he produced 4 goals and 3 assists. Altemeyer will finish the season as the Rocks leading scorer with 57 points (22 goals, 35 assists) and counting. He will be a player to keep your eye on the next two years. Kyle Scott (3 goals, 1 assist) and Mitch Kleist (3 goals) continue to produce with Altemeyer on attack. It was another stellar day for long pole Tim Hickey and goalie Austin Bailey on defense. Trinity finishes the regular season tonight on the road against Central Dauphin.
     The Trojans three headed offense was able to produce, but not enough. JT Hopple and Jake Pierson manged 2 goals each and Nick Lombardozzi had 1 on the day. The most alarming stat of the day is they only managed one assist all night which shows you how difficult Trinity's defense can be. Chambersburg is now most likely out of the district playoff hunt as they were ranted 20th and still have to play Hershey tonight.

CARLISLE 12 MECHANICSBURG 1
- Carlisle completes a great 2014 season by going undefeated (12-0) in Mid Penn play. Truly a great accomplishment for Coach Kidder, his staff, and his seniors who were recognized prior to the start of last nights game. Kidder and crew will now have four days to prepare for the Trojans in the Mid Penn Championship game on Saturday. It will be the third straight year that the two teams meet in this game. If your wondering how important the MPC is to the players you need to look no further than the Herds senior night announcements were virtually every player cited their favorite memory of lacrosse as being when they beat Hershey last year for the title.
     The Herd got going early in this one as you might expect. Carlisle jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the first quarter and then extended that to 9-0 by halftime. Things slowed down for them in the second half as they got a lot of under class-men playing time. As Coach Kidder said in our MPC Interview (available here: http://harrisburglax.blogspot.com/2014/05/mpc-preview-interview-with-coach-steve.html) he is a firm believer in growing for next season whenever possible and getting younger plays in when the game is in hand. This can not be more evident than Carlisle's ability to reload on long pole as they lost all three starters last year and still maintained one of, if not the, best defenses in the Mid Penn. Sid Ewell was a force all night and Bowser played excellent in goal. Statistically Dave Breschi continued what he started his Freshman year with 2 goals and 3 assists. He is already the all time leading scorer for the Herd and is now making anyone who wants to challenge that record's job that much harder in the future. Trent George would find the net 3 times on his own as well.
     For Mechanicsburg there were some strong indicators that they will be an improved squad in 2015. There defense played fast and hard and slid relatively well as the game progressed. If they can continue that speed and intensity we expect the wins to follow. Freshman Alec Martin scored their lone goal on a great feed from senior Eddie Martin. It was Alec Martin's first goal of his career and he is a player we expect to hear more from in the future as he played a lot of quarters this season and has the look of a future star player.

STANDINGS
Commonwealth Division

TEAM	LEAGUE	OVERALL
*Carlisle	12-0	14-2
Trinity	9-2	14-2
Cumberland Valley	7-4	10-7
State College	7-4	8-8
Northern York	6-4	8-7
Chambersburg	5-6	8-7
Mechanicsburg	1-11	2-14

Keystone Division

TEAM	LEAGUE	OVERALL
*Hershey	9-1	13-2
Central Dauphin	6-5	9-6
Lower Dauphin	4-7	6-9
Palmyra	3-8	8-9
Bishop McDevitt	2-8	3-12
CD East	0-11	0-15

* Division Champion

MID PENN PREVIEW - 5/05/14

CHAMBERSBURG (8-6) at TRINITY (13-2) 7:00PM
- This game will have district implications for both squads. Trinity currently sits at number 7 although we fully expect them to move up after defeating 2nd rated West York over the weekend. Chambersburg is in a must win situation as they are 22nd and a loss here would end their chances.
     The Shamrocks have been on role since losing back to back games to Hershey and Carlisle several weeks ago. It speaks volumes on their senior leadership that they were able to regroup and play at such a high level. They have outscored their opponents 75-18 over the past 5 games. They are one of the more difficult teams to predict for a leading scorer as they have so many players who regularly contribute and no one player who must be involved for them to succeed. We will expect Bailey and Sherlock to lead from the midfield with a pick your poison approach on attack with Kleist, Altmeyer, and Scott.
     Jake Pierson, Nick Lombardozzi, and JT Hopple have a combined 94 goals on the season. They are a three headed offensive machine that demonstrates a lot of balance for the Trojans and makes Chambersburg a difficult group to prepare for. Chambersburg has won four straight games and is looking for number five on the road tonight. Over this stretch they have outscored their opponents 40-19. If they can pull off an upset here and against Hershey tomorrow we like their chances of getting into districts.

