PENNSBURY:Falcons bow out

The Downingtown East Cougars, the number 2 seed in the District One playoffs, demonstrated why they are the kings of the Ches-Mont League and a contender for the state title when they met and defeated the 15th-seeded Pennsbury Falcons by a dominating score of 14-4.
Coming off the bye, the Cougars used smothering defense and crisp ball movement to overwhelm the visiting Falcons, who were coming off a first round victory over Sun Valley two days earlier, Pennsbury's first ever playoff game and playoff victory.
But the Falcon Cinderella story was not to be. The first quarter was a close-fought battle, with the Cougars getting the game's first goal two minutes in when Jeff Zelinski fed Shane Sturgis on the left side, who knifed in a wide angle shot into the bottom corner.
The teams played tough defense the rest of the quarter until Downingtown long-stick middie Michael Brennan ran the ball out of his end and found Kenny Maas on the right side, who dodged, shot and found the back of the net with 30 seconds remaining in the quarter.
The Falcons and Cougars again played tough, defensive ball for the first six minutes of the second quarter, with neither team scoring, until the Cougars upped the ante and revved up their own offensive machine. Downingtown turned defensive turnovers into offensive opportunities and closed out the half with four consecutive goals by Rocco Pilero, Shane Sturgis, Kenny Maas, and Jeff Zelinski and a 6-0 lead.
The start of the second half suddenly seemed to ignite the Falcon offense. It all started when Matt Mager grabbed a loose ball and out-raced his defender upfield. He dished to attackman Peter Sweetland, who fed it right back to him for the running shot and score.
Downington East answered right back with a goal 20 seconds later when Shane Sturgis intercepted a clearing pass from the Pennsbury defender to his goalie and fed Kenny Maas for the put-in.
But Pennsbury answered right back 10 seconds later when freshman Evan Caterson won the faceoff, weaved his way through the defense and found attackman Kenneth Warren open on the left side for the top shelf rip and score.
With the back-and-forth play reminiscent of a tennis match, Downington scored less than a minute later when they caught the Falcons in a line change. Kenny Maas took a pass from Sean Mulqueen, beat his defender and found the back of the net.
The Cougars broke serve when they swarmed the net with Shane Sturgis squeezing the shot past Falcon goalie Chris Shubert.
Pennsbury struck back when senior defenseman Ryan brim stripped the ball and sent it to senior defensive middie Connor Delaney, who jetted coast-to-coast and rifled in the running shot to make the score 9-3.
Downington closed out the third period scoring at 10-3 when Rocco Piliero picked up a loose ball, dodged right and ripped a shot into the back of the twine.
In the fourth quarter, the Cougars reasserted their control of the game by going on a 4-0 scoring rampage with Kroft, Lauletta, Zelinski and Maas getting the tallies and moving the game out of reach at 14-3.
Both teams used their bench liberally throughout the second half of the final quarter. Pennsbury netted the final goal of the game at the one-minute mark when Evan Caterson was defending a clear, rode the goalie into the corner, stripped the ball and beat a long-pole defender back to the net for the uncontested put in.
The game was played hard but with great sportsmanship as the teams split only 2 minutes in penalty time throughout the entire contest. The intermittent rain also caused a number of slips and falls by both teams throughout the contest.
Good luck to the Cougars as they make their playoff run and congratulations to the Pennsbury Falcons for an outstanding season of firsts.
Pennsbury finishes its season with an overall record of 12-8 for the year, 8-2 in the Suburban One National Conference and 1-1 in the PIAA District 1 playoffs.
The win for Downingtown East pushed the victors to 16-2 on the season, 10-0 in the Ches-Mont League, and 1-0 in the PIAA District One playoffs.
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Box Score
Team Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4--Final
Pennsbury 0 0 3 1--4
Dowingtown East 2 4 4 4--14
(May 14 at Downingtown)
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GOALS:
Pennsbury - 4; Evan Caterson 1; Kenneth Warren 1; Matt Mager1; Connor Delaney 1
Downingtown East – 14; Kenny Maas 5; Shane Sturgis 3; Rocco Pilero 2; Jeff Zelenski 2; Trey Lauletta 1; Kroft 1.
ASSISTS:
Pennsbury - 2; Evan Caterson 1; Peter Sweetland 1.
Downingtown East - 9; Shane Sturgis 3; Trey Lauletta 2; Kyle Marcks 1; Sean Mulqueen 1; Rocco Pilero 1; Jeff Zelenski 1.
SHOTS:
Pennsbury 24, Downingtown East 38
SAVES:
Chris Shubert (Pennsbury) 7; David Cutler (Pennsbury) 3; Matt Dormoyle (Downingtown East) 6, Kevin Barth (Downingtown East) 4
RECORD:
Pennsbury: 12-8 overall; 8-2 in the Suburban One National, and 1-1 in the District 1 playoffs.
Downingtown East: 16-2 overall; 10-0 in the Ches-Mont League.