Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 3/24/17
This is one of a series of previews for the 2017 Philly lacrosse season
Perkiomen Valley
Coach: Bryan Churchey, 5th Year as head coach
League: PAC
Last year’s record: 12-7, Beat Downingtown East 7-6 for first ever District Play Off Win, lost to Avon Grove 14-2 in 2nd round.
Players to watch:
Shawn Coulter, Senior, Midfield-Captain
Matt Dudley, Senior, Attack/Midfield-Captain
Mario Scotese, Senior, Midfield
Connor Willey, Senior, Midfield
Kyle Beaudoin, Senior, SSDM
Nick Marren, Senior, Defense-Captain
Sam Bonavita, Senior, Defense
Kevin Mo, Senior, Goalie-Captain
David Neilsen, Senior, Attack
Brian Fehr, Junior, Attack
Remy Sell, Junior, Defense/LSM
Richie Marshall, Junior, Attack/Midfield/FO
Connor Donovan, Sophomore, LSM
Nick Steele, Sophomore, Midfield
Matt Brock, Freshman, Midfield/FO
Coach’s outlook for 2017: “We had a really good week of practice to start the season and have been efficient with our limited gym time inside this week due to the weather. We’ve been focused and consistent in practice and the older guys have helped our new guys get up to speed with how we do things. We still have a ton of work to do and we’ll need to stay focused in order to attain our team goals but this has been a solid 2 weeks, they’ve been stellar especially our senior leadership. Hopefully we can maintain our focus and be playing our best lacrosse in late April/Early May when it’s going to matter most.”
Marple Newtown
Coach: Tommy Hannum (2nd year)
League: Central
Last year’s record: 11-9
Key Returners: Alex Viola (Marsit),Alex Funk (Robert Morris),Jake Long (Williamson),Zach Faust (Williamson),James Kelly (Elizabethtown), Kyle Baroni, Marlon Weathers, Michael May, Kevin Hahn,Anthony Giocobeti, Nick Aquiliano.
Coach’s Outlook for 2017: “Last year we graduated 18 Srs and and advanced to the second round of PIAA play-offs for the first time in a long time. We will be very young this year and in a major rebuilding mode. Lots of young enthusiastic talent. Should be very interesting to see who steps up in the largest graduating class at Marple Newtown in a decade.”
St. Joseph’s Prep
League: Catholic League
Head Coach: Sean DeLaney, 2nd year as head coach
Last year’s record: 12-6. 1 playoff win, lost to La Salle in PCL Championship
Key returnees: Michael Browne, Defense. Zach Snider, LSM. Daniel Fisher, Face off. Andrew Schreder, attack.
Coach’s Outlook for 2017: “We have a lot of holes to fill on the offensive end of the ball. Losing guys like Kevin Stump and Pete Gayhardt means we will have some young guys playing much bigger roles. Our defense is young but a lot of experience under their belts and we will be expecting a lot out of them.
“Our four captains Andrew Schreder, Alex Boyce, Chris Conquest and Daniel Fisher have done a good job leading the team so far this season and a lot is expected out of them. We feel very confident in our goalie Nick Cissone. Nick has been the backup for the past few seasons but had the talent to play during that time. We are seeing young guys take leaps and bounds over the first few weeks and are expecting some of those guys to have larger roles as the season progresses.”
Hatboro-Horsham
League: Suburban One – Continental
Head Coach: John Kurek – 6th season
Last year’s record: 10-8, District Qualifier, Finished 3rd in Suburban One Continental
Key returnees:
Logan Eldridge – Midfield
Ian Riley – Midfield
Brian Hood – FOGO
Tim McPoyle – Attack
Chris McPoyle – LSM
Drew Robinson – Defense
Jeff Marshall – Defense
Joe Larouche – Midfield
Doug Carpenter – Midfield
Coaches Outlook for 2017: “The 2017 Hatters return a great core of varsity players. Throughout the off-season the players trained and worked hard to make sure that they will be competitive both in the new Suburban one Continental and in their challenging out of league schedule.”