Souderton falls to Unionville in 1st round

EAST MARLBOROUGH >> On Tuesday evening in round one of the District 1 3A boys lacrosse playoffs, Unionville resisted looking ahead to a possible second round clash with archrival Kennett.

And the Longhorns’ reward was a solid 15-6 triumph over visiting Souderton, as well as a much-desired second shot at the top-seeded Blue Demons on Thursday.

“As a coach you say no big games, but I’d probably be lying with Kennett coming up on Thursday,” Unionville head coach Steve Holmes acknowledged.

“We tried to focus on this one and I think we are battle tested, playing in the ChesMont. We’ve played in a lot of one-goal games and I think that prepared us to lot overlook anybody. We didn’t do that tonight, and played very well.”

The 16th seeded ’Horns never trailed in this one against the Indians, who came in seeded 17th. They improve to 12-4 overall, and all four losses have come against No. 1 Kennett, No. 5 Downingtown West, No. 1 (2A) West Chester Rustin and No. 2 Wilson from District 3.

“We will have to play a great game against Kennett — our best of the season — but we believe we can do it,” Holmes said.

The longtime division rivals will square off on Thursday, 7 p.m., at Kennett. The Demons won the first meeting 12-3, but it was back on April 12th, and Unionville actually had a second half lead before faltering.

“We weren’t full strength when we played them like we are now,” said senior Will Snook. “Plus, we are a lot more confident and we think we can win.

“When we were locking (Kennett) up on face offs, we were up 3-2 early in the second half. If we can control the face offs, we can control the game.”

But in order to make the big rematch a reality, the Longhorns were able to put together a solid all-around effort against Souderton (12-7 overall). Unionville had the clear edge in shots on goal (26-14) and face offs (15-9).

“We were hunting for a big win, and the one we got (on May 13) against Downingtown East kind of relaxed us a little bit,” Holmes explained. “It gave us some overall confidence that we can play with anybody. We always believed that and it kind of affirmed it.

“Our defense and goaltending has been the most consistent backbone of our season. If we can get that type of defense each night, we believe we can be in any game.”

It was 1-1 very early in the first half, but the ’Horns scored the next four goals, and eight of the next nine, to take control 9-3 at the half.

Gray Dinsel notched two goals and an assist in the first wave, and fellow senior Haden Quillman sparked the finishing surge with two goals and an assist.

It was 9-2 when Unionville keeper Nico Kotch was whistled for two fouls, putting the Longhorns two-down, and Souderton scored with 1:10 to go until the intermission to halt the rally.

“We thought we matched up well with (Unionville), but we knew it was going to be a tough game,” said Souderton head coach Mark Cornes. “They move the ball really well, they had a good game plan, and we just didn’t put it together.

“But we still didn’t think we were out of it at the half.”

The Longhorns put it away, however, with the first four goals in the second half. Dinsel added two more goals and an assist to make it 13-3 early in the fourth quarter. That allowed Holmes to substitute freely the rest of the way, giving the starters a break.

“It was nice to get on a run against a good opponent, especially since we’ve played so many close games,” Holmes said.

“We wanted to complete the game and didn’t want to let (Souderton) back into it and have to fight unnecessarily hard when we did feel we were the better team tonight. To move forward in playoff lacrosse, it has to be complete lacrosse.”

Dinsel led the balanced attack with five goals, Snook added four goals, and Quillman chipped in with three goals and three assists. In addition, junior Luc Spano scored a goal and assisted on four others.

“It’s not really about one guy, and that’s why I love this offense,” Dinsel said. “It’s about all of the guys working together. That’s how we will be successful.

“We have a lot of talent individually, but we have to come together and play team ball, and that’s exactly what we did tonight.”

John Martin Vince, Kobi Bui and Jamison McDivitt scored two goals apiece to lead the Indians.

“We had a great season, so there is no reason for our guys to hang their heads,” Cornes said. “We wanted to get to the playoffs and let the cards fall where they may. That’s what we did.”

For Unionville, it now means a golden opportunity to knock off the only unbeaten team left in the 3A field, and advance to the districts quarterfinals in the process.

“We feel that we’ve grown a lot since the last time we played (Kennett) and we like our momentum,” Dinsel said. “We are ready.”