Hot streak propels Norwin boys lacrosse back to playoffs

By: HSSN Staff
Friday, May 18, 2018 | 11:00 PM

Previous Next

Previous Next

Norwin's boys lacrosse team found its stride at the right time.

The Knights won six of seven contests down the stretch to earn a WPIAL Class AAA playoff berth.

“We probably played our best lacrosse at the right time,” Norwin coach Chad Good said.

Norwin closed the regular season with four wins in five outings and dropped its postseason opener to top-seeded Pine-Richland, 20-1.

“Pine-Richland is a very good team. Top to bottom, every kid on that team was very talented. They have quite the program over there,” Good said. “Losing is never fun, but it's a learning experience. They got a taste of what playoffs are all about and what those teams are prepared to do. Hopefully, we can learn from this and move on.

“I told them this is the first step in building in the right direction, but there are a lot of things we can do differently to make that transition easier. They see the type of work we have to do to get to where we want to go.”

With only four seniors graduating in Matt Prock, Nick Olave, Omar Nafaa and Ryan McDermott, the Knights believe they have a promising future.

“We'll have a lot of returning kids for next year. That's kind of the fun thing with this group. We have freshmen, sophomores, juniors and seniors with a mixture of different abilities and certain kids who have only played for a short time but are very athletic and become big contributors for us,” Good said. “This is my fourth year, so this is my first full graduating class. It'll be kind of odd next year not seeing those faces at practices because they were there the last four years.”

Five Norwin freshmen — Cory Johnson, Hunter Geibel, Vincent Pecora, Tom McLaughlin and Cam Masten — had to play big roles this season

“They got thrown in and had to go through their growing pains at the varsity level. They definitely rose to the occasion, and I am really looking to seeing how they do next year,” Good said.

In addition, freshman goaltender Nolan Mullen had to fill in on a couple of occasions for longtime starter Nafaa.

“Nolan did a really good job playing goalie. He has made some saves for us at the varsity level. It's nice to be able to call on kids and have them perform,” Good said. “Omar, being a senior, will definitely be missed. He kind of runs our defense on the field. He has been one consistent factor we've had back there for four years.”

Sophomore midfielders Nick Shavel and Nathan Good helped solidify the defense, as well.

“They don't get a lot of praise because they do a lot of things on defense as defensive midfielders. We put them against Penn-Trafford's best scorer (late in the season), and they did an outstanding job on him. They only gave up a goal apiece between them,” Chad Good said.

Juniors Danny Good, Alex Flemm, Tyler Plunko and Dan Coughenour enjoyed strong seasons.

“The junior class was really good, too. Danny and Alex took on leadership roles and were captains. The job they do on the field and how they communicate with the other players, you can see the effort they put in and how much they care,” Chad Good said. “Tyler Plunko, from his freshman year to now, the strides he has made as a player are really great. He is one of our defenders. He and Dan Coughenour understand the defense in and out. That's one of the ways those two lead also.”

Joe Sager is a freelance writer.

Tags: Norwin