Eastern upends second-ranked Shawnee

Is it too early in the season to charge the field and celebrate after a win?

Not for the Eastern boys' lacrosse team.

The Vikings' 11-7 upset Tuesday of Shawnee, the No. 2 team in The Inquirer's South Jersey rankings, was at once a relief, vindication, and a tone-setter for the regular season.

"Last year after we lost to Shawnee, 16-4, we promised ourselves that it wasn't going to be like that this year," said senior midfielder C.J. Penberthy, who netted a game-high four goals and dominated the face-off circle for No. 8 Eastern at Shawnee.

"This is only our second win against them in 10 years. We haven't won since 2007. So this is huge - it's one of the biggest wins of my life. It's something we've been thinking about all offseason, and it really gives us confidence going forward."

A goal by Renegades midfielder Kyle Borbi with 11 minutes, 53 seconds left in the game brought his team to within one goal, at 8-7.

Penberthy answered back three minutes later with a strong sidearm goal from distance. He followed that with a nearly identical score with 2:48 left, making the score 11-7 and all but sealing the upset.

"This win is definitely a good one for us," said Eastern coach Steve Picot, whose team improved to 2-0, after it had a solid opening win over Jackson Memorial on Saturday.

"It does give us a little bit of confidence. As long as we keep doing what we do and worry about ourselves, we'll be fine."

The turning point in the game actually occurred late in the first quarter.

Shawnee had opened up a 4-1 lead in the first five minutes, forcing Eastern to switch from a zone defense to man-to-man.

"I think I made a mistake in the beginning putting our guys in a zone," Picot said. "My players proved me wrong, and I appreciate that.

"Ian Sawyer and Brett Eisenberg did a great job of stopping their best dodgers."

The defensive formation went a long way in shutting down Shawnee's dangerous scoring duo of senior midfielder Owen Demmerly and Borbi, a sophomore.

But equal credit goes to Eastern goalie Peter Cava.

The junior made several big saves, particularly in the second half when Eastern pulled away.

Cava recorded 11 saves, helping hold Shawnee (0-1) to one second-half goal. He held the Renegades scoreless in the third quarter.

"I thought Eastern played a great game," Shawnee coach Tim Gushue said. "Generally speaking, they outplayed us in just about every phase of the game.

"But this is one game. It's not how you start - it's how you finish. Hopefully, we'll regroup."

Eastern   3 3 2 3 – 11

Shawnee   4 2 0 1 – 7

Goals: E-Jonah Samost 3, Robby Weingart, C.J. Penberthy 4, Gabe Maresca, Collin Mitchell 2; S- Kyle Borbi 2, Eric Meyer 2, Owen Demmerly, Jake Dean, Zach McHale.

Saves: E-Peter Cava 11; S-James Bickel 6.