MID-PENN PREVIEW 4/1

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

*RESCHEDULED FROM 3/31

The Eagles have been on an absolute tear to start the season out scoring their opponents 36-10. They travel to Carlisle to face the defending Commonwealth Champion Thundering Herd Wednesday night. Carlisle has had two one goal games already and looks more vulnerable than in seasons past. This will be a critical game for both team's Mid-Penn Championship hopes. For the Herd, Drew Amsley and George Faller will need to keep pace with CV's high powered offense. John Miller, Rod Jamieson, Steve Peters, and CJ Sherlock are all capable scorers. We expect to see Carlisle look to control possessions and the clock in an effort to slow CV down and take them out of rhythm.

TRINITY (3-0) AT LOWER DAUPHIN (1-3)

Both the Shamrocks and the Falcons are playing back to back but under very different circumstances. For the Rocks it is after a 17-0 victory with East, for the Falcons after a 7-8 road loss to State College. LD has been in tight games with four very good teams to start the season and we expect that trend to continue at home Wednesday night. Garrett Schug will aim to lead the Falcons offensive attack. Trinity has played very well to open the season out scoring their opponents 39-9 in the first three games. A well balanced offense has a number of weapons who can hurt you. 

CENTRAL DAUPHIN (2-1) AT BISHOP MCDEVITT (0-3)

McDevitt comes off their second one goal loss of the season to Mechanicsburg and has a big Keystone Division matchup with the Rams. CD has won two straight including an OT victory over Chambersburg. Damien Koussis and Chris Martin will be heavily featured for CD as the Crusaders will look to answer with Cole Bevan, Nick Lokitis and Griffin Hanes.

* McDevitt is hosting an ORANGE FOR OWEN NIGHT to help raise funds and awareness for prevention of distracted drivers. Attendees are asked to wear orange. More information on the cause here: http://orange4owen.org/

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 3/25

LAMPETER STRASBURG 12 BISHOP MCDEVITT 5

The Crusaders were unable to bounce back from Tuesday nights loss and fall to a quality opponent in the Pioneers. Stifling defense and a one two combo of  Max Warmingham (4 goals, 2 assists) and Nate Patterson (4,1) led LS through out the game. At the end of the first trailing 3-1 McDevitt couldn't claw back and some costly penalties put them further behind. Junior Nick Lokitis led the Crusaders with 3 goals on the night.

MID-PENN PREVIEW 3/25

LAMPETER STRASBURG VS BISHOP MCDEVITT (7:00PM)

Our lone Wednesday game will see the Crusaders looking to bounce back quickly after last nights difficult loss to Chambersburg. The Pioneers come from the Lancaster-Lebanon League and should provide another test for a McDevitt program looking to be on the rise. 

Finishing 8-8 last season and 30th in District III Lampeter has a lot of returning starters. Brine All-American and LL First Team FOGO Teddy Mazaheri will look to get the ball to 2nd Team LL selections Nate Patterson and Max Warmingham on attack. There defense is anchored by LL Honorable Mentions Dylan Garret and Marco Pettica in the net.

For the Crusaders look for more of Sophomore standout Griffin Hanes and Junior attack-man Nick Lokitis. Senior midfielder Brendan McNulty will add to the offensive firepower. A solid defense led by Junior goal keeper Tommy Sweeney should help them rise to the task.

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

MID PENN REPORT - 5/8/14

(UPDATE)
District III playoff brackets are set and can be found here: PIAA DISTRICT 3 PLAYOFFS

