By Matt Chandik
Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 5/20/17
Six seconds in to Friday night’s Inter-Ac Invitational semifinal at Cabrini, it looked like things would be all Malvern Prep, all the time. Sean Christman won the game’s opening faceoff, raced down and blasted home a shot to give the Friars a huge jolt right from the start.
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Haverford School’s Joel Trucksess won 15 of 24 face offs and scored once (Photos by Matt Chandik)
Joel Trucksess made sure the ensuing 47 minutes and 54 seconds were all about The Haverford School. Trucksess won 15-of-24 faceoffs, including nine straight in the first half, and added a goal of his own to lead the Fords to a 13-10 win over the rival Friars to secure a spot in Sunday’s championship game.
The Fords will get a rematch from last year’s final and from earlier this season as they take on Culver Academy, which barely held on for a 6-5 win over Episcopal Academy in the nightcap. The title game will be played at 5 p.m. at Haverford School, a late change from Kelly Field in West Chester.
“I think it was maybe just nerves going into an important game,” Trucksess said. “I started getting used to the whistle and my wing guys helped me out a lot. (Christman) is really quick to the draw. I knew that and I watched a lot of film on him, so I just had to counter him. It’s all D-I faceoff guys (in the Inter-Ac), so the competition helps a lot.”
There’s a constant on Trucksess’ faceoff unit, too. You’ll find fellow senior Chris Hervada, Haverford’s excellent LSM, hawking down ground balls and spearheading transition. He’s an asset to have even if the Fords don’t win the ground ball, too.
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Haverford’s TJ Malone had a goal and an assist
Christman broke Trucksess’ run with a win after Malvern’s Scottie White scored to bring the Friars to within two. Hervada never blinked and instead dropped a thunderous check on Christman, scooped up the ground ball and uncorked a high laser that beat Andrew Clark (10 saves) high.
“We like to make up for each other’s mistakes, so when Christman won that faceoff, I knew I had to do whatever I could,” Hervada said. “I got the ball out, saw the open net and just let it fly.”
Christman still finished the game with 12 faceoff wins, plus two goals and an assist. Billy Coyle added a hat trick for the Friars (17-6), while Jack Traynor scored once and added another. Despite that production, Malvern couldn’t find a way to break even with the Fords (16-6) and it proved to be a frustrating finish to a season that started with such promise.
“I was always confident in our team and I never thought we’d have that kind of lapse of not playing well,” Malvern LSM Sam Charlton said. “We knew Haverford and EA were going to be good, but in the beginning of the year, we were just a little more confident. I think we kind of overlooked them a little bit and they just outplayed us and wanted it more than us.”
The Fords won the Inter-Ac again, but lost to the Friars in their second meeting of the year at Malvern. A third and deciding game for the season series seemed apropos, and for the third straight year, it Haverford ended the Friars’ season in the tournament’s semifinals.
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Haverford’s Chris Hervada
“This was the rubber match,” said TJ Malone, who scored the Fords’ first goal and set up one of Luke O’Grady’s three goals. “It doesn’t matter who won the Inter-Ac now. It’s whoever has bragging rights, so we won the rubber match so it was a great win for us.”
They’ll have a chance at one more great win Sunday.
Malvern Prep 1 2 5 2 – 10
Billy Coyle 3g
Sean Christman 2g, 1a
Jack Traynor 1g, 1a
Mike Fay 1g
Scottie White 1g
Quinn McCahon 1g
Jimmy Gabrielsen 1g
Andrew Clark 10 saves
Haverford School 2 5 3 3 – 13
Luke O’Grady 3g
Adam Salvaggio 2g
TJ Malone 1g, 1a
Johnny Nostrant 1g, 1a
Chris Hervada 1g
Peter Garno 1g
Scott Deck 1g, 1a
Conner Mosebrook 1g
Joel Trucksess 1g, 15-for-24 faceoffs
Mac Costin 1g
Payton Hollway 1a
Parker Henderer 11 saves