Clutch time proves historic for Vikings

Upper Merion dominates 4th quarter, earns program's 1st district playoff win

UPPER MERION » Casey Lamey just wanted to get to the fourth quarter. The Upper Merion junior has seen his team take over in the final 12 minutes all season and believed they would do it again against Holy Ghost Prep in the first round of the District 1-2A playoffs.

To essentially turn the fourth quarter into a 12-minute game, Lamey scored with less than six seconds remaining in the third to tie the score at six.

The fourth-seeded Vikings dominated the fourth quarter and picked up the first district playoff win in school history, 118,

THE SCORE Upper Merion 11, Holy Ghost 8 Up next for Upper Merion: The Vikings will face No. 1Penncrest in the District 1-2A semifinals on Tuesday.

over the fifth-seeded Firebirds Wednesday night at Upper Merion Area High School.

“They came back and fought so hard,” Upper Merion coach Brady McCormick said, “especially in that fourth quarter. They fought so hard and earned it. They did exactly what you need to do to win in the playoffs. Just grind and grind and grind. I told Ryan Becker, our faceoff guy, I told him he was going to own the fourth quarter. I know he didn’t have 100%, but he was huge in turning the tide.”

“Our fourth quarter in every game is our best usually,” Lamey said. “We like to pick it up at the end.”

Lamey’s goal tied the game, 6-6, after the fourth-seeded Vikings fell behind, 6-4 — their largest deficit of the game.

Collin McCormick cut the deficit to 6-5 with 2:44 left in the third. Defenseman Truman McCormick set up the score when he forced a turnover, picked up a groundball and went end-to-end. He fed the ball to Justin Besz who relayed it to Collin McCormick for the goal.

ED MORLOCK - MEDIANEWS GROUP Upper Merion’s Casey Lamey carries the ball behind the net while Holy Ghost Prep’s Charles Walker defends on Wednesdsay.