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

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 - 5/4/14

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.

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.

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 - 4/25/13

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

MID PENN PREVIEW - 4/24/14

PALMYRA (7-5) at STATE COLLEGE (7-5) 4:00PM

- The Cougars were to play Carlisle at home on Tuesday but lightening ultimately forced a cancellation making it a full week since they had a Mid Penn opponent (they beat Cocalico 16-9 on Monday). If they want to improve their district playoff chances (Currently 23) this would be an excellent opportunity for them to do so. Joey Hess continues to have a great season with nearly even stats on goals and assist (27-24). Nick Mazzacco is firmly established as a second scoring option with 23 goals on the season. Sam Wasson is showing tremendous ability in the net with 130 saves on the year and with good goal keeping the Cougars are able to stay in any game.

    State College crept out of nowhere into second place in the Commonwealth division last week. They were only trailing Trinity 5-4 headed into the fourth quarter on Tuesday and had a great opportunity to make some serious noise. That game got a way from them 10-5 and they must regroup quickly for the Cougars. The story remains the same on their offense as they are led by Brady Franks (27 goals) and Luc Michaels (23 goals). The danger for them is their next leading scorer is at 9 goals and good defenses will key in on their 1-2 combo.

TRINITY (10-2) at MECHANICSBURG (2-8) 4:15PM

- Coach Heisey and the Rocks bounced back nicely from their two game skid with a great fourth quarter win over State College on Tuesday. They look to keep the momentum building as they will travel to Mechanicsburg to play a struggling Wildcats squad. With Trinity's tough defense and a compliment of offensive weapons we suspect they will be in control of this one. Look for Kleist, Scott, and Altmeyer to be very active on attack with Sherlock and Bailey continuing to add to their stats from the Midfield. Trinity must keep their eye on the prize as they are in control of their district destiny and also not completely out of the Commonwealth hunt.

    The Cats are continuing to work hard and fight for all four quarters. Goalie issues have plagued them since losing senior Joe Becker and they are a program looking to grow this year. Aaron Heisey is a fast player with a great outside shot and we have seen some nice development in from Sophmore Sam Shipman. Sophmore Regan Pritchett has the look of a future elite Mid Penn defender.

HERSHEY (11-1) at CARLISLE (10-1) 7:15PM

* Live twitter updates! www.twitter.com/harrsiburglax or @harrisburglax

- They do not get much bigger than this. Last years Commonwealth and Keystone Division champions square off in a Mid Penn Title game rematch. Last years title game belonged to Carlisle in a 12-8 victory over the Trojans handing them only their second loss of the season. Hershey had beaten the Herd 8-7 earlier in the 2013 regular season. This game will mark the 5th time the two teams have played one another in the past three season with Hershey holding a 3-1 lead (1-1 in MP Title games).
     The past is the past and these are two different teams taking the field tonight. Carlisle had much made of losing all three of their starting long poles but has shown they have a lot of talent waiting in the wings as their defense has been dominant most the year. Hershey's offense has continued to hum along as they are again one of the best in the region.
      Both squads suffered their first losses of the season in out of conference games this past Saturday. We fully expect to see both teams in the district playoffs and hopefully states. The likelihood of an early may rematch for the Mid Penn Title is strong as well.
     Hershey's attack group of Wilson, Briggs, and Calhoun will put the Herd defense, goal keeper Mark Bowser, and LSM Sid Ewell to the test. This is more than likely the most dominant offensive group they will have faced all season. Briggs is great at distributing the ball to cutters from X and the they can dodge from the midfield as well. We have seen other defenses take the Trojans out of rhythm and force turnovers so it will be very interesting to see how coach Schein and crew respond if things are not going exactly as they planned.
     Coach Kidder has offensive fire power to match his defense so we expect to see great lacrosse all over the field tonight. Look for Breshi and Faller to be involved through out the game. Dave Sickler has been a stand out defender for the Trojans with a tremendous presence on transition. Kyle Kondracki will anchor Hershey's excellent defense which is underrated due to the attention they get on offense.

CHAMBERSBURG (4-5) at NORTHERN YORK (4-6) 7:30PM
-Chambersburg had lost 4 straight games against Mid Penn opponents and many were questioning where they stood in the pecking order. A 20-5 trouncing of McDevitt answered that question to a certain degree. A better than their record Northern team will be an excellent test to see where both teams stand. Nick Lombardozzi (25 goals), Jake Pierson (24 goals), and JT Hopple (17 goals) offer three legitimate threats to the goal and should provide a lot for the Northern defense to handle.
    The Polar Bears are coming off an emotional Brisbane Cup victory and will need to move on quickly to get ready for the Trojans. Myers (13 goals), Haak (12 goals), Rutter (11 goals), and Sade (10 goals) are Northern's leading scorers and though they have not been overwhelming on offense they clearly have a lot of options to score. It should be noted senior midfielder Luke Lyons returned from his knee injury to play on Tuesday. He played sparingly and we do not know he is all the way back or if they got him in the lineup due to the importance of the Cup to so many of the players involved.


