Last season, the Pennridge boys lacrosse team had the element of surprise in their favor.
This year, the Rams aren’t sneaking up on anyone.
Pennridge defeated visiting Central Bucks East, 12-4, in Tuesday night’s Suburban One National Conference contest at Wayne Helman Field at Grand View Health Stadium.
Senior captain Frankie Fanelli netted a pair of first quarter goals to set the tone for the Rams, who led the game from start to finish. He ended the evening with three goals and two assists.
“We still have a lot of work to do but it’s exciting to be where we are right now,” he said. “We have a tough schedule ahead of us. All of our games are conference games.”
The Rams are the defending SOL National champions. They remain undefeated in league play at 5-0 and are 11-2 overall. Coming into the game, they were ranked sixth in the District One Class 3A power rankings, while CB East was right behind them at seventh.
“Last year we were trying to win the conference and this year we’re trying to repeat, so this time we have a target on our backs,” Fanelli said. “We get the best game from everyone else in our conference and we have to go at them with our best game every single time.
“This is a good win for us. It gives us a lot of confidence but we can’t get to the point where we’re too cocky. We have to keep our heads level and if we play the way I know we can play, I think we can beat just about anyone. I think this will be a good season and I can’t wait to see what we can do.”
He will major in computer science at Eastern next year, where he will play lacrosse.
Teammate Matt Seiler, also a senior, contributed two goals and an assist.
“East is a huge rivalry for us,” he said. “They’re one of my favorite opponents to go against. They’re always tough. They put up a good fight, but we really got them at the end.”
Pennridge scored seven goals in the fourth quarter.
“We weren’t putting the ball in the net at first, but eventually we figured it out and at the end we ran away with it,” said Seiler, who also golfed for Pennridge.
“Last year, teams didn’t see us coming and we kind of caught them off guard, but this year they’re coming after us and we have to keep up with that.”
Also for the Rams, Levi Souder and Rocco Fanelli both scored a pair of goals, Ryan Carickhoff, Matt Kriney and Colin Manville each scored one goal and Andrew Horensky and Kevin Matthews each added an assist. Cole Nitterour went 13-for-19 in the faceoff circle and Tyler Vandermark made 15 saves in goal.
Pennridge plays host to Council Rock North for an SOL National contest on Thursday.
CB East kept it close in the first half, trailing by just two goals at halftime, 4-2.
Junior attack player Thomas Williams led CB East with two goals.
“It wasn’t what we expected,” Williams said. “We came out with a lot of energy, and we were hoping for a win. It was a hard-fought game. Pennridge, they brought their guys, I’ve got to give props to them. They’re really fast.
“But our guys left everything out on the field, and I can’t ask for more. We need to just get back in the lab. We’ll go back to practice tomorrow and think about our next game. Now that this game is over, we have to just keep looking forward. I’m really hoping we can make a big run in the playoffs this year.”
Blake Bishop and Michael Smallwood scored a single tally each for the Patriots, with Bishop also netting an assist. David Crespo and Ben Bridegum also had assists for CB East.
Junior Ben Snyder stood tall in goal for CB East, making 14 saves.
“He’s been making big saves for us, game after game,” Williams said. “I can’t thank him enough.”
The Patriots (8-5 overall, 5-2 SOL National) travel to Neshaminy for an SOL National game on Thursday.
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