MECHANICSBURG (2-13) at CARLISLE (13-2) 7:15PM
- Tonight will be senior night for the Herd and we fully expect Coach Kidder's team to go out with a win here tonight. This will be Carlisle's last game before they play for the Mid Penn Title on Thursday so they will be looking to stay sharp. With their two losses coming out of conference (Hempfield and Epharta) a win tonight will make it an undefeated 12-0 record in Mid Penn play. Carlisle is currently rated fourth in district playoff seeding.
    We will be keeping our eyes on all time Herd leading scorer Max Breschi as he should be involved anytime he is on the field. Brechi leads the Herd with 39 goals and is then followed by George Faller (24), Collin Wallace (24), and Jon Mundell (21). Their defense has been dominant all season only allowing 61 goals on the year for a per game average of 4.06.
    For the Wildcats they will be looking to stay competitive in this as long as they can and continue to get playing time and experience for younger players. Not every team in the Mid Penn can be playing for a district spot at this point in the season but keeping your eyes on your own teams goals and improving is important for all squads. Aaron Heisey and Eddie Martin have led the offense all season and we expect them to give it their all here tonight.

MID PENN REPORT - 5/4/14

TRINITY 15 WEST YORK 6
- West York on paper would have been the favorite. At 15-1 and rated 2nd for the district playoffs this shows how little ratings and records matter when there is not a reasonable amount of out of conference play. Not to say West York isn't a good team but things may not have been as accurate for the Bulldogs as they are for other teams with a more balanced out of conference schedule.
     West York led early with a 2-0 score in the first quarter and an eventual 3-0 lead in the second. Then the Shamrocks turned it on scoring 5 quick goals to take a 5-4 lead to halftime. It would be all Trinity in the second half as they would go on to out score West York 10-2 down the stretch. Senior attackman Kyle Scott had a career day with 6 goals and senior midfielder Connor Bailey posted 4 goals and 1 assist. Devon Roehem would lead West York with 2 goals.
     This was a nice statement win for Trinity and the Mid Penn. The Shamrocks have played well as of late and despite challenging circumstances have now won five straight and are poised for a great finish to the regular season. Their defense continues to be one of the best units in the area with a plethora of experienced and quality long-sticks on close defense and LSM. Junior keeper Austin Bailey has the ability to help them make a significant run in districts and possibly beyond. Look for them to get a bump up from 7th in the district ratings. Big games with Chambersburg on Monday and then at CD on Tuesday will determine where they are seeded.

NORTHERN YORK 14 CD EAST 3

- After a 2-7 start with a 5 game losing streak the Polar Bears have stormed back to win 6 straight games by a margin of 63-31. A tough road game at CV on Tuesday and then a home bought with McDevitt has this team poised to finish .500 or better. Currently rated 25th in districts, CV is a must win with a lot of help from other teams for them to have a chance to get into the playoffs.
     The day belonged to Northern early and often. We were wondering if there might have been a let down after Fridays overtime win against CD and the early 11:00am start but that was not the case. Up 6-0 at the end of the first they held East scoreless until the fourth quarter. Zach Martich had a great game with 1 goal and 4 assists, while Sam Haak and Derek Myers which each able to score 3 goals each. 8 players were able to score for Northern while 10 players found there way onto the stat sheet.
     