CENTRAL DAUPHIN (5-5) at LOWER DAUPHIN (6-6) 7:00PM
- How good are the Falcons? Are they the 2-6 squad that started the season or the team on a 4 game win streak out scoring their opponents 59-17? That question will have a much clearer answer as they get a very good Mid Penn opponent at home. Their is a definite buzz in the borough and LD looks to continue the momentum. In order to do that Mike Mattis will need to continue to play well leading the midfield with Justin Guevarez having another excellent game in the cage.
     The Rams had regrouped from a shaky start nicely winning three in a row but dropped a heart breaking 12-11 double overtime loss to CV on Tuesday. This is yet another team that will need to regain their focus and come ready to play. At this point LD demands to be taken seriously and Coach Driscoll will have his boys ready for the challenge. CD does not have a dominant leading scorer but Beard (19 goals), Hudson (15 goals), and Nye (15 goals) can all hurt you in a crafty offense.


CD EAST (0-11) at BISHOP MCDEVITT (2-9) 7:00PM
- This will be the Panthers last best chance at getting one in the win column. Difficult Mid Penn teams await further down the schedule and they will need to play very well here to avoid a dreaded win less season. The Panthers are led by midfielder Christian Hess who has found the goal 9 times this season. He'll need to have a great night here.
     The Crusaders looked like they had turned things around after an 0-6 start by winning two of three. A heart breaker to LCD and a blow out loss to Chambersburg has them looking to answer some questions. Coach Walter has continued to improve the program for the long term and we believe they will get their third win tonight at home. Nick Suknaic (14 goals), Griffin Hanes (14 goals), and Jackson Hanes (12 goals) all have a great opportunity to add to their stats and continue to develop the offense.

MID PENN REPORT - 4/23/14

CUMBERLAND VALLEY 12 CENTRAL DAUPHIN 11 (2OT)
- 1-3-3-4... That is the quarter by quarter scoring total for both teams in this one. Clearly the Rams and Eagles came to battle with neither team giving up an inch. They would need two extra frames to get a winner.

     CV saw Tommy Lehman (4 goals) and Nick Zumbrum (3 goals) lead the way. While the Rams had a stand out performance from Nate Beard (3 goals, 3 assists) and Colton Nye (2 goals, 2 assists). Both of these teams have improved significantly since the start of the season. Nic Brown continues to play well for Coach Bogazyck as he had 15 saves on the night.
    Tremendous effort by both teams in another great Mid Penn conference game.

TRINITY 10 STATE COLLEGE 5
- The Shamrocks were looking to get things going back in the right direction this week and a home game with State College would be an excellent place to start. The Little Lions had jumped ahead of Trinity in the Commonwealth Division standings and represented a must win for the Rocks to keep any glimmer of hope alive for an Mid Penn Title.
     Things were back and forth early with Mitch Kleist getting the opening goal for Trinity. Brady Franks would follow up for State College and they continued this way through the third quarter with a 5-4 lead for Trinity.
     Senior Midfielder Connor Bailey showed excellent poise and leadership as he helped put the Rocks over the top with 2 goals and 1 assist down the stretch. Sophomore standout Jesse Altmeyer led the day with 3 goals and 2 assists.

NORTHERN YORK 16 MECHANICSBURG 2
-There was electricity in the air at Bostic field during each teams pregame warm-ups. The weather was nice (for the time being) and both squads seemed to be exceptionally focused and amped up for a game that pitted players from the same youth program against one another. What made this game different is Mechanicsburg Coach Scott Brisbane, for whom the cup/game is named, was now coaching Mechanicsburg. Coach Miller and the Polar Bears showed class by having the starters (all seniors) come over and greet Coach Brisbane prior to the start of the game. Then came the lightening....
       The teams returned to the field with limited warm-ups over an hour later to get the game started. Derek Myers wasted little time finding an early goal in the first quarter. The Wildcats answered quickly with an outside shot from Aaron Heisey to tie it at 1-1. Northern began to pull away as they would end the first quarter of play up 4-1. The Polar bears would score two more to open the second when Heisey would score the Wildcats second and final goal of the game.
     From their it was all Northern. 9 Players would score with Zach Martick leading the day with 3 goals. Luke Lyons was able to get back on the field after a knee dislocation had cost him much of the season. You could tell he was not 100% but this game means a lot to both schools and towards the end of the game Northern did everything they could to help the Senior net his lone goal of the evening.
     

LOWER DAUPHIN 17 CD EAST 3
- The Falcons are now 6-6 and in second place in the Keystone Division. It has been a remarkable turn around for LD as they have won 4 in a row and 6 out their last 8. During this stretch they have outscored their opponents 59-17. Cleary this is a team that has started to gain confidence and momentum down the stretch. They have two tests in CV and CD coming up, but with the way they are playing we would not count them out.
     11 different Flacon players were involved in the scoring led by Mike Mattis (4 goals) and Garret Schrug (3 goals, 2 assists). LD led 4-1 at the end of the first, 9-2 at the half, and put things away in the second half.

