It was more than a win.
It was history.
The Council Rock North boys lacrosse team squeaked past Downingtown West, 13-12, in Tuesday night’s opening round of the District One Class 3A tournament at CR North’s Walt Snyder Stadium.
It was the first-ever district playoff victory in team history.
“This win means everything to us,” CR North goaltender Zach Borden said. “We couldn’t be happier. We expected a good game. We thought we’d be pretty evenly matched, and we were. It was exactly what we expected.”
The Indians reached the district tourney every year since 2017 and been eliminated in the first round each time. There was no season in 2020 due to COVID.
CR North (12-6), the tournament’s 16th seed, opened up play with two quick goals by Andrew Zazoff and Sam Lewis, assisted by Liam Dudley, but the Whippets, seeded 17th, roared back with three consecutive goals to end the first quarter with a 3-2 lead.
Lewis tied it up with the first goal of the second quarter, but the Whippets answered to take back the lead.
Downingtown (11-8) would never hold the lead again.
CR North netted back-to-back goals from Dudley, assisted by Lewis, and Zazoff to take a 5-4 lead. Downingtown’s Bret Bergey, son of former Philadelphia Wings player Jake Bergey and grandson of former Philadelphia Eagles standout Bill Bergey, scored and it looked like the game would go to halftime tied.
But Lewis had other ideas, finding the net with .6 seconds remaining to send the Indians into the intermission with a 6-5 lead.
“Lacrosse is definitely a game of momentum and there were a lot of switches in this game,” said Lewis, a senior. “At halftime we were up one goal and the second half, the last 24 minutes, there were going to be times of highs and times of lows and I knew we just had to fight through, stay consistent, stay gritty and hope we come out with the win.”
Bergey opened up the third quarter with a goal for the Whippets, but then the Indians went on a tear, reeling off five in a row to build up an 11-6 lead before Downingtown netted one in the final seconds to make it 11-7 at the end of three.
The Whippets continued with the momentum in the fourth quarter, scoring three goals in one minute to cut the CR North lead to 11-10.
But then CR North coach John Fitzpatrick called for a stick check on Downingtown’s face-off man, Ryan Merrick. Merrick’s stick failed the test, and he served a three-minute penalty.
Lewis capitalized on the man-up with a goal assisted by EJ Allian to extend the lead to 12-10 and give the Indians some breathing room.
The Whippets scored again at just under five minutes to cut the lead to one, but Lewis was up to the challenge, netting a goal at the three-minute mark that would prove to be the winner.
“We built up a big lead and then they started to close the gap and it’s definitely a little scary on the attack end watching the other team pick apart our defense,” Lewis said. “But toward the end of the game our goalie (Borden) played oustanding and our defense really figured it out. I think they shut down their star players pretty well and that in the end led to the win.”
Downingtown scored with 54.7 to go, and then Indians needed possession to maintain the lead.
Allian won the face-off and although the Whippets got the ball CR North turned it over with 33 seconds remaining and held on for the victory.
“We won the face-off when we had to,” Lewis said. “EJ had a big win in the face-off X when it was all on the line, and he had a great day all around.”
Allian won 14 of 25 faceoffs. He also led the team with nine ground balls and had two assists.
Borden, a senior, made 21 saves in goal.
“The defense in front of me played great,” he said. “They were totally there for me.”
Lewis ended the evening with a team-high seven goals and two assists, while Zazoff had three goals and two assists, Dudley netted two goals and had one assist, Jake Welwood chipped in a goal and Logan Atkinson added four ground balls for the Indians.
“We had so many players come up big in this game,” Lewis said. “As a senior, I have a lot more experience than a lot of these guys and it’s so cool watching them grow.”
The Indians advance to Thursday’s second round, where they travel to top seed Radnor (16-2). The Raptors are the defending PIAA and District One champions.
“Radnor’s a great team and they’ve beaten great teams,” Lewis said. “Playing them is definitely difficult, that mindset and that drive is going to be tough, but I think we’re going to go in and have a much fun as we can.
“It’s probably going to be our last game, and it is what it is. I just want to have fun with my team. It’s really been a brotherhood since the start of the season, and we made history winning one playoff game. I’m happy with that.”
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