CENTRAL DAUPHIN 6 TRINITY 5

- This was a must win for the Rams to keep hope alive for a district playoff birth. Currently ranked 18th (behind #17 CV and #16 York Suburban) the Rams must now wait until the committee releases the final seedings later today. A quality win over #7 Trinity gives Coach Driscoll's teams a serious shot at getting in. The Rams have now won eight of their final ten games and placed second in the Keystone Division for the second straight season. A remarkable season and turn around for CD.
     For Trinity this loss ends a six game win streak where they were on an absolute tear. Historically the Shamrocks have had difficulties with Rams going 1-4 over the past four seasons. Coach Heisey's squad will still have decent district seeding but a win last night would have bumped them up into a less difficult opening match-up.
     The defensive tone in this one was started early. Austin Bailey and Scott Kelly led both their respective defenses to first quarter shut outs. Rarely would a scoreless first be of benefit to one team verses the other but given the fact that Rams had concerns keeping up with Trinity's high powered offense the 0-0 tie was good news for CD. Mitch Kleist would open the scoring for Trinity off a feed from Jesse Altmeyer (2 goals, 1 assist) early in the second and the goal for goal battle had begun. We would end the half 3-3 as CJ Sherlock (1 goal)  hit a shot with time about to expire. CD was able to get separation in the third quarter off  Carson Wolford (2 goals) and Nate Beard (3 goals) scores.
    Entering the final frame Beard was again able to score giving the Rams a 6-4 lead and letting their defense carry them the rest of the way. Connor Bailey (1 goal, 1 assist) was able to score off a Kyle Scott feed with under two minutes remaining and the excitement had reached a peak. Trinity was able to gain possession of the ball with under 10 seconds and called a timeout to set up their play. A last second shot sailed wide and the Rams were able to celebrate and keep hope alive for one more day (at least).
     Both these teams have had excellent regular seasons and are good enough to make runs in districts. Coaches Heisey and Driscoll are two of the best in the Mid Penn and both deserve serious recognition for coach of the year honors.

NORTHERN YORK 8 BISHOP MCDEVITT 5

- The Polar Bears were able to make it eight straight wins to finish the season at 10-7. McDevitt did not make it easy for them to keep the streak alive but this talented senior group at Northern wanted to make a statement win in their last game. Currently ranked 20th we do not see enough movement in front of the Polar Bears for them to get into districts but that should not take away from a very good season.
     The Crusaders were able to get out to an early 1-0 lead at the end of the first quarter and showed they would not back down to the winning streak. Northern was able to regroup and shake off some of the rust a jam packed end of season schedule had put on them and out score McDevitt 6-1 through the end of the third. McDevitt and their tightly bonded senior class continued to fight but came up a bit short. A competitive game and a sign that the Crusaders were on the way up as the season concluded.
      Northern was led by Zach Martich (2 goals, 3 assists) who again showed how unselfish he is with the ball. Derek Myers (2 goals) and Luke Lyons (2 goals) were also leading scorers. It is great to see Lyons back on the field and producing as a knee injury cost him much of his senior season. The Crusaders again saw senior Jackson Hanes at the top of their scorers sheet with 2 goals. Jackson will now pass the torch to his younger brother Griffin and the rest of the Crusaders under class man.
      

HERSHEY 14 STATE COLLEGE 2

- Hershey has now won five straight to end the regular season and is poised for a great post season run. Their last district ranking had them at 5th and in good position to get the two wins needed for a state playoff birth. The Trojans are in an advantageous spot as they have played two quality opponents in Chambersburg (5/6) and State College (5/7) and looked very sharp. Carlisle on the other hand played Mechanicsburg (5/5) and will have had a lot of time to wait for Saturdays game. Momentum is a funny thing and with both teams being led by excellent coaches we are sure they will make the most of their situations leading into the game.
     Jake Wilson was dominant all day for the Trojans as he led all scorers with 6 goals and 3 assists. Wilson will end the season as the leading goal scorer for the Mid Penn at 48. Logan Calhoun continued his strong play with 3 goals and 1 assist and senior LSM Dave Sickler was able to find the net with 2 goals of his own. Calhoun caps a great senior year with 46 goals and 26 assists for 72 points (3rd in Mid Penn total points). Dave Sickler's all around game is remarkable at LSM and a lot of times stats don't show the full picture. Even still Sickler was continually a threat to score in transition and managed 8 goals on the season. A talented senior class looks to recapture the Mid Penn title for Hershey and make a solid run in districts and beyond.
    For State College it was a difficult end to the regular season. Brady Franks and PJ Bachman were each able to score but they were over matched all afternoon. Franks will finish as the Little Lions leading scorer with 29 goals on the season. State College was in an excellent position a few weeks ago to contend for the Commonwealth Division but dropping five of their last six cost them a shot at a lot including a winning record.