CHAMBERSBURG 20 BISHOP MCDEVITT 5
- The Trojans continue to be a very difficult team to figure out. As we said yesterday a four game losing streak is not a good thing on your resume but they did have a quality win over State College. Last nights runaway win over McDevitt shows they are capable of scoring a lot.
      Coach Flohr's team managed 20 goals with just 7 players scoring. Jake Pierson (5 goals, 4 assists), Chase Chashell (3 goals, 3 assists), and Nick Lombardozzi (4 goals, 1 assist) all had great games.
    Coach Walters team is losing a bit of the steam they had found last week. After winning 2 of 3 they dropped a heart breaker to LCD and now seem to be in a bit of a funk. Griffin Hanes led the Crusaders with 3 goals.

HERSHEY 14 COCALICO 3
- Hershey was coming off their first loss of the season, a 12-4 defeat by Wilson, and they wasted little time getting things back on track. A 6-0 first quarter was followed by a 4-2 second frame. 10-2 headed into the second and half and the Trojans were on cruise control. One has to wonder if the fact they are beating most of their opponents early and in a dominating fashion is actually a "bad" thing. Hershey will need to be able to dig in and fight back in the district playoffs and possibly states. They don't seem to be getting a whole lot of experience with that in the regular season.
     Jake Wilson got back to form with 6 goals and Logan Calhoun followed with 4. George Briggs continues to be an excellent feeder from X with 8 assists on the day. That is really an amazing stat. Hershey loves to cut from the top and Briggs is an excellent ball hander who regularly hits the open man.
    Next up for Coach Schein and Hershey is the most anticipated game of the spring where they will go to Carlisle on Thursday to play the Herd.

STANDINGS
Commonwealth Division

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

Keystone Division

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

2014 PIAA District III Boys

Lacrosse Power Rating

Official Rankings Includes all results reported as of April 19th

Top 16 Qualify

RANK			SCHOOL NAME			POWER RATING
1	Wilson (12-0)	0.783077		1.000000	(12-0)		0.517949	(101-94)
2	Carlisle (10-1)	0.733133		0.909091	(10-1)		0.518072	(86-80)
3	Hershey (10-1)	0.728462		0.909091	(10-1)		0.507692	(99-96)
4	West York Area (10-1)	0.718447		0.909091	(10-1)		0.485437	(100-106)
5	Manheim Township (10-1)	0.712069		0.909091	(10-1)		0.471264	(82-92)
6	Hempfield (10-2)	0.688987		0.833333	(10-2)		0.512563	(102-97)
7	Trinity (8-2)	0.668771		0.800000	(8-2)		0.508380	(91-88)
8	Dallastown Area (10-2)	0.662879		0.833333	(10-2)		0.454545	(90-108)
9	York Suburban (10-2)	0.662480		0.833333	(10-2)		0.453659	(93-112)
10	Governor Mifflin (11-2)	0.661538		0.846154	(11-2)		0.435897	(85-110)
11	Central York (8-2)	0.649686		0.800000	(8-2)		0.465969	(89-102)
12	Ephrata Area (9-3)	0.646411		0.750000	(9-3)		0.519802	(105-97)
13	Warwick (9-4)	0.611366		0.692308	(9-4)		0.512438	(103-98)
14	Susquehannock (9-4)	0.604672		0.692308	(9-4)		0.497561	(102-103)
15	Berks Catholic (7-3)	0.593065		0.700000	(7-3)		0.462366	(86-100)
16	Cumberland Valley (7-5)	0.585690		0.583333	(7-5)		0.588571	(103-72)
17	Red Lion Area (8-4)	0.571003		0.666667	(8-4)		0.454082	(89-107)
18	Cocalico (7-5)	0.534695		0.583333	(7-5)		0.475248	(96-106)
19	Central Dauphin (5-4)	0.527877		0.555556	(5-4)		0.494048	(83-85)
20	Lampeter Strasburg (5-4)	0.508173		0.555556	(5-4)		0.450262	(86-105)
21	Eastern York (6-6)	0.505488		0.500000	(6-6)		0.512195	(105-100)
22	Exeter Township (5-6)	0.502273		0.454545	(5-6)		0.560606	(111-87)
23	Palmyra Area (6-5)	0.499459		0.545455	(6-5)		0.443243	(82-103)
24	Elizabethtown Area (6-7)	0.496333		0.461538	(6-7)		0.538860	(104-89)
25	Wyomissing Area (5-6)	0.495902		0.454545	(5-6)		0.546448	(100-83)
26	Penn Manor (5-7)	0.475020		0.416667	(5-7)		0.546341	(112-93)
27	Lower Dauphin (4-6)	0.438421		0.400000	(4-6)		0.485380	(83-88)
28	Chambersburg Area (3-5)	0.426175		0.375000	(3-5)		0.488722	(65-68)
29	Twin Valley (3-6)	0.419521		0.333333	(3-6)		0.524862	(95-86)
30	Cedar Crest (4-8)	0.397841		0.333333	(4-8)		0.476684	(92-101)