PALMYRA 15 MECHANICSBURG 1
- Palmyra ends a 4 game losing streak with a blow out win over the Wildcats. On senior day the Cougars got in control early and never looked back. Leading 4-0 at the end of the first the Wildcats were attempting to get in the game but had some bad luck with senior Aaron heisey (1 goal) hitting more pipes then net. Coach Gatano's squad opened the game up in the second frame to lead 9-1. The second half was more of the same and the score was 15-1 with a running clock and six minutes to play in the game when lightening struck causing play to stop. The coaches and officials met for a few minutes with some discussion and it appeared they were going to try to finish the contest after the required thirty minute delay. Clearly the game was out of reach and we aren't sure why they opted to try and complete game. The officials called the game 20 minutes later when the weather worsened.
    Joey Hess had a monster day with 10 total points on 4 goals and 6 assists. Hess has shown he is a top scorer and feeder in the league and deserves a lot of post season recognition. Trevor Frye also had an excellent afternoon as a distributor with 1 goal and 4 assists. Nick Mazzocca and Cam Ihli were able to each find the goal 3 times as well. The Cougars will finish the season with CD East at home on Tuesday.
    Mechanicsburg has a lot of things that need to be worked on before next year. Sophomore Andrew Butz got his first full game in net and made some decent stops in route to a 10 save day. One major bright spots for the Cats on the day is that their first year youth program was on the field before the high school games and their appears to be the ground work for the team to build in the coming years. 

CHAMBERSBURG 6 BOONSBORO 4
- Chambersburg went out of conference against a struggling (1-11) Boonsboro squad from Maryland. Lacrosse leagues vary drastically the further out of the region you get and we applaud Chambersburg for taking a shot further south. A tightly contested 6-4 win should help the Trojans and their 22nd district playoff ranking. They still need a lot of things to fall their way but can keep hope alive for a few more days. They must win out with a difficult road matchup at Trinity Monday and then at Hershey on Tuesday.
     Nick Lombardozzi was held scoreless but Jake Pierson, JT Hopple, and Chase Cashell were all able to get 2 goals each.

UPPER ST. CLAIR 8 STATE COLLEGE 2
- State College's late season woes continue. They have now lost four of their last five and only scored 9 goals in their past three games. Brady Franks was again absent from the score sheet and we are wondering if the stand out attackman played. Luc Michaels did manage one of the two scores but it is apparent that the Little Lions can be taken out of rhythm offensively. Upper St. Clair was led by Mac Madsen who had 4 goals and 2 assists on the day.
    State College will close out their Mid Penn schedule on Wednesday at Hershey in what will be an interesting game as the Trojans have the Mid Penn Championship on Thursday against Carlisle. After that they play on 5/8 at home against Lewisburg in an out of conference match-up that could determine if they finish at .500 for a winning season.


STANDINGS
Commonwealth Division

TEAM	LEAGUE	OVERALL
Carlisle	11-0	13-2
Trinity	8-2	13-2
Cumberland Valley	7-4	10-7
State College	7-4	8-8
Northern York	6-4	8-7
Chambersburg	5-5	8-6
Mechanicsburg	1-10	2-13

Keystone Division

TEAM	LEAGUE	OVERALL
Hershey	9-1	13-2
Central Dauphin	6-5	9-6
Lower Dauphin	4-7	6-9
Palmyra	3-8	8-9
Bishop McDevitt	2-8	3-12
CD East	0-11	0-15

MID PENN PREVIEW - 5/03/14

CHAMBERSBURG (7-6) at BOONSNORO (1-10) (MD) 10:00AM
- Not much is know about the Warriors squad from Maryland other than they have a less than impressive 1-10 record and have struggled against pretty much everyone they have faced. A low 70.3 laxpower.com rating also indicates this is a good opportunity for Coach Flohr's team to get a couple games above .500 on the road and out of conference. The Trojans currently sit at 22 in district power rankings and have a shot, a relatively long shot, to make a move to the 16th position with a win here and then quality opponents Trinity and Hershey next week.
   We fully expect Nick Lombardozzi (31 goals), Jake Pierson (31 goals), and JT Hopple (28 goals) to have great days and continue to be one of the better three men groups in the Mid Penn.

NORTHERN YORK (7-7) at CD EAST (0-14) 11:00AM
- No rest for the weary. Coming off an overtime win last night at home against CD the Polar Bears will travel to CD East for an early start. Searching for their sixth straight win they should be able to grab it here today. They will get Sunday and Monday off and then have back to back game with CV and McDevitt to finish the season. Derek Myers, Grant Rutter, and Sam Haak all lead Northern with 19 goals a piece in a very balanced offense. Northern currently resides at 25th in the districts ratings and would need to win out with a lot of help to get in.
    CD East may be able to creep up on Northern coming off virtually no rest and probably a bit of a let down after last nights game. Chrystian Hess and Will Gingrich will need to lead the Panthers and get more players involved. This is East's second to last chance at an MP win and they only have three more opportunities at win number one on the season.

