Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 4/30/16
Staff Report
By the time the dust settled on the first quarter Friday, you could forgive a staggered Malvern Prep for stumbling back to its huddle.
Haverford School had just rattled off six unanswered goals, taking the air out of what had been anticipated as a pitched battle between Inter-Ac front-runners.
Instead, it became a rout: 16-12 for the Fords in a game that was never as close as the four-goal final margin suggested.
The win boosted the No 1 Fords to 6-0 in the Inter-Ac and 12-4 overall. No. 2 Malvern Prep is 4-2 (tied with Episcopal Academy) in the league and 11-4. Both teams have four more league games.
Keyveat Postell struck first and most often, tallying five goals and two assists. Dox Aitken added four goals and a helper. Two of those goals came in a second quarter where Haverford School weathered Malvern’s initial (albeit delayed) charge, widening the 6-0 lead after one quarter to 11-4 at halftime. Each of Aitken’s second-quarter tallies came within 40 seconds of a Malvern goal, the University of Virginia signee bulling his way to the cage and refusing to be denied.
But Aitken, who also shouldered a greater defensive load than usual, also struck the balance between pushing for individual opportunities and staying within the team plan.
“I didn’t want to take too many chances, because they have a really good defense and they’re always ready,” Aitken said. “If we just play our offense and we move the ball around, we’ll get an advantage somewhere. And a few times, I got an advantage and tried to stick one in.”
The Fords pried open chances again and again. Johnny Nostrant scored three times, including the first goal of the third quarter after a tranquil seven minutes of scoreless action that reasserted the Fords’ control on the game. Forry Smith dished two goals to go with two assists.
Alex DeMarco wasn’t called upon often, but he came up with four big saves in the first 15 minutes of the game on the way to nine on the day.
Jack Marshall extended the Fords’ domination to the X, finishing 15-for-27 but a crucial 11-for-17 in the first half while limiting Sean Christman to 13-for-27 on the day. That allowed the Fords’ offensive train to keep rolling.
“It’s all our offense, honestly,” said Marshall, a High Point-bound senior. “Our attack starts and if we lose a draw, we have a lot of faith in our attackmen riding the ball back. I don’t know the numbers, but it clearly shows that we have a lot of faith in our attack to ride the ball back when needed.”
Malvern (11-4, 4-2) couldn’t sustain offense from any of its usual sources. Adam Goldner scored twice in quick succession to open the Friars’ account in the second quarter, but then was held quiet. Kyle Anderson and Mike Fay tallied twice.
Last time the teams met Malvern led for much of the game but the Fords rallied for a dramatic 10-9 win.
“Everyone felt pretty confident coming in to day,” Anderson said. “Everyone liked where we were in the last two weeks after recovering from the losses to them and Delbarton. I don’t know. I don’t think we were ready for what they had today.”
Quinn McCahon and A.J. Traynor, the latter of whom successfully spelled Christman at the X, provided two goals and two assists apiece.
Haverford School 16, Malvern Prep 12
Malvern Prep 0 4 1 7 – 12
Haverford School 6 5 1 4 – 16
Haverford School
Dox Aitken 4 g, 1 a
Keyveat Postell 5 g, 2 a
Forry Smith 2 g, 2 a
Johnny Nostrant 3 g
Tommy McNamara g, a
Brendan O’Neill g, a
Ryan Jacob 1a
Jacob Desperito 1a
Alex DeMarco 9 saves
Jack Marshall 15-for-27
Malvern Prep
Adam Goldner 2 g
Kyle Anderson 2 g
Billy Coyle 1 g, 2 a
Mike Fay 2 g
Quinn McCahon 2 g, 2 a
AJ Traynor 2 g, 2 a
Jarrett Donaghy 1g
Sam Stroud 9 saves
Sean Christman 13-for-27