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Sports

Tigers Win Two Straight For First Time In Two Years

The Marple Newtown boys lacrosse team beat Harriton 14-2 Tuesday night.

NEWTOWN SQUARE–Davey Jones is trying to build something at . The Tigers’ boys lacrosse coach is deceiving. He’s 23 and, although he still looks like he’s in high school, he deals with his players in an exuberant, balanced manner, building their confidence and trying to create something at Marple Newtown.

And it’s starting to show.

The Tigers beat Harriton, 14-2, on a raw, rainy Tuesday night to drive their record to 3-4 overall and 1-3 in the Central League, while Harriton fell to 1-6 overall and 0-4 in the league.

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This victory meant a little something for Marple Newtown. It’s the first time the Tigers won two consecutive games since 2009, and the three victories mark the first time Marple Newtown has won three games in a season since 2009.

Senior Matt Gregory led the Tigers with a game-high three goals, followed by two goals from Anthony Nicolardi, Aaron Bryant and Evan Aigeldinger, and one goal each from Ted Oleynick, Aaron Carmichael, Cullen Scott, Jon O’Farrill and freshman David Dagessian, while Harriton’s Greg Winig and Greg Dagit scored for the Rams.

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Marple Newtown’s 7-1 halftime lead was its largest at intermission this season. It followed up what the Tigers did in their previous game, beating Cardinal O’Hara (9-5), and that came after a heartbreaking 7-6 overtime loss to Haverford on April 7.

So gradually, slowly the move towards respectability is coming. Jones is doing it with a nice blend of youth and experience, leaning on seniors like Gregory and Scott, Oleynick, Brian Kelly and Corey McDonnell. Jones is the third coach in four years at Marple Newtown, which has had six different lacrosse coaches over the last 10 years.

It wasn’t exactly a stable position. Jones wants to add stability to the program—and it’s showing. He’s getting his players involved with off-season camps and summer leagues, and it works at Marple Newtown, so he’s not going anywhere any time soon.

“I love the community and I plan on sticking around,” Jones said. “I keep telling the guys this isn’t a rebuilding year. We want to win, and we want to win now. I knew they had a rough time last year, but I think a big key to this year is that the kids have bought into the program and what we’re trying to do. We’ve been showing improvement with each game, and I think we’re only going to get better.”

Gregory sees the changes. A two-year starter, who played quality minutes as a sophomore, Gregory has seen the program evolve.

“I feel we’re playing more like a team,” Gregory said. “We aren’t rebuilding, I think we can play with the better teams in the league, and that’s starting to show.”

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