TRINITY (12-2) at WEST YORK (15-1) 3:00PM
- The Shamrocks take on a good out of conference opponent on the road today against West York. The Bulldogs are currently rated 2nd in district playoff rankings and have a 91.3 lax power ranking. Trinity is 7th and this will be a good opponent win percentage game for them as well as an excellent test to see how far they go in the post season.
     Coach Hesiey has done an excellent job of keeping his team focused and playing well after losing some key personnel and suffering back to back losses to Hershey and Carlisle which essentially cost his team a shot at the Mid Penn Championship a few weeks back. With a whopping six players who have scored 22 points (goal + assists) or more this is a squad that can hurt you a number of ways. We are expecting Bailey and Sherlock to produce from the midfield while Kleist and Scott looks to score on attack. Sophomore Jesse Altmeyer leads the team in total points with 46 courtesy of his 28 assists on the season.
   

UPPER ST CLAIR (13-1) at STATE COLLEGE (8-7) 4:00PM
- The Little Lions will welcome in a difficult out of conference opponent of their own later today. The Panthers have an excellent W-L record and a very impressive 97.3 laxpower.com rating. After winning six out seven games earlier in the year an vying for the Commonwealth Division title the Lions have now dropped three of their last four and are fighting to stay above .500.
     Brady Franks (29 goals) and Luc Michaels (25 goals) have led to 1-2 combo all season for SC. As we said previously, if you can shut one or both of them down the Lions are in trouble. Carlisle did this to perfection their 12-4 victory on Thursday. State College must get Sam Schwab and other potential scoring threats more involved early to have a chance today.

MECHANICSBURG (2-12) at PALMYRA (7-9) 5:45PM
* Today is a "charity games" day at Buck Swank stadium in Palmyra. Games start with the youth teams at noon and go through the varsity game and senior night at 5:45pm. Monetary proceeds benefit The Caring Cupboard and the Palmyra Lacrosse Club is also accepting donations of canned good, paper goods, and toiletries.
- Palmyra has now lost five of their last six but in our opinion are the team in the Mid Penn that is far better than what their record shows. Mechanicsburg represents an excellent opportunity for them to get a game back of .500. Th Cougars then play Tuesday against CD East and can end the year at a very respectable 9-9. Joey Hess (32 goals, 33 assists) looks to be in for a big afternoon and to continue his campaign for Mid Penn MVP. Nick Mazzocca (31 goals, 9 assists) should also be able to put up strong numbers as well.
     Mechanicsburg has not had an easy go of it this year and is continuing to look for positives to build on for the future. Senior goalie Joe Becker's injury early in the year has seen them fall from 2-2 to losing 10 straight where they have played a total of 7 goal keepers on the season. Senior leaders Aaron Heisey (16 goals), Eddie Martin (11 goals), and Donnie Houseal (9 goals) continue to press on.

PIAA DISTRICT III POWER RATINGS - 5/03/14

MID PENN REPORT - 5/02/14

Hershey and Carlisle have clinched their respective divisions and are now officially set to meet for the Mid Penn Championship game next Thursday, May 8th, at Landis Field. This is the third straight year the two schools will meet for the title. Hershey won in 2012 with Carlisle winning last year 12-8. Congratulations to both teams, players, coaches, and fans. Should be a great game.

HERSHEY 16 MECHANICSBURG 0
- Hershey needed a win on the road at Mechanicsburg to capture the Keystone Division and earn their third consecutive trip to the Mid Penn Championship. The Wildcats were a long shot to foil their plans and despite the absence of some key Hershey seniors in the lineup the Trojans took care of this one with ease.
   The first and second quarters saw Hershey out score Mechanicsburg 6-0 in both frames for a 12-0 lead and a running clock the rest of the game. The Wildcats had some decent looks at the net here and there but still suffered their second shut out of the season and have now lost 11 straight. Aaron Heisey, the Wildcats leading scorer on the year, was in the net as their seventh goalie this season. Heisey played well against a lot of good Hershey looks at the net.
     Logan Calhoun (3 goals, 3 assists), George Briggs (2 goals, 2 assists), and Joe Olives (3 goals) had nice days on attack while they were on h field for Hershey.

