Pine-Richland boys lacrosse bringing ‘toughness and fortitude’ to playoff run

By: Jerin Steele
Saturday, May 4, 2024 | 11:01 AM

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The stretch run has arrived for the Pine-Richland boys lacrosse team, and it’s something they’ve been waiting for.

The most experienced group in Rams coach Dave Offner’s tenure has put itself in position to make a run in the playoffs.

The Rams were 10-4 overall entering a key section matchup with Shady Side Academy on May 1.

“I think they understand that what we have is special,” Offner said. “We have a few guys (JL Aiello, Talan Hill-Ressler and Justin White) that were on a state championship football team here at Pine-Richland and they’ve brought that mentality to our program particularly when things aren’t going our way. They’ve brought some toughness and fortitude to our program that was needed.”

That 10-4 record includes a 10-2 mark against WPIAL opponents. Their only WPIAL losses came against Mars in the season opener and a tough 15-13 setback against North Allegheny.

The two other losses came during a trip to Philadelphia against Kennett and Perkiomen Valley. Both were close games against teams from what has been the more dominant side of the state for lacrosse. They lost to Kennett, 11-10, and Perkiomen Valley, 8-6.

The results stung, especially the Kennett game where the Rams squandered an 8-1 halftime lead, but they were much more competitive than in previous trips east.

“I think if you ask most of our players, they’d tell you they were disappointed because they don’t think they played their best, which I wouldn’t argue, but those are two really solid programs out east,” Offner said. “I’m proud of the way we performed out there. We plan on doing it again next year. We competed better than we have in years past, so I think that’s an indication of our progress.”

One of the gutsier wins Pine-Richland had came against Butler. For the most part in their wins, they’ve won by double digits, but against Butler, they had to grind out an 11-9 victory.

“We were down 6-5 at halftime but came out of the gates in the second half and got a cushion,” Offner said. “In the fourth quarter, Butler started to chip away at the lead, but we were able to stay strong defensively even with a couple of penalties and secure the win.”

A couple Rams have hit milestones this season.

Cooper Zancosky has surpassed 100 goals and 200 points for his career. Zancosky, a Mercyhurst recruit, has the most goals and points in Offner’s time at Pine-Richland.

Luke Hatzimbes has surpassed 500 faceoff wins for his career.

Both have contributed to an offense that has been a major strength. The Rams scored in double figures in all but two contests entering the Shady Side Academy game.

“We’re consistently outperforming teams on groundballs and our man up and man down percentages have been really efficient this year,” Offner said.

On the flip side, Offner said the team needs to be more consistent throughout the game, but they are gaining on it.

They’ll have three nonsection games to fine tune things against Central Catholic, Upper St. Clair and Kiski School before the playoffs begin on May 12.

“The biggest thing we need to work on is putting together four quarters,” Offner said. “The players are aware of that. It’s not that they’re tired or out of gas. It’s more of a mindset. Having a couple losses has improved that mindset.”

Jerin Steele is a freelance writer

Tags: Pine-Richland