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By Neil Geoghegan
ngeoghegan@21st-centurymedia.com
@NeilMGeoghegan on Twitter
MALVERN >> It was a long, challenging pre-conference slate, but it all paid off Tuesday for the Malvern Prep lacrosse squad in its Inter-Ac opener against Episcopal Academy.
After facing a murderer’s row of national powerhouses in preparation – and winning six of seven – the Friars overcame a slow start to cruise past the visiting Churchmen, 14-5. It came just three days after Malvern (7-1 overall) dropped its first of the season to New Jersey power Lawrenceville, 9-4.
“We say this is a new season,” said junior attacker Michael Ortlieb. “We know the Inter-Ac is loaded with very good teams. So (head) coach (Matt) Mackrides does a really good job of scheduling to prepare us.
“We pride ourselves on trying to be the best team in the country every year, so to do that you have to play the best teams in the nation.”
The Friars previously topped three Maryland standout programs – Boys Latin, Calvert Hall and Georgetown Prep – in addition to Colorado’s Valor Prep. But with co-favorite Haverford School up on April 14th (and again on May 2nd), along with a home-and home with other conference contenders Chestnut Hill Academy and La Salle, Malvern Prep has big challenges ahead.
“The Inter-Ac is a tough league to play in because you play everybody twice,” Mackrides said. “We will get everybody’s best. And coming off a tough schedule prior to league play I knew we were prepared to go today.
“Our mindset is to prepare and acclimate our guys to play at the next level. We are a preparatory school. Our league provides excellent opponents, so we know we are going to get nine or 10 quality games every season, and it’s my job to put our guys in position to be prepared for those games.”
It was also the first Inter-Ac contest for first-year Episcopal head coach Chris Bates. The Churchmen fall to 5-2.
“(The Inter-Ac) is as deep as any league in the country,” he said. “We will play Malvern again on April 27th, so we will see how far we can grow in that span.”
It took a full 11 minutes for the Friars’ potent attack to get into rhythm, but once it got cranked up … look out. Malvern scored 11 of the first 12 goals once it broke the ice, to take total command midway through the final period.
“(Episcopal) came out with some high intensity, and we had to match it,” Mackrides said.
“(The slow start) had a little bit to do with coming off a loss Saturday and trying to find our rhythm again.”
Ortlieb added: “It was tough to get our feet under us but we have a lot of seniors and they kept saying ‘keep pushing. The goals will come.’”
They certainly did. At one point, the Friars scored nine goals in a row, and the run was sparked by two heads up plays by Ortlieb deep in Episcopal territory. Midway through the second quarter, the Duke commit swiped the ball from Churchmen goaltender Jack Guido two times, and deposited each into the Episcopal net.
“I got lucky today,” Ortlieb said afterwards.
“No one wants those two plays back more than Jack (Guido),” Bates added. “And overall he played very well.
“That’s what happens when teams put pressure on you. They see how far they can push you until you break, and we broke a little bit there.”
Malvern’s Owen Mears (also a Duke commit) added two more goals and specialist Nick Wehmeyer won a faceoff and scored to make it 7-1 at the half.
“We played with great energy to start, but the challenge is to sustain that level when you are playing talented opponents,” Bates pointed out. “(Malvern Prep) didn’t panic, they stayed the course and started to play their game and we weren’t able to match it.
“We had a couple failed clears that rattled us a little bit. But to (Malvern’s) credit, they put their foot on the gas and didn’t take it off.”
Seniors Tommy Tray and John Majka opened the second half with goals, Ortlieb made it 10-1 at the end of three quarters, and then Majka (Army commit) and junior Ryan Sims wrapped up the surge.
“It was a great effort. I loved our intensity in the middle part of the game,” Mackrides said.
“We tried to learn from the mistakes we made Saturday,” added Ortlieb, who led the way with three goals and four assists.
At that point, the Friars removed most of their starters and Episcopal scored four goals in the final 6:27, including two by senior Zeke Kane.
In nearly 40 minutes of action, senior goalie Heath Jones (Rutgers recruit) allowed just one goal and stopped seven shots for Malvern, including five in the third period.
“Our defensive unit has been the backbone of our team, and Heath Jones has been exceptional this season, and especially the last three games,” Mackrides said.
Mears finished with three goals. And in addition to his goal, Wehmeyer (Yale recruit) won 12 of 15 face offs, and helped his team to a 14-8 edge overall.
“We are younger on offense, so our growth has to happen on the offensive side,” Bates said. “That’s where we struggled a bit today.”
Malvern Prep 14, Episcopal 5
Episcopal 0 1 0 4 — 5
Malvern Prep 1 6 3 4 — 14
Episcopal goals: Kane 2, Malone, Manion, Marciano.
Malvern Prep goals: Ortlieb 3, Mears 3, Wildermuth 2, Majka 2, Sims, Tray, Wehmeyer, Bickel.
Goalie saves: Guido (E) 13; Jones (MP) 7; Ploszay (MP) 3.
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