STANDINGS
Commonwealth Division

TEAM	LEAGUE	OVERALL
*Carlisle	12-0	14-2
Trinity	9-3	14-3
Northern York	8-4	10-7
Cumberland Valley	7-5	10-8
State College	7-5	8-9
Chambersburg	5-7	8-8
Mechanicsburg	1-11	2-15

Keystone Division

TEAM	LEAGUE	OVERALL
*Hershey	11-1	16-2
Central Dauphin	7-5	10-6
Lower Dauphin	5-7	7-9
Palmyra	4-8	9-9
Bishop McDevitt	2-10	3-14
CD East	0-12	0-16

MID PENN PREVIEW - 5/7/14

Final night of regular season play in the Mid Penn!
*Games played through tonight qualify for District III Playoff Rankings

TRINITY (14-2) at CENTRAL DAUPHIN (9-6) 7:00PM
- As the years move on rivalries start to develop in unexpected places. CD verse Trinity is definitely becoming one of those. The Rams bested the Shamrocks twice in 2013 including knocking them out in a great first round game of last years district playoffs 8-6. Trinity will look to return the favor as CD is currently ranked 18th in district seeding and most likely needs a win in their final game at home tonight to get in.
     Trinity has been on an absolute tear as of late aiming to close the season out with seven straight wins and put themselves in an excellent spot to make some serious noise in districts and possibly beyond. They have a number of players who can score and we are going to simply list them by name Bailey(25 goals), Sherlock(27), Altmeyer (22), Kleist (22), and Scott (34). That kind of production from five players is unmatched in the Mid Penn. Senior poles Hickey, Behnke, and Whiteman have led a very underrated defense that will make it difficult for CD to keep pace.
    The Rams had won seven of eight games until a one goal lose (7-6) at Northern York on Friday. A tremendous mid season turn around hangs on the brink as they could miss out on the post season if they suffer a loss tonight. Coach Driscoll must find a way for his offense to produce enough scoring to give his defense and goal keeper Scott Kelly a chance to win. Look for Colton Nye, Eli Hudson, and Nate Beard to continue to be the focal point of their offensive game plan.

STATE COLLEGE (8-8) at HERSHEY (15-2) 4:00PM
- Hershey is in an advantageous situation for Saturdays game in that they will have played two quality opponents in Chambersburg (last night) and State College tonight to stay sharp for the MPC. Carlisle on the other hand played Mechancisburg on Monday and will not have had a game in 4 days in the lead up for the title game. Most teams would rather stay active and in rhythm and that is just what Hershey aims to do in their final regular season game.
    Hershey will look to senior attackman Logan Calhoun and Joe Olives to lead the scoring from the attack with Karl VanBlargen on the midfield. Finishing the season with five straight wins will give them a lot of momentum headed into the post season.
     For State College a 7-4 season with a shot at the Commonwealth title has fallen apart as they have lost four of their last five games. Brady Franks (29 goals) and Luc Michaels (26 goals) have been their 1-2 combo all year. Hershey's defense is to complete for a 2 man game to work so they will need to get more players involved if they hope to finish the season with a win.

BISHOP MCDEVITT (3-13) at NORTHERN YORK (9-7) 7:00PM
- Eight straight wins is a remarkable feet for any squad and Northern head coach Jeff Miller should be getting serious consideration for MP coach of the year after turning his squad around from a 2-7 start. The Polar Bears have played extremely well and have quality wins over CD and CV in their last two games. We expect Zach Martich to be heavily involved with the offense as a feeder while several scoring options in Haak, Myers, and Rutter look to find the back of the net.
    For the Crusaders they will need senior Nick Suknaic and Griffin and Jackson Hanes to to take over the scoring to have a shot at slowing down a good team at home.

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 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.

MID PENN REPORT - 4/30/14

 

CUMBERLAND VALLEY 13 LOWER DAUPHIN 4

- The Eagles got the needed win as they currently sit at 16 for the District III playoffs. It was slow going in the first quarter as CV was up 2-0 on the Falcons. The Eagles than hit another gear and separated to 7-1 by halftime. Coach Bogazyck's team would out score their opponent 6-3 in the second half.

