Quakertown has struggled mightily these past two seasons, winning just two games last year and three thus far in the current campaign.
The fledgling program (it’s in its fifth season) entered 2023 missing a bunch of defensive players, a pair of midfielders and a faceoff specialist, all of whom graduated. That meant head coach Tony Carty had his work cut out for him heading into this spring.
The current group of Panthers has rallied around one of its senior co-captains, Jacob Wackerman.
Carty says at the beginning of the season, the team felt it needed a motto, one based on the hard-nosed, hustling play of Wackerman, who last year, won a Good Citizenship Award, courtesy of the Union League.
The players came up with ‘Hustle, hit, never quit.’
Carty adds that Wackerman, who is attending Penn State on an ROTC Scholarship, is the fastest player on the team and junior co-captain Cody Jefferson likes the mantra.
“Jacob Wackerman is a great player, a great student, and a great person overall,” explained Jefferson.
“He’s a really good guy to look up to, he’s always showing effort, he’s a hustler and he never quits.
“Everybody wants to try to play like Wackerman and we try to base our play off of him.”
Quakertown was clicking on all cylinders last Thursday at Harry S. Truman when the Panthers dismantled the Tigers 10-6 for their third win this spring.
Coming into the April 27 match, Quakertown had lost four straight, three of which were against Suburban One League American Conference rivals.
“It felt great to finally get out of the dry patch that we were in,” said Jefferson. “We’re at a point in the season when we are getting really close to winning games but we weren’t completely pulling through to get the ‘W.’”
Attackmen Alex Jalboot, a junior, and sophomore Evan Mooney, a sophomore teamed up on seven goals for the Panthers.
“Alex and Evan Mooney – they have a really good two-man game that they run on offense that’s been pretty productive the last couple games for us,” explained Jefferson.
While the Panthers scored just 50 goals last season, they’ve already eclipsed that mark with 69 so far this spring.
Jalboot leads the Quakertown offense with 12 goals and five assists,
“Alex is just a pure athlete. That kid has been athletic since he was 5,” stated Carty. “He’s a smart kid with a real good burst. (Defenders) have real trouble with him behind the net, and coming around the net.”
Mooney is next, offensively, with 11 goals. Sophomore Josh Rohm has drilled 10 balls into the back of the cage. Classmate Mason Borzio has recorded eight goals and leads the team with seven assists.
At 6-1, 200 pounds, Borzio is starting his first year on varsity lacrosse.
“Mason is a big, athletic kid and he’s smart, sees the field really well,” said Carty. “That’s why he has a lot of assists. I think he understands the game of lacrosse and he’s a good thinker.
“Josh Rohm has a rocket of a shot and he’s a really good kid. He’s learning how to figure out where he is before he takes shots. Kids with strong shots, they’ll take them from 50 yards out if you let them so he’s figuring out where his spot is on the field and how to get there.
“Mooney is a big kid and he’s just figuring out how to use his wit, his muscle and his strength.
“I don’t think he realizes how much more athletic he is than most kids he faces so he’s still kind of playing ‘young.’ He’s starting to figure out that he’s a little bit faster and a little more physical than most (opponents). That translates into goals and him doing some nice things on the field.”
The Panthers recorded their first win of the season March 30 facing SOL American League rival William Tennent. In an 11-7 victory, Borzio led the offense with four goals and one assists, Jackson Lesinski added two goals and a helper and Tyler Cole chipped in with a goal and four assists.
Jack Diliberto, a senior co-captain who plays defense, contributed to the Quakertown cause with a goal and two assists, while Mooney, David Hammond and Freddy Hipple all scored goals for the Panthers. Gabe McNutt added an assist.
Quakertown dominated April 14 back at home facing Saucon Valley. Rohm and Cole led the way to a 12-2 triumph with a pair of goals each. Borzio sparked the offense with a goal and three assists as did Mooney ( one goal, two assists), Hipple (one goal, one assist) and Jacob Mosser (one goal, 1 assist).
Diliberto, Lesinski, Wackerman and Jalboot also scored that day for the Panthers.
“We came into that game with a great mindset,” said Jefferson. “I feel like sometimes we get into our own heads and we shut down.”
But Quakertown has struggled to win the close games, including contests in which it has held a lead at the half. Such was the case April 21 at home facing Liberty.
“We were up at half and we just let it slip out of our hands; we just didn’t finish,” stated Jefferson. “We came in knowing it was going to be a good game and we played a great first half but we let it fall through in the second half.”
To their credit, the Panthers tallied a couple of quick goals in the span of a minute and a half late in the second half including one by Mooney to make it an 8-6 contest.
“It was encouraging because they beat us up pretty good last year in the Lehigh Valley and this year we were able to make it a lot more competitive,” added Carty.
Upper Moreland was also a close game, albeit another loss for Quakertown.
“Same thing – we were doing great in the first half and we just stopped producing in the second half,” said Jefferson. “It’s been kind of a common theme for us and we’re trying to get out of that funk.”
A bright spot in the loss to the Golden Bears was the play of sophomore goalkeeper Herb Arnold, who recorded 13 saves in the contest. A former long-stick midfielder, Arnold played backup to the since departed Paul Lancos, who manned the position between the pipes last year.
“He’s still working toward the point where he wants to be but he’s made huge steps this season,” said Jefferson.
Meanwhile, the coach has high praise for Jefferson.
“We don’t have a team without Cody Jefferson; he’s the heart and soul of this team,” said Carty. “He has over 50 ground balls; he’s everywhere defending. We have over a 60% clear percentage this year and he’s probably responsible for most of those.
“He’s a leader of our defense and an outstanding captain.”
Classmate Colin Uhrich – a close defender – was also nominated as co-captain this season. Uhrich played indoors all winter and led the weight program in the offseason.
Before the onset of the season, Quakertown set a goal to reach five wins. While the Panthers are more than halfway there, they have precious few games left to get there.
“We know we can do better than what we’re doing,” said Jefferson. “We just haven’t been able to put all the pieces of the puzzle together just yet to make it all come through.
“We are not 100 percent satisfied with our season yet. Depending on how we finish defines our success as a team.”
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