CARLISLE 12 STATE COLLEGE 4
- Carlisle's last hurdle to their third straight appearance in the championship game was a road trip to play a quality opponent in State College. The long bus ride may have thrown the Herd off a bit as State College led 2-1 at the end of the first quarter and we were knotted up at 2 by the half. Then Coack Kidder's squad went to work. A 6-1 third quarter was followed by a 4-1 fourth quarter where Carlisle was able to pull away and capture the Commonwealth Division.
     As expected Max Breschi was heavily involved with 3 goals and 5 assists. Collin Wallace had another terrific day with 4 goals and 1 assist while Hunter Scott stepped into the role of third leading scorer with 3 goals and 1 assist. The Herd defense was locked in on Little Lion leading scorer Brady Frank as he was absent from scoring. Luc Michael could only manage one goal while Sam Schwab led SC with two scores.
   Carlisle will wrap up their season Monday against Mechanicsburg at home for their senior night. Then they prepare to try and repeat as champions against a Hershey squad they beat earlier in the season.

CHAMBERSBURG 9 PALMYRA 8
- Palmyra falls to 7-9 after another close loss. Chambersburg and Palmyra have had 1 point games the past four years where the home team has been the victor. The Cougars have now lost 7 games by a combined 11 goals. That is absolutely heart breaking. If they get over the hump in 3 or 4 of those games they have a serious shot at districts (currently ranked 27th). As it is now this is a season they will look back on think "what if."

    Chambersburg got the early edge going up 4-1 at the end of the first quarter and then 7-1 by halftime. Coach Gatano's boys dug in and played tough defense in the third to get the score to 7-2. The Cougars went on a scoring barrage in the final frame out scoring the Trojans 6-2. The games tied up at 8-8 with 50 seconds left when a Sam Wasson save was taken away from Palmyra by push call. Nick Lombardozzi was able to finish a nice left handed shot to put Chambersburg up for good. Palmyra did have one last attempt with about 10 seconds left but could not connect.

   The Trojans were led by JT Hopple (4 goals and 1 assist) and Lombardozzi (3 goals). Chambersburg has now won three straight, four of their last five, and is a game above .500 aiming for a strong finish to the season. Joey Hess continued to score and feed for Palmyra with 2 goals and 2 assists on the day. Next up for Palmyra is Mechanicsburg on Saturday night for their senior day.

CUMBERLAND VALLEY 16 BISHOP MCDEVITT 10

- If your going off the records the Eagles should have walked away with this one early. No one told that to Coach Walters and the Crusaders as they gave CV everything they could handle early on. McDevitt was knocking on the door at the end of the first quarter only trailing 4-3. The Eagles opened things up in the second quarter taking an 11-5 lead. McDevitt did everything they could to fight back winning the third 3-2 but didn't have enough to make this one close at the end.

    Coach Bogazyck's team was led again by Rod Jamieson (4 goals, 3 assists) and Tommy Lehman (5 goals, 1 assist). Both those players are having excellent second halls of the season. The a Crusaders were led by Chrisitian Fairfax and Griffin Hanes who each had 3 goals on McDevitt senior night.

     Cumberland Valley sits at 15 for the district playoffs and will need to win out in order to control their destiny. They finish the season at home on Tuesday against a tough Northern York team. They have won three out of their last four and are in a good position for a playoff birth.

TRINITY 19 CD EAST 1
- Trinity's senior night got off to a bang and never seemed to stop. Going up 6-0 in the first they were able to continue to pour it on leading 17-0 headed in the fourth quarter. A whopping 15 players were involved in their scoring with sophomore Jesse Altmeyer having the high point total on the day with 1 goal and 8 assists. Junior midfielder CJ Sherlock had 3 goals and crafty left handed attackman Kyle Scott had 2 goals and 2 assists.Shawn Stickle was able to prevent the shutout with a fourth quarter goal for East.
    The Shamrocks will have a couple challenging games in West York and Central Dauphin in the next five days to prepare them for their third straight district playoff appearance. Will this be the year they get their first district win and possibly play for a state playoff appearance?
    CD East is in serious danger of not winning a game this season with Northern, Palmyra, and Mifflinburg left on the schedule.