    The Eagles were led on the day by two dominant performances. Tommy Lehman led CV with 5 goals and 3 assists while Rod Jamieson was close behind with 4 goals and 3 assists. Albert Gremmel would lead LD with 2 goals.

     CV needs to win their next two with Northern York and McDevitt to get in the payoffs. For Lower Dauphin any long shot hope they had is now gone. At 6-8 a .500 season would require wins  against Penn Manor and McDevitt to finish out the season.

 

CENTRAL DAUPHIN 14 BISHOP MCDEVITT 8

- The Rams have now won four in a row and seven out of their last eight.  At 9-5 they sit at 17 for the latest district rankings and must face a difficult Northern team on the road (5/01) and then they will close the season against a Trinity (5/06) team looking for payback after the Rams knocked them out of the first round of districts last season.

     CD was in control most of the afternoon leading 6-2 at the half. The Crusaders showed great fight in the third and fourth and continued to score. McDevitt looks like a team that if they can put four good quarters together they will be a tough out in the future.

     Colton Nye erupted for the Rams with 6 goals and 1 assist. Nate Beard was also a force with 4 goals and 1 assist. Jackson Haines and Nick Suknaic led the Crusaders with 2 goals and 1 assist by both players.

     McDevitt faces a difficult end of the season as they play CV and then must travel to Lower Dauphin and Northern York.

 

CARLISLE 16 PALMYRA 7

- Carlisle bounced back nicely from their loss to Hempfield with a solid inter conference road win against Palmyra. The Herd currently sits at sixth in the district rankings while the Cougars will be on the outside looking in currently ranked 26th.

     Carlisle only led 3-2 at the end of the opening frame but was able to gain some breathing room in the second and then open it up in third. At 13-5 headed into the fourth Palmyra had little hope against a staunch Herd defense.

      The Herds leading scorers were Collin Wallce (5 goals, 2 assists), Max Breschi (3 goals, 1 assist), and Jon Mundell (3 goals, 2 assists). In the offense by committee system  Wallace was the benefactor last night. Joey Hess (2 goals, 3 assists) would lead the Cougars again acting as a scorer and a distributor.

     Palmyra has now lost three straight in a difficult season. There three remaining games (Chambersburg, Mechanicsburg, and CD East) represent three winnable matches where they could potentially finish with 10 wins on the year.

 

STANDINGS

Commonwealth Division

TEAM	LEAGUE	OVERALL
Carlisle	10-0	12-2
Trinity	7-2	11-2
State College	7-3	8-6
Cumberland Valley	6-4	9-7
Northern York	4-4	6-7
Chambersburg	4-5	6-6
Mechanicsburg	1-8	2-11

 

Keystone Division

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

MID PENN PREVIEW - 4/29/14

STATE COLLEGE (8-6) at HERSHEY (12-2) 4:00PM
* Postponed due to weather
- The Little Lions come to Derry Township to play the Trojans in the early game today at 4:00pm. Having dropped two of their last three and facing Hershey and Carlisle back to back this week will be a defining moment for the Lions. Last week with an upset of Trinity they would have had a clear shot at Carlisle and the Commonwealth. After a 10-5 defeat by the Shamrocks and a loss to Bishop Shannon (15-3) they are hoping to pull off an upset and avoid a losing four out of five down the stretch.
     Brady Franks and Luc Michaels will continue to need to get Sam Schwab going to be an effective offense. The two man game won't work against superior teams like Hershey. And even if they get Schwab more involved, Franks and Michaels will need to produce to keep up on the score board. If State College can take notes from the Herd's dominant victory it is this, get controlled longer possession on offense and play great transitional lacrosse.
     For Hershey they have already bounced back nicely from the Carlilse game with a 13-6 defeat of Warwick and look to run the table with State College, Mechanicsburg, and Chambersburg all representing winnable games. Victories matter to the Trojans in order to move up from a 6 seed in districts. As far as stats go Coach Schein's attack is a very talented group. Jake Wilson is on the verge of a 50 goal season (47 goals) with George Briggs approaching 50 assists (49 currently). Logan Calhoun seems to be a blend of those two players with 40 goals and 19 assists. Keep an eye out for Dave Sickler in transition. An excellent LSM he demonstrates an uncanny knack for clearing the ball and isn't afraid to shoot.


