By Matt Chandik
TopLaxRecruits.com, Posted 3/26/17
NEWTOWN SQUARE, Pa. – Chris Bates would have preferred a more fairy-tale ending to his debut as Episcopal Academy’s head coach.
That’s the peril to scheduling national powerhouse Culver Academy (IN) in your season opener. The Eagles, making their annual early-season East Coast trip to Philly, used a huge second quarter to down the host Churchmen, 11-6.
“They’re very good,” Bates affirmed. “It’s a tough test early. That’s why you schedule them, and the first comment that I said to our guys was, ‘That’s the level we want to play, that’s the level that’s in our conference and as long as we learn from it, we’ll take a March 25 loss as long as we, tomorrow, the next day and the next day, keep getting better.’ ”
Bates has seen his share of success, and at very high levels. For 17 years, he served in head coaching positions at successful D1 programs Princeton and Drexel, winning five league or conference championships and guiding teams to two NCAA Tournaments. He last coached in high school in 1993 at Archbishop Ryan, but his love of coaching remains as high as ever.
“When the lights go on and the first faceoff goes, it feels the same because the intensity’s there,” Bates said. “This is not unlike college, but it’s only part of these guys’ lives. In the college setting, every single person was an All-American, essentially.
“Here, it’s kind of finding roles and motivating guys to dream a little bigger and work a little harder, but at its core, it’s still creating a team and a culture that is accountable and raises the bar. It’s been fun and I’m having a blast.”
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Before the EA-Culver game, the No. 1 team in the C2C Lacrosse North America Rankings, McDonogh School (MD), defeated No. 18 Chaminade (NY), 10-6. The two teams met halfway between Long Island and Baltimore.
McDonogh (4-0) dominated after falling behind, 4-3. Griffin Catlett (Duke commit) and Jack Simmons (Georgetown commit) led the Eagles with three goals each while Liam Powderly had a goal and two assists.
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Things got off to a good start for Episcopal Academy when Jake Martellucci (Maryland) and defenseman Conner Delaney (Johns Hopkins basketball) scored around a Jackson Reid (Ohio State) tally. That might have just angered Culver, though. The Eagles, ranked No. 4 by TopLaxRecruits.com, showcased their ridiculous scoring depth and explosiveness by piecing together a 7-0 run that featured goals from Reid, Austin Madronic (Cornell), Jake Stevens (Cornell), Alex Simmons (Denver) and Brett Handsor (Johns Hopkins).
“When we play together as a team like that, there’s no one that can stop us, to be honest,” said Madronic, who finished with two goals and an assist. “We’ve got a good group of guys and we all work together so well. We have great talent, and we work together like that and move the ball, it’s a really nice thing to see.”
Indeed. When the Eagles are on, they can move the ball like few other teams can. Backed by a Canadian-heavy roster, Culver’s unique skill set makes it a matchup nightmares for teams. It took a little while for the Eagles (4-0) to get going, but once they did, it was a nonstop onslaught.
“In the first quarter, we had chances, but we just weren’t finishing the ball as well,” Madronic explained. “Second quarter, I think everything just clicked for us. I don’t think there’s anything special we did. We just kept playing Culver lacrosse.”
The good news for EA is that things will get easier against just about anyone else, and that the Churchmen showed signs of being able to hang with top teams. Connor Ringwalt (Dickinson) led the offensive charge with a hat trick and Chris McCoun also tallied to go with goals from Martellucci and Delaney. Lafayette commit Griffin Ernst was a stout 11-for-18 at the faceoff X and fellow future Leopard teammate Jake Floyd-Jones was sharp with eight saves and looked significantly more comfortable in his second season as the Churchmen’s starter.
“I’m a lot more comfortable. We’re still going to have some jitters like that, but there’s a lot more riding on me this year to just command the defense with a sophomore and a junior in there who didn’t really play last year,” Floyd-Jones said. “We need to mesh more as a defense and we’re so young that it’s been a challenge so far.
“I think (Culver) destroyed us in matchups in the second quarter. Once we packed it in, they showed that they wouldn’t take the 13-yarders. They were either going to take the five-yarders or take it back out again. Once we adjusted, they only scored three goals in the second half.”
A 4-3 second-half win is a lot for EA to build on, especially as Bates, the former Princeton coach, looks to put his stamp on the program.
Culver Academy (IN) 11, Episcopal Academy 6
Culver Academy 3-5-0-3- 11
Episcopal Ac 2-0-2-2- 6
Culver
Jackson Reid 3g, 1a
Austin Madronic 2g, 1a
Jake Stevens 2g
Wheaton Jackoboice 1g, 2a
Alex Simmons 1g, 1a
Brett Handsor 1g
Will Clayton 1g
Matthew Schmidt 8 saves
Episcopal Academy
Connor Ringwalt 3g
Jake Martellucci 1g
Conner Delaney 1g
Chris McCoun 1g
Dan Baker 1a
Charlie Cunniffe 1a
Rowan Brumbaugh 1a
Cortie Fischer 1a
Jake Floyd-Jones 8 saves
Griffin Ernst 11-for-18 FO
Jack Henderson 2-for-3 FO