STANDINGS
Commonwealth Division

TEAM	LEAGUE	OVERALL
*Carlisle	11-0	13-2
Trinity	8-2	12-2
Cumberland Valley	7-4	10-7
State College	7-4	8-7
Chambersburg	5-5	7-6
Northern York	4-4	6-7
Mechanicsburg	1-9	2-12

Keystone Division

TEAM	LEAGUE	OVERALL
*Hershey	9-1	13-2
Central Dauphin	6-4	9-5
Lower Dauphin	4-7	6-8
Palmyra	2-8	7-9
Bishop McDevitt	2-8	3-12
CD East	0-10	0-14

*Division Champion

MID PENN PREVIEW - 5/01/14

CARLISLE (12-2) at STATE COLLEGE (8-6) 4:00PM
- Carlisle can lock up the Commonwealth and trip to the Mid Penn Championship game on May 8th with a win at State College this afternoon. The Little Lions will represent the last hurdle for Coach Kidders squad in an effort to repeat as MP champs and get to the title game.
     The Herd has been on a mission all season and they should be able to achieve one of their many goals today. With only Mechanicsburg waiting on Monday we expect Carlisle to keep or move up from their number six district ranking as well. As with previous games we know Max Breschi will be involved in scoring and it is just a matter of who else (between Mundell, Faller, and Wallace) steps up into the lead score role. Ewell and Bowser should play well today in an effort to stay sharp for the post season.
    State College was on the cusp two weeks ago of making a serious run at the Commonwealth after an eye opening 15-4 victory over Northern York. At the same time Carlisle had beat Trinity and the State College vs Carlisle game had the look of an MPC semi-final. Trinity however spoiled SC's hopes by beating them 10-5 (out scoring the Lion's 5-1 in the 4th quarter) on April 22nd. Glimmers of hope still exist for both SC and Trinity if the Lions can pull off the upset here today. Look for Luc Michaels and Brady Franks to again lead the Lions offense.
   

HERSHEY (12-2) at MECHANICSBURG (2-11) 4:30PM
- Hershey would officially seal up the Keystone Division with a win at Mechanicsburg today. That's the headline in this one. In reality it feels like Hershey sealed up the division back in March as they have steadily carved their way through the Mid Penn with one exception. Mechanicsburg looks to be their next victim as these are two programs at two very different stages.
     We fully expect George Briggs, Jake Wilson, and Logan Calhoun to have good days on attack for the Trojans. These three all have legitimate stats to be first team all conference and/or League MVP. The truth is they probably all hurt one another's chances by being on the same team. Look for Sickler and Kondracki to play tough on defense as well.
     For the Wildcats looking to improve and build for the future should be their focus the rest of the way. Their are some talented under classmen on their roster who have been getting a lot of experience as of late. Goalie issues and changes continue to be a concern as they have now started six different keepers. We expect senior's Eddie Martin, Aaron Heisey, Donnie Houseal, and sophmore Sam Shipman to factor in on scoring. Sophomore stand out long-pole Reagan Pritchett will have his hands full on defense.

PALMYRA (7-8) at CHAMBERSBURG (6-6) 7:00PM
- If you are chasing a .500 or better season these are must wins for both squads. Palmyra has had a long list of close losses this year and is going to miss districts because of it. Mentally they have to get over the hump and close out a tight game and Chambersburg represents an excellent opportunity to do that on the road.
     The Trojans have been up and down this season with some strong wins and curious losses. They have completely bounced back from their four game losing streak to win three out of four. They have a very difficult end of season schedule which starts today with the Cougars followed by Hershey and Trinity. Look for Nick Lombardozzi, Jake Pierson, and JT Hopple to continue to lead on offense. The Trojans love to isolate and dodge from the top and all three of these players can hurt you from there.
     Palmyra has weapons of their own highlighted by top MP scorer Joey Hess. Hess's role has changed this season as he is now more of a distributor from the X position and Nick Mazzocca is the beneficiary with an impressive 29 goals. Hess has an impressive 30 goals (tied for 5th in the league) 31 assists (2nd in the league) and is one of two players to be in the top 5 in both categories (the other is Hershey's Calhoun). He sits at second in Mid Penn scoring with 61 total points and is making a strong case for league MVP. Sam Wasson is also off to a great statistical year as he leads the MP in saves with 163 total saves, 32 more than second place.