BISHOP MCDEVITT (3-10) at CENTRAL DAUPHIN (7-5) 4:30PM
- CD is currently 17th in district rankings and this represents a must win for a Rams squad who is surging late. CD looks to push it to 7 wins out of their last 8 games (an 11-12 loss to CV was their only blunder) as they are in an excellent position to make the district playoffs. Two challenging games await them with Northern and Trinity after this. If the Rams can finish at 10-5 Coach Driscoll deserves serious consideration for Coach of the year in the Mid Penn. Look for CD to continue to play excellent defense and lean on leading scorers Eli Hudson (24 goals), Nate Beard (17 goals), and Colton Nye (17 goals) to run an offense by committee.
     After a 0-6 start the Crusaders have gone 3-4 and seem to be playing better. The question of course is will it be good enough to defeat a really good Rams squad? They must play great defense and their best game of the year offensively to get the W. LD showed that you can slow the rams offense down but you must be able to score to make this plan effective. Griffin Hanes is stepping into the spotlight (19 goals) with his brother Jackson (14 goals) close behind.

CARLISLE (11-2) at PALMYRA (7-7) 5:00PM
* Rescheduled from 4/23
- No rest for the weary. Both squads are coming off of disappointing Mondays for this rescheduled game. No one likes postponements especially when they must be squeezed in after a loss. Palmyra is the best 7-7 team out there and if anyone represents a Mid Penn loss threat to the Herd they are it. Carlisle is looking to not slip to far from their 2 seed for districts and this represents a must win if they want to set up a long and successful post season run.
     We always expect all time leading scorer Max Breschi to be involved for the Herd offense but after that there a plethora of good players who can hurt you await and it just depends on the given night. Faller (23 goals), Mundell (18 goals), and Amsley (18 goals) are capable scorers and extremely unselfish. On most other MP squads these three would be leading scorers with much higher goal totals. Clearly Carlisle has  great team first attitude and all four of the aforementioned players are much more satisfied with wins than goals.
     Joey Hess will need to get more involved in the scoring. There is little doubt the Herd defense will focus on him. If he is to be a truly dominant MP player he needs to rise above the defensive game plan and will his way, and his team, to goals and victory. Nick Mazzocca had been a nice compliment to Hess but is now tied with him as the leading scorers with 28 goals. Sam Wasson should also be a real concern for Carlilse as he is an excellent goalie with the capability of taking over the game.

LOWER DAUPHIN (6-7) at CUMBERLAND VALLEY (8-7) 5:30PM
* Game time has been changed to 5:30pm (from 7:00pm)
- CV currently sits at 15 in district seeding with LD back at 27. It's probably to far back for the Falcons to get in. The Eagles are in must win mode to maintain their top 16 status.
     LD had been on tear winning six of their last eight until a heartbreaking defensive battle with CD ended 4-3. If they want to be a contender in the Keystone and Mid Penn beating CV would serve as notice that this squad is not be taken lightly. A .500 season is well with in reach and a win here would set that up as a relative sure thing. Mike Mattis has an excellent shot and can score from a variety of spots. He will garner a lot of attention from the Eagle defense tonight. If he can get free or find the open man LD should have success. Garrett Schug is the number two scorer with 16 goals and Coach Vickory will need him and others to step up in this one.
     The Eagles four game winning streak seems a long time ago as they have now lost three of four games making this a very up and down year for Coahc Boagzyck and crew. All three of those losses came out of conference and we applaud CV for taking shots against difficult opponents to improve their team and make a stronger case for districts. Against Mid Penn opponents they have won four straight and a win here would set up an excellent end of season finish in conference play. We expect Nick Zumbrum (31 goals) and Tommy Lehman (27 goals) to continue to play well on offense. Logan Fazakerly (26 goals) has slowed down a bit on attack for the Eagles and we imagine they are hoping to get him back in rhythm and more involved. Nic Brown has been excellent in goal since taking the starting position coming off his injury. We expect him and Justin Guevarez to be large factors in this game all night.
 
