Tuesday Notes: #1 'Wick, #3 Haverford Avoid Upsets On The Road

It feels like this tends to happen often: the days that don't look as strong on paper always end up delivering. On Tuesday, upsets were narrowly avoided, but not without drama, as Delbarton (N.J.) and Springside Chestnut Hill Academy (Pa.) made Brunswick (Conn.) and Haverford (Pa.), respectively, sweat their way to victory after facing early deficits. Let's take a look at how things unfolded:   Brunswick (Conn.) 14, Delbarton (N.J.) 8   In a matchup that was new to the schedule for 2024, Brunswick trekked down to Jersey's Morris County for a Tuesday tilt at Delbarton. Despite coming in having lost three of their last five, the Green Wave gave the Bruins all they could handle and tied it 6-6 at the half before ‘Wick went on a big third-quarter run and ultimately won 14-8.   The halftime score was surprising, but nothing turned more heads than how the game started. Highly touted Brunswick junior Aidan-Diaz Matos, who we've highlighted twice this spring, hasn't lost too many face-offs this year and has been on the right side of every matchup. However, on the first face-off of Tuesday's game, Delbarton senior [player_tooltip player_id='14940' first='Ryan' last='Trafford'] won cleanly out front, darted upfield, and put the ball in the back of the net. A few seconds later, Green Wave sophomore Christian Trocynski scored a goal of his own when he collected the ball after winning the clamp, sprinted behind the cage, and beat a defender topside to make it 2-0. Brunswick responded with two goals from do-it-all middies Graham Burchill and sophomore [player_tooltip player_id='16409' first='Matt' last='Colella'], however, a little deja vu ensued for Delbarton midway through the first quarter when Trocynski and Trafford tallied a few seconds apart once again. With his Bruins trailing 4-2 and stagnant on offense, five-star senior [player_tooltip player_id='14810' first='Hudson' last='Hausmann'] answered 30 seconds later on the first of two beautiful individual efforts from the Virginia signee on Tuesday. Early in the second stanza, 'Wick sophomore [player_tooltip player_id='16386' first='Lucas' last='Garcia'] beat his man off the end line and tied things up, though Delbarton quickly fired back with a tally from talented uncommitted junior middie Andrew Johnson. Unfortunately for the home team, Johnson's goal was the first and last goal scored by a Delbarton offensive player on Tuesday. Brunswick sophomore [player_tooltip player_id='17481' first='Rick' last='Giordano'] found the net on his patented stepdown hammer, then five-star [player_tooltip player_id='14814' first='Payton' last='Anderson'] scored his first of the day thanks to a tenacious ride from Colgate-bound classmate Casey Quinson. At that point, it felt as if 'Wick would go into the half with the lead before Delbarton's Trafford secured his hat trick before the break, but did things differently this time around. The future Navy running back and face-off specialist got the ball after a Diaz-Matos violation, and after staying on the field and about to take his second shot of the possession, dodged through the teeth of the Brunswick defense and bounced one in. Trocynski trotted out, raked one to himself, and went to the rack but to avail, preventing the Green Wave from further seizing the momentum, heading into halftime knotted at six goals apiece. From there, Brunswick reeled off a 5-0 run to start the third quarter and then added another three goals, with another pair of Trafford tallies sandwiched between Anderson's goal at the end of the third, along with fourth-quarter goals by [player_tooltip player_id='22652' first='Sean' last='Ryan'] and [player_tooltip player_id='16386' first='Lucas' last='Garcia']. Senior [player_tooltip player_id='25580' first='Alec' last='Delgado'], a Bowdoin recruit, spelled Lafayette-bound Delbarton starter [player_tooltip player_id='15325' first='Patrick' last='Roelke'] (nine saves) and stopped seven shots in the second half in relief. While Delbarton finished the day 14-for-25 at the X per NJ.com's stats, Diaz-Matos turned things around and won the battle in the final 24 minutes, during which Brunswick's offense stepped up its efficiency and converted the lion's share of its opportunities. A few more general thoughts and personnel notes: — The score doesn't properly indicate how strong of a defensive performance Brunswick put together. Even if Delbarton narrowly surpassed its season average of 7.9 goals per game heading into Tuesday, the Green Wave struggled to find quality looks on cage and seldom made goalie [player_tooltip player_id='14836' first='Tucker' last='Williams'] (Brown) work. I lost count of how many groundballs five-senior [player_tooltip player_id='14816' first='Luke' last='Hublitz'] (Virginia) picked up, though it must have been a half-dozen or so. Classmate [player_tooltip player_id='14867' first='Robert' last='Plath'], a Georgetown commit, has covered the opponents' top option in most of the games I've gotten eyes on this year (and has done