CUMBERLAND VALLEY (9-7) at BISHOP MCDEVITT (3-11) 7:00PM
- With the district seeding results through Monday the Eagles are the last team in at number 16. After a big win against Lower Dauphin they are poised to finish out the season very strong and get in. They can not afford a misstep on the road today against the Crusaders and then will have a must win at home against Northern on Tuesday.
    We expect Coach Bogazyck's boys to get the W today with the continued strong play of Tommy Lehman (36 goals) and Nick Zumbrun (27 goals) on offense. Nic Brown is becoming a stand out goalie as he has 117 saves on the year (4th in the Mid Penn) all while having missed significant time to injury and competition for his starting spot.
    The Crusaders have been improving and the Haines brothers, Jackson (16 goals) and Griffin (20 goals), have become a force. Senior Nick Suknaic (21 goals) is looking to cap off his career and what better way to do that than an upset of CV. Coach Walters team has been having a difficult time as of late losing four of their last five and has a very difficult end of season schedule with CV today followed by Lower Dauphin and Northern next week.

CD EAST (0-13) at TRINITY (11-2) 7:00PM
- The Shamrocks may be more interested in the State College verses Carlisle game today at 4:00pm than they are in their own match up with the Panthers tonight. Any hope Trinity has at the Mid Penn Championship rests squarely on the Little Lions shoulder's. Trinity has all but locked up a third consecutive district birth as they are currently ranked 7th.
      The Panthers represent an interesting reunion as both Trinity Head Coach Dave Heisey and Head Assistant DJ Healey were once CD East's head coaches. Each had success in the position as you might expect. The Panthers of today are quite different and one has to wonder were the program is headed. Senior Chrystian Hess and Will Gingrich are talented and represent what is possible. Getting their young players more involved in the Central Dauphin area youth program, meant for both the Rams and Panthers, would be a good first step.
     Tonight is senior night for Trinity adding some extra incentive for the Shamrocks. They are a team with a lot of scoring threats as they have 4 players with 20 or more goals, and 6 players with 15 or more. Their leading point scorer is rising star sophomore Jesse Altmeyer who has 37 points (17 goals, 20 assists). Altmeyer is an excellent facilitator from X and we only expect him to get better with time.


CENTRAL DAUPHIN (9-5) at NORTHERN YORK (6-7) 7:30PM
* POSTPONED UNTIL 5/02
- Northern has had a ton of games rescheduled this year due to inclement weather (which is unavoidable) but also due to not wanting to damage the grass on Bostic Field. Trinity has had similar issues at COBO. We are not sure what the solution here is but it is becoming clear that school's/AD's overly concerned with grass conditions need to find alternate solutions. Northern will have 4 games in 5 days which is a very difficult way to end the season for a team hoping to make districts.

- The final game of the day is one of the best games of the day with a lot on the line. The Mid Penn Championship is not a possibility for either squad but districts is. Each team would need a win here as they are both (CD is 17th, Northern 27th) on the outside looking in. A loss for Northern would end their long shot hope to get in. CD needs to take advantage of quality win opportunities today at Northern and Monday at home against Trinity.
     Northern has be resurgent winning four straight. Due to weather and field issues early in the season they must finish out with four games in seven days. They need a win here and Monday against CV for quality of opponent strength wins. Look for their offense to continue to be one led by committee with Grant Rutter (18 goals), Derek Myers (18), Sam Haak (17), and Zach Martich (14) all being capable scorers.
    The Rams have won seven out of their last eight to turn around a 2-4 start. Coach Driscoll is our choice for Mid Penn Coach of the Year if he can pull off a win today and than Monday against rival in the making Trinity. The Rams offense is also similarly one with a few different scoring options.Specifically Eli Hudson (24 goals), Nate Beard (21), and Colton Nye (23). They also have a very strong defensive unit with Scott Kelly in the net.