CHAMBERSBURG (6-6) at TRINITY (11-2) 7:00PM
* Postponed to 5/5/14

MID PENN REPORT - 4/25 AND 4/26

4/25
West York 18 Bishop McDevitt 3
- The Crusaders had their work cut out for them on Friday night at home against 13-1 West York. The bulldogs wasted little time getting out to a 6-2 first quarter lead and extending that to 14-2 by the half. They would go into cruise control the rest of the way. Clauser would lead West York with 7 goals and 1 assist followed by Roehm's 4 goals and 2 assists.
    Coach Walters squad has been playing up and down .500 ball over their last six games and will have a challenging four Mid Penn teams waiting for them to finish the season. CD, CV, LD, and Northern await and win number four may be difficult to achieve. Griffin Hanes, Suknaic, and Lokitus all scored a goal on the day.

4/26
Danville 14 Mechanicsburg 5
- It was senior day for the Wildcats and Coach Brisbane's team was hopeful the festivities would allow them to come out strong, something they have struggled with this season. A closer than the score first quarter saw the Iron Men up 5-2. The Cats would continue to try and claw back into the game but a 10-3 halftime score offered little promise for an offense that has struggled to find the back of the net. A goalie change for the Wildcats allowed sophomore Andrew Butz to get in the net where played well grabbing 9 saves. Senior attackman Quinn Dolan had one of his better days of the season with 2 goals.
    With Chambersburg, Hershey, Palmyra, and Carlisle all on the upcoming schedule in the next 9 days the Cats will need to dig deep and improve on both sides of the ball.

Central Dauphin 12 Cedar Crest 8
- CD has now won 5 of their last 6 only allowing 28 goals in that span.  With East and McDevitt coming up we expect them to continue the hot play in time to prepare for two difficult games with Northern and Trinity.
     This game was very close in the first and second quarter with each teaming score 2 and 4 goals in those respective quarters. The second half belonged to the Rams as they would out score Cedar Crest 3-1 in each quarter. Eli Hudson would lead all scorers with 4 goals on the day.

Hershey 13 Warwick 6
-Hershey bounces back from losing 2 of their last 3 and should finish strong with State College, Mechanicsburg, and  Chamberbsurg left on their schedule. How well they use the lessons they learned in their two losses for the Mid Penn Championship game and districts will be what we keep an eye on over the next two weeks.
     The Trojans were back to their old selves staying in control of this game all afternoon. After a 5-1 opening quarter they were able to close this one out by the half with a 9-2 lead.  George Briggs (3 goals, 3 assists), Jake Wilson (3 goals, 3 assists), and Logan Calhoun (4 goals, 2 assists) got back in rythm on attack for Hershey leading the team all day.

Epharta 16 Cumberland Valley 8
- CV was able to hang with the 12-4 Mountaineers in the early goings Saturday only trailing 4-3 at the end of the first quarter. Epharta would pull away with a 8-2 score differential in the 2nd and 3rd quarters to take the game. This was an excellent out of conference test for the Eagles and their opponents winning percentage should help them when it comes to district seeding.
     Nick Zumbrum continued his great play with 4 goals and 1 assist. The Eagles were ranked 15th in the last district playoff standings and have three winnable MP games to close out the season with LD, McDevitt, and Northern.

STANDINGS
Commonwealth Division

TEAM	LEAGUE	OVERALL
Carlisle	9-0	11-1
Trinity	7-2	11-2
State College	7-3	8-5
Cumberland Valley	5-5	8-7
Northern York	3-4	4-7
Chambersburg	3-5	4-6
Mechanicsburg	1-7	2-10

Keystone Division

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

MID PENN PREVIEW - 4/25/14

WEST YORK (12-1) at BISHOP MCDEVITT (3-9) 6:30PM
- The Crusaders will look to win four of their last six against West York. The Crusaders could be in for a long afternoon as West York has the look of one of the better teams in District III. The Bulldogs have yet to play any Mid Penn teams so we only have their York opponents to really go off of. They look like a team that can score and can play good defense winning their last four by a score of 62-28.
    Coach Walter will continue to look for scoring from multiple offensive options including the Hans brothers, Griffins and Jackson, and senior attackman Nick Suknaic.