an excellent job), but Hublitz's steady work as the No. 2 has been huge for the defense and has allowed him to show his all-around skill set and prowess away from the ball. — In Brunswick's '23 and '24 classes, top-tier talent has come in threes, as a trio of 5-stars has been a part of each of the last two senior classes for Bruins. Since that recognition won't be handed out until closer to September 1, time will tell with the '26s, and they each bring something different. Right now, there's an awful lot to like about Garcia, Colella, and Giordano, and so much can be said about their play, especially considering how much the Bruins lost to graduation and needed last year's freshmen to step into bigger roles as sophomores. Although Garcia came into the season as the biggest name (much was written about him and Giordano during the offseason), all three have been outstanding thus far in 2024. Colella has really impressed me with how much he's able to do at an exceptional level. A tall drink of water at 6'3, Colella scored a pair of goals on Tuesday, with his second coming on a nifty rebound finish. He's taken wings, played tough defense, and has been a key part of Brunswick's transition game. — Tuesday wasn't exactly the best day for the Delbarton defense. Like everybody else on Brunswick's schedule, the Green Wave had their work cut out for them, and yesterday, they struggled to make stops. However, junior [player_tooltip player_id='14583' first='Bo' last='Popham'] was one of the bright spots. It was clear just how much his game has matured when I first saw him earlier this year, and it appears as though he's become much more consistent and has evolved into a leader of his team's defense as a junior, growth that was needed after the graduation of Jake Melchionni (Villanova) and Julian Radossich (Fairfield) in the Class of 2023. Looking the part with a well-built frame, Popham is a tenacious checker who imposes his will, but he's just as capable of playing strong position defense, where he relies on his much-improved footwork and strong defensive principles. It would be fair to say that Popham's stock is very much on the rise after he missed out on the Top 50 in August. Haverford (Pa.) 7, Springside Chestnut Hill Academy (Pa.) 5 While I won't have as much on this one since I have yet to watch the film, I feel obligated to share some details since another Top 5 upset was narrowly avoided. The first score update I got caught was that SCH led 5-1 in the third quarter, so I turned it on in the background while Delbarton-Brunswick finished up and figured I'd be better off watching another time. Haverford trailed 5-4 after the third quarter, got the tying goal on freshman Conor Morsell's second of the day then increased its lead to 6-5 before adding another and escaping with a narrow victory. It turns out I missed yet another goal in the 10-man ride from SCH goalie Hayes Schreiner, who also scored in his team's most recent home game against Episcopal Academy on the 19th. A Penn State signee who has been flat-out brilliant this year, the full-field heave of a juice goal from Schreiner put the Blue Devils up 4-1 and was his third goal of the year. On top of his athleticism and brilliance out of the cage, Schreiner's super tough to beat in between the pipes. Based off of the limited highlights, it looked like SCH primarily played a zone, and Schreiner ended up finishing with 18 saves in the losing effort. On the surface, a close game between the two Inter-Ac squads isn't incredibly shocking, especially when considering the familiarity between former Freedom teammates and top-two face-off specialists Ben McCarthy (Duke) of Haverford and Ross Prince (Georgetown) of Springside Chestnut Hill. Well, Prince didn't even play, still sidelined by an injury that hampered him in a 12-10 loss against Episcopal Academy. Fortunately for SCH, sophomore Henry Bertelsen is highly regarded in his own right, and managed a 7-for-14 day against the Fords' tandem of McCarthy and junior Griff Meyer, a Virginia commit. For more on the game, <a href="https://phillylacrosse.com/2024/fusionlax-tuesday-boys-summaries-81/">have a look at PhillyLacrosse.com's stats</a>, as well as Hudl's separate highlight reels — <a href="https://fan.hudl.com/usa/pa/haverford/organization/2685/the-haverford-school-high-school/watch?hr=SGlnaGxpZ2h0UmVlbFN1bW1hcnk2NjMxZDk4MjdhNjQ4ODA3NTlmODQ1NWM%3D&ot=TEAM&oi=381416">here are Haverford's goals</a>, and <a href="https://fan.hudl.com/usa/pa/philadelphia/organization/8433/springside-chestnut-high-school/watch?hr=SGlnaGxpZ2h0UmVlbFN1bW1hcnk2NjMyNjRjMzE0NTRlZDlhNTdkODc2ZDc%3D&ot=TEAM&oi=20487">here are SCH's goals</a>.

It feels like this tends to happen often: the days that don't look as strong on paper always end up delivering.

On Tuesday, upsets were narrowly avoided, but not without drama, as Delbarton (N.J.) and Springside Chestnut Hill Academy (Pa.) made Brunswick (Conn.) and Haverford (Pa.), respectively, sweat their way to victory after facing early deficits. Let's take a look at how things unfolded: