Click here to subscribe today or Login.
EMMAUS — Crestwood freshman attacker Anthony Caporuscio played a huge role Saturday afternoon, helping rally the District 2 champs in the state lacrosse quarterfinals.
Lansdale Catholic, however, was quick to respond.
Caporuscio’s fifth goal of the game gave the Comets the lead late in the PIAA Class 2A quarterfinals, but the Crusaders tied it up just 18 seconds later en route to a 12-9 victory at Emmaus High School’s Memorial Field.
Rallying from an early three-goal deficit, senior attacker Zach Anderson had tied the game for Crestwood roughly three minutes before Caporuscio put the Comets in front.
With the game tied still heading into the final quarter, both teams worked patiently on offense. Despite the Crusaders’ efforts to run out the clock in the closing minutes after sophomore Ryan Flanegan scored his fourth goal of the game with 8:29 left, the Comets later forced a turnover and got a potentially game-tying possession early in the final minute of regulation.
But the Crusaders ultimately scored a pair of insurance goals to advance to Tuesday’s semifinals against District 1 champ Springfield.
After the season-ending loss, the Comets (15-8) could take positives from this game and the season.
For Anderson, whose goal tied the score at 8-8 with 5:10 left in the third quarter, he will remember his contribution as a good memory from his final game against Lansdale Catholic (18-4) before he attends King’s in the fall.
“It meant a lot to score (that goal), but most important, we worked as a family on the field, we worked together, and we played hard,” Anderson said. “Throughout the season, it has been great playing with one another. It was a (hard) ending, but it was fun all around.”
Caporuscio, Malia and all the returning Comets gained valuable postseason experience that should help. Only four starters will be graduating.
“I see such a bright future for us, honestly,” Caporuscio said. “We have a lot of good underclassmen who are starting and playing a lot, which shows real progress.”
This progress includes the emergence of freshmen Caporuscio — who finished with six points including an assist — and attacker Wyatt Malia — who finished with two assists, on Caporuscio’s second and fourth goals of the game, tying the score at 4-4 and 7-7, respectively.
“They’re freshmen, but they’re highly skilled. They play a lot of lacrosse,” Crestwood coach Brian Zabroski said. “We’re fortunate to have a lot of young players who have played this game a long time, and the strength of our schedule in District 2 prepared us for games like this. And we were running with some of the best teams on this side of the state.”
Lansdale Catholic 12, Crestwood 9
Lansdale Cath.`3`4`2`3 – 12
Crestwood`2`4`3`0 — 9
SCORING – LC, Ryan Flanegan (4 goals, 1 assist), Joe Walsh (3 goals, assist), Grady Kelly (goal, 2 assists), Nick Heiler (2 goals), Mike Basilii (2 goals). CRE, Anthony Caporuscio (5 goals, assist), Owen Grigas (2 goals), Kyle Richards (goal, assist), Matt Tirpak (2 assists), Wyatt Malia (2 assists), Zach Anderson (goal).
Shots – LC 23, CRE 21. Saves – LC 10 (Bobby Bausman), CRE 8 (Reed Karaska).
