Someday, when the players on the Quakertown boys lacrosse team are looking back for a pivotal game in the program’s development, they might consider Friday’s 4-2 Suburban One League American Conference win at William Tennent.
It was the first league win of the season for a young Quakertown squad, which features 15 freshmen and nine sophomores.
“It’s huge to get that first one and get that chip off our shoulders,” said Paul Lancos, a senior captain who had five saves in goal for Quakertown.
“It’s been nonstop work for us every day. We have a lot of young players and it’s tough to reel the kids in sometimes but they’re all hard working and they all want to win. You can see the hunger in them. It’s nice to get this win for them.”
“Now every game after this, we’ll just go up. I think things have been coming together for us. In the past few weeks, we’ve played some really tough teams and we’ve been able to see some bright spots. Now we’re able to put it all together in one game and get the job done.”
This is Lancos’ second year as the starting goaltender. He plans to attend the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown and major in civil engineering.
It was a low-scoring affair, but not for lack of trying on Quakertown’s part. The Panthers took 36 shots on goal.
Jayden Reilly put Quakertown on the board first with a man-up goal 3:34 into play. Two minutes later, Tennent returned the favor, evening the score when Quakertown was playing short.
“Coming into this game we felt like this was going to be our day,” said Reilly, a senior captain. “We were practicing really hard and working on ground balls, and ground balls were a big factor in this game so that paid off.
After high school, Reilly plans to join the cabinet making union.
“I love this team and I like where we’re going,” he said. “Every step we take is in the right direction and I’m really excited about that, especially with these new coaches (head coach Tony Carty and assistants Karl Scheibenhofer, Brian Cole and Ted Wassmer) stepping up for us. It’s a little sad that this is my last season, but I’ll be coming back and watching them next year and supporting them.”
Tennent capitalized on a two-man advantage in the second quarter and went into the intermission with a 2-1 lead.
After a scoreless third quarter, freshman Jackson Lesinski netted a goal at 10:24 to tie the game and ignite Quakertown.
Evan Mooney scored what proved to be the game-winner midway through the period and senior Aidan Gallagher provided the insurance goal with 3:21 to go.
Mooney, a freshman who typically plays midfield, was on attack.
“They put me up there and I got lucky,” he said. “Playing this year has been a great experience. There’s a lot of young kids on this team and it’s a great opportunity for us to get a lot of playing time.
“Everyone gets a chance to play and I’m glad I got the chance to play attack and score a goal. I’m getting to start my freshman year off right. Hopefully in a couple of years I’ll make a lot of progress and for the team, this win is a great turning point for us and I’m hoping that we’ll continue to build over the next few years.
“We came from behind and that was great for us. Our momentum kicked in once Lesinski got a goal and I was able to pull through with one and we were able to keep it rolling. That’s a big confidence boost for us, that we were down and we pulled it out.”
Cody Jefferson had two assists on the day for Quakertown.
Quakertown travels to Liberty on Thursday for a nonleague contest at 6 p.m.
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