MID PENN REPORT - 4/25/13

CARLISLE 10 HERSHEY 6

- There was a definite buzz in the air last night as the Thundering Herd and Trojans warmed up to take the field. One couldn't help but notice that there was also a strong feeling that this was the appetizer to the main course a few weeks away, the Mid Penn Championship game. These two teams have consistently been the elite squads in the Mid Penn the last 3 seasons and it has felt like they were on a collusion course for a rubber match in the title game at seasons end. Carlisle's impressive 10-6 victory all but seals their third straight meeting for the title.

     If we had told you one of these squads would jump out to a 5-0 lead many of you, if your being honest, would have guessed Hershey. We all would have been wrong. Carlisle set the tone for the evening early with two long offensive possessions and an eventual goal by Drew Amsley. They would continue this trend through out the first quarter possessing the ball for the vast majority of time and getting goals from Mundell, Breschi, and Wallace to go up 5-0. That opening quarter would go on to define the game as the Trojans could never pull it back with in 3 scores. Hershey did manage to score towards the end of the first quarter on a goal from Joe Olives.

      Hershey's LSM Dave Sickler is a phenomenal athlete. Even to the novice fan you can tell #22 has a special skill set. Excellent speed, athleticism, and ball handling make him a tremendous threat. He went end to end on a beautiful one man clear to get Hershey back in the game at 5-2. Carlisle would snatch away any momentum with another Amsley goal to get up 6-2. Hunter Scott would follow with his first score of the evening and the Herd had a comfortable lead at 7-2. A window of opportunity opened for the Trojans when Drew Amsley would receive a 3 minute locked in penalty for a hit to the head. We expected to see a lot more from their offense but the Herd's defense had what might have been their best stand of the season allowing only one score to Karl Van Blargen and again snatching away momentum. We went into the second half 7-3.

       Carlisle would get the opening score of the second half on an impressive dodge and shoot from midfielder Jon Mundell. Jake Wilson got involved for the Trojans to bring the score back with in four at 8-4. Yet again Carlisle did not allow Hershey to get confident as Mundell dodged and fed George Faller for his first goal of the night. 

     The final frame started 9-4 Herd. Coach Schein's team had a sense of urgency which was led by Jake Wilson getting two more scores before the half way point in the foruth quarter to make it 9-6 and you could feel some worry in the home crowd. Hunter Scott had a great one on one take from GLE to make the score 10-6 and Hershey's time was running out. Mark Bowser stopped a flurry of late shots to complete a stand out performance. Bowser was a huge factor in this game all evening.

     Coach Kidder had an excellent game plan all night and used clock management and good transition play to never allow Hershey to get in rhythm. The Trojans never really seemed comfortable on the offensive end and these struggled bled into other parts of their game. Both teams will see each other on a bigger stage shortly. It will be interesting to see what lessons were learned here last night and who improves the most because of it. Remember, Hershey defeated Carlisle 8-7 in the regular season last year only to lose 12-8 in the MP final.

     

CENTRAL DAUPHIN 4 LOWER DAUPHIN 3

- If you wanted great defense from two teams looking to move up the Keystone ranks than this one was for you. 0-0 at the end of the first quarter let you know it would be a tightly contested game with a strong emphasis on net minders Scott Kelly for the Rams and Justin Guevarez for the Falcons.

    CD was able to get the edge by the half 1-1 and then get a head 3-2 by the end of the 3rd. Normally in lacrosse, especially high school boys, 1 goal leads in the 4th quarter are nothing to feel comfortable about. With this game being such a low scoring affair any type of lead was clearly welcomed. Each club would score a goal a piece and the Rams would sneak one out on the road.

