In the 2017 Boys lacrosse opener the Kingsmen traveled down to play the Tigers of Fischers. To open the first possession for Penn Garret Deakin, on a dime pass from Will Bartus, was stopped short of a goal, before Fischers capitalized on a Kingsmen turnover. Junior goalie Conner Fischer was on top of the Tigers shots after stopping four of the five shots. After shutting down the Tigers on defense the Kingsmen went man up as one of the Tigers slashed Jake Harkins. Almost immediately freshman Tyler Lahey came from behind the goal for a quick lay-up goal to tie the game at one. After a loose ball push the Kingsmen moved the ball down the field and within seconds senior Logan McGuire scored for the second Kingsmen goal. A procedure issue does nothing to slow down the rolling Kingsmen as a quick Tigers shot is stopped again by Conner Fischer, but a strong defense from the Tigers forces the Kingsmen to turn it over. Yet again the Kingsmen stopped the Tigers from getting an offense going as Cole Pollyea yard saled a Tiger middie. Another Tiger penalty put the Kingsmen man up again, before the Kingsmen lost the ground ball and the man up offense. The Tigers then came down and went one-on-one with Conner Fischer and the game was tied at 2.

A failure to advance from the Tigers on the face-off put the Kingsmen back on offense yet again. After an almost turnover scare, the Kingsmen moved the ball around and found an open Tyler Lahey for his second goal of the night. During the face-off a mishap on a ground ball the Tigers came down for an easy shot on the crease tying it at three. After another failure to advance the Kingsmen went back to work, before shortly getting a lose ball push and sending the Tigers to offense. The Tigers after some nice ball movement were able to get a good shot off and the penalty to put the Kingsmen man down. After losing the face off the Kingsmen got right back on defense to set up the box. Strong defense by Josh Haluska got the Kingsmen the ball right back to kill the penalty, but another trip got the teams set even at five players a piece. At the end of the first half the Kingsmen were up six to five. The Kingsmen were not able to score in the second half and lost the game sixteen to six.

By Kevin McNulty

Kevin McNulty teaches English and Mass Media Studies at Penn High School. He advises the Penn News Network and manages the PNN Studio and news room. For more information, navigate your browser to www.massmediastudies.net.