Second half surge propels Avon Grove

LONDON GROVE » Locked in. More fiery and much more determined.

The Avon Grove boys’ lacrosse squad showed up for the second half of Tuesday’s first round of the District 1 Class 3A playoffs performing on a totally different level. And in the process the 15th seeded Red Devils quickly turned a halftime tie into a convincing 11-5 triumph over visiting Central Bucks West, the 18th seed.

“That was not Avon Grove lacrosse in the first half,” acknowledged senior goaltender Alex Hammond.

Now 12-7 overall, and riding the strength of a seven-game winning streak, the Devils advance to round two Thursday to face a familiar foe: the ChesMont champs from Downingtown East. The Cougars went unbeaten against league foes this spring, including a 12-3 win versus Avon Grove on April 25.

“We know Downingtown East very well,” said Devils’ head coach Brian Wallace. “They are a great team, but we are pretty good too. We just have to make sure we show up and rise to the occasion.”

His team certainly did that in the second against the Bucks (10-9), who entered the contest having won five in a row. In the final 24 minutes of action, Avon Grove outscored West 6-0.

“We just played a complete

second half,” said junior attacker Trent Lucovich.

“We were sloppy and playing like we were scared,” Hammond added. “I think we came in thinking it was going to be an easy win, but it wasn’t like that.”

Knotted at 5-5 at the intermission, team captains Michael Villa, Jake Nolan and Owen Edwards addressed the situation before the coaching staff even got to the huddle.

“Our captains got on us, and they are three very inspirational guys,” Hammond said.

“We as coaches meet before we talk to the team at the half, and walking down there I saw some of our seniors getting after it,” Wallace added. “But the message is always positive: we are playing for each other.

“We had a nice little conversation at halftime and they turned it on in the second half.”

Lucovich gave the Devils the lead for good in the third period, and then added another a few minutes later after a steal deep in Central Bucks West territory. Soon thereafter, Villa and sophomore Brayden Goldstein scored, and in less than six minutes, Avon Grove was up 9-5.

Lucovich notched his fifth goal of the evening in the fourth quarter, and he found junior attacker Preston Boyd for a spectacular over-the-shoulder tally to round out the scoring.

“We took care of transition, we fought hard for the ground balls and we got the job done,” Lucovich said.

And equally impressive was the second half shutout, as Hammond made five of his eight saves.

“It’s a great feeling,” he said. “We knew what we did wrong in the first half and we pulled it together in the second.”

The Devils fell behind early and had trouble defending the Bucks’ Brayden Albrecht (three goals). Avon Grove came on briefly late in the first period with three goals in an 87-second span. But the Devils managed just one more goal for the remaining 20-plus minutes and went into the intermission deadlocked.

“We haven’t been in this position in a couple years,” Wallace explained. “This is a young group and they haven’t seen the playoffs.

“We always say that defense wins games and the boys back there are a tightknit group. They rose to the occasion.”

Boyd finished with two goals and two assists, junior Griffin Edwards chipped in two goals and junior Kyle Anthony notched three assists. Avon Grove tried three different players on face offs, and wound up having to overcome a 12-7 deficit.

“We’ve been in that situation a lot of times this season, so we just have to keep working forward and getting after it,” Wallace said.

The Devils were once 6-7 on the season, which put their postseason hopes in jeopardy. But now, they haven’t lost since falling to Downingtown East, and have earned another shot at the Cougars.

“We know their good players and I’m very excited to play the No. 2 seed,” Hammond said. “We are a completely different team than when we faced (East).”