Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 5/13/17
Staff Report
The weather was horrendous, but it was a perfectly clear day for the Academy of the New Church boys’ lacrosse team.
The host Lions raced to a 10-1 halftime lead and coasted to a 15-3 win today over Shipley School for their fourth straight Friends Schools League championship on the turf at nearby Bryn Athyn College.
Four-time Friends Schools League champion Academy of the New Church
ANC (14-4) also gained the top Friends Schools seed for the Inter-Ac Invitational and will play at Inter-Ac No. 5 seed Springside Chestnut Hill Academy on Monday at 3:30 p.m.
“Coach (Rob Forster) said we needed to play a complete game,” said ANC senior David Closterman, who led the attack with three goals and two assists. “Often times we’d play strong and then slow down. We jumped out to a big lead and sustained it for the rest of the game.”
Joey Paterno added three goals and an assist and Hunter Jaronski had two goals and two assists for ANC, which has won six straight games. Seven others scored once and Griff McGinley had five saves.
“I was very proud of the way our team played today,” said Forster. “Our seniors led us from start to finish. Even with the conditions the way they were, I thought we played a clean game all around.
“Our defense did a great job all day, especially in transition turning defense into offense. I can’t say enough about the way Pat Kolb and Hayden Trautmann led us today. They leave ANC with four FSL championships.”
Trautmann said the Lions were prepared to play their best game.
“Everybody came out really strong, we won a lot of faceoffs and everyone was working the ball around well,” he said. “Our shots were on and the defense did a great of keeping the ball out of the defensive end. Our goalie also made a lot of big stops.
“Everybody was just playing really well today. We knew the mistakes we made the last time (a 19-7 win last month vs. Shipley) and we did a good job correcting them. Everybody really stepped up to the occasion. And it was nice to play at Bryn Athyn College; it was nice to have turf!”
Closterman said the opportunity to play in the Inter-Ac Invitational against a strong Inter-Ac team is a great challenge.
“That game’s huge for us,” he said. “It’s a big game. We want to continue making a name for ourselves. We want to make a good showing and get past the first round.”
Trautmann is proud of being a member of four championship teams that have helped make ANC a league power that has also begun to beat strong teams around the region.
“It feels great to have been a part of the team,” he said. “Our coaches, Rob Forster and Jack Forster have helped us really turn the program around.”
Shipley coach Mark Duncan said ANC seemed unaffected by the poor weather conditions.
“I have got to give ANC credit,” he said “They have a good team and they executed and controlled the ball the whole game. We couldn’t get the ball and couldn’t get faceoffs. Given the conditions if you can’t hold the ball, it’s tough.”
Academy of the New Church
David Closterman 3 goals 2 assist
Joey Paterno 3 goals 1 assist
Hunter Jaronski 2 goals 2 assist
Wil Vandegrift 1 goal
Drew Carr 1 Goal
Ryan Carrol 1 Assist
Seamus Hogan 1 goal 1 assist
Andrew Lapenta 4 assists
Bailey O’Connor 1 goal 2 assists
Milo Navarro 1 goal 1 assist
John Veit 1 goal
Hayden Trautmann 1 goal
Griff McGinley 5 saves
Shipley School
Henry Reed 1g
Randall Brown 1g
Luke Grayum 1g
Colton Gallo 10 saves