      A loss is going to hurt but LD has clearly established they are much better team than in previous seasons and are moving up the ranks of the Mid Penn. The Rams will take sole possession of second place in the division at 6-5 and have now won four of their last five games and have an outside shot at the district playoffs (ranked 23rd). LD suffers a setback but is ranked 26th for districts. They would need to play very well the rest of the way and catch some breaks to get in.

TRINITY 15 MECHANICSBURG 1

- It's been tough sledding for the Cats in 2014. A new coaching regime brought a lot of optimism to Mechanicsburg and while improvements have been made the W-L record has stayed the same. The loss of senior goalie Joe Becker has been well documented but the Wildcats continued to fight all year. Yesterday saw their fifth goalie take the field this season in Senior Eddie Martin. Martin has been Johnny on the spot this year playing all 4 positions (attack, midfielder, long-pole, and now goalie) in the past 2 games. He is a tremendous athlete and showed that yesterday by making some great saves and shutting out Trinity in the second quarter.

    Trinity was in charge all day and the stat sheet shows it. 10 different players were involved in the scoring with Jesse Altmeyer making his presence firmly felt as a distributor (2 goals, 5 assists). Senior Connor Bailey would lead all goal scoring with 3. Trinity's defense was on the cusp of a shut out until Aaron Hesiey was able to hit a hard outside shot. Trinity senior defensive middie Matt Gregoire was able to net his first career goal. Yesterdays win marks 3 straight victories for Coach Heisey's team out scoring their opponents 41-11 in that span. With a district ranking of 7 they still have some challenging games with Chambersburg and CD remaining but they appear to be district playoff bound.

NORTHERN YORK 10 CHAMBERSBURG 6

- This was a matchup between two teams looking to continue move up in the Commonwealth and show that they were better than their records. The Trojans have been up and down all season while the Polar Bears came out of a tough mid season stretch losing 5 straight to put together back to back wins.

   Northern would get a slight edge early in a defensive battle by going up 4-1 at the half. A quite third quarter had Coach Miller's Polar Bears up 5-2 and getting some space. A flurry of action followed in the fourth as Northern was able to out score Chambersburg 5-4 in the final frame and get the 10-6 victory.

     Sam Haak (3 goals), Grant Rutter (3 goals, 1 assist), and Zach Martich (1 goal, 5 assists) all had excellent games for Northern. JT Hopple would lead the Trojans with 3 goals and 1 assist while leading scorers Nick Lombardozzi and Jake Pierson were held to just 1 goal and 1 assist combined. It is clear Northern had an excellent game plan for these two players. 

STATE COLLEGE 11 PALMYRA 9

- Oh to be Palmyra... They are 7-6 on the year and if you remove the Hershey loss they have lost 5 games by a combined 9 goals... ouch. As of now Coach Gatano's Cougars sit at number 18 in the district power rankings so nothing is over for this club. State College continues their upward trend winning 3 of their last 4 games and sitting at 8-5.

     With a 6-2 Little Lion lead at the half Palmyra had to fight back throw out the final two quarters. The Cougars would out score the Lions 3-2 in the third and 4-3 in the fourth but it was to little to late. In a very surprising stat line both Brady Franks and Luc Michaels were absent and State College was led by Sam Schwab's 5 scores. Nick Mazzocca continues to play well for the Cougars and had 3 goals.

BISHOP MCDEVITT 18 CD EAST 6

- The Crusaders have now won 3 of 5 and seem to be turning things around in the second half of the season. By far their highest offensive out put of the season, it was a good win for Coach Walter's team and should be a confidence booster for things moving forward. Ten different McDevitt players were able to score with Griffin Hanes and Nick Suknaic each scoring 4 goals.

      CD East was led by Chrisitian Hess and his 4 scores. At this point the Panthers have some serious issues that can only be addressed by long term solutions. It will be interesting to see how they move forward and what improvements they are able to make by the end of the season and during the off season.

STANDINGS

Commonwealth Division

TEAM	LEAGUE	OVERALL
Carlisle	9-0	11-1
Trinity	7-2	11-2
State College	7-3	8-5
Cumberland Valley	5-4	8-6
Northern York	3-4	5-6
Chambersburg	3-5	4-6
Mechanicsburg	1-7	2-9

Keystone Division

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