MIDDLETOWN — All good things eventually end, a fact of life veteran Penncrest High School lacrosse coach Wayne Matsinger is keenly aware of.
But not on this Wednesday night.
The fourth-seeded Lions got off to a big start, weathered a comeback and pulled away to defeat fifth seed Upper Merion, 13-7, in the first round of the District 1 Class 2A playoffs. That allowed Coach Mats to enjoy another playoff game in this, his 25th and final season with the program.
Matsinger has guided the Lions to 315 wins and counting.
“Any time you get a playoff win against a quality team like Upper Merion, well coached, it feels good,” Matsinger said. “We knew we had our hands full, and we had to execute tonight. We knew they were going to come out in a zone against us, so we got on them early and they had to come out of the zone. We just made some adjustments and the boys finished tonight. They shot well.”
Spoken like a classy man enjoying another playoff victory, a stat that Vikings counterpart Brady McCormick admires.
“I’ve given him five or six,” McCormick said. “We’ve been matched up against him the last three years in one form or another. Wayne’s a great guy. Wayne’s one of the guys that I truly respect in the sport because of how good of a person he is and how much he loves the kids and how much he respects the opponents. He’s been huge for this sport, and I’ll be sad to see him go.”
The Lions (11-7) never trailed and led by as many as seven goals on the misty, chilly night thanks to Spencer Meile and Aaron Goldstein, who scored four goals apiece and Spencer Tyson, who had a pair. Owen Thompson, Liam Doyle and Kolby Poole all had goals for the Lions.
Lions goalie Caden Paukstis made a small handful of tough saves in the third quarter and also assisted on two goals, venturing out of the net and locating teammates on the fastbreak.
“I feel like I’m kind of fast,” Paukstis said with a smile. “No, I’m just always looking up field and trying to look for the open guy. To start the game, I don’t think I was seeing the ball too well. But I think I picked it up.”
Paukstis and the Lions shut out the Vikings in the third period to enter the final frame with a 10-6 lead.
Kevin Roseland had three goals, Justin Besz a pair for the Vikings (12-7).
The Lions play next Wednesday in the district semifinal round against Central League neighbor Marple Newtown. While the Lions aren’t dwelling on worst-case scenarios, they’re not above using the urgency to create energy.
Paukstis and Doyle, whose father Mike coaches the Penncrest basketball team, don’t want to hold anything back.
“It could be his last,” Doyle said of Matsinger. “And it could be our last. I think it lights a fire under us and gets the guys going.”
Then and only then will Doyle try to wrap his head around what Matsinger has done in 25 seasons at Penncrest. His dad is closing in on 300 wins.
“It’s crazy to think about that because in basketball there’s more games,” Doyle said. “My dad has been here for a good amount of time. My whole life my dad has been a basketball coach and they’ve won games for so long. My lacrosse coach has won over 300 games? It’s crazy to think about it like that.”
