By Tom Robinson, NEPASportsNation.com
LEHMAN TWP. – Trey Zabroski was the most prolific scorer in District 2 boys lacrosse throughout the 2021 season and Crestwood’s latest run to the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association state semifinals.
Zabroski assumed the same role Saturday night at Edward Edwards Stadium when many of the top recent Wyoming Valley Conference graduates gathered for a Senior All-Star Game, sponsored by 570 Sports Show LLC.
The Grove City College recruit scored a game-high seven goals to lead the way as Team Yellow defeated Team Purple, 16-12.
Zabroski scored at least one goal in every quarter and fired in five in the second half when Yellow, which never trailed, moved ahead to stay. He scored three times in less than three minutes during a stretch in the middle of the third quarter when the pace and scoring picked up significantly.
Then, when Purple crept within two goals for the final time with 3:33 remaining, Zabroski joined a teammate from Crestwood’s WVC and District 2 champions in helping to put the game away.
Yellow reeled off three goals in the next 1:19 with Zabroski connecting on two. Chandler O’Farrell assisted one of Zabroski’s goals and set up Cooper Wood for another.
O’Farrell finished with two goals and five assists while Wood scored four times.
Scranton Prep’s Chase Stephens, the team MVP, and Delaware Valley’s Finnegan McCormack scored four times each for Purple. Lake-Lehman’s Marshall Woodrosky added two goals and two assists.
Tyler Shedlock from Wyoming Seminary added a goal and an assist for Yellow. Crestwood’s Eric Johnson and Wilkes-Barre Area’s Michael Senape also scored. Lake-Lehman’s Nick Zaboski and Lakeland’s Christian Winkler provided the other assists.
Alex Husejnovic from Delaware Valley had a goal and assist for Purple. Tunkhannock’s Riley Jones scored the goal that made it 13-11 late. Scranton Prep’s C.T. Graniel had an assist.
Yellow had a 37-34 lead in shots and got eight saves from Crestwood’s Dean Fey.
Holdan Riff from Abington Heights made four saves for Purple.
Yellow took a 4-0 lead in the first 8:11, but Purple scored the next four goals to tie the game in the second quarter and evened it up again at 5-5 and 7-7 early and midway through the third quarter.
After Stephens tied the game for the last time, Purple scored goals seven seconds apart to take the lead for good.
O’Farrell passed from behind the goal to set up Zabroski in front for the go-ahead goal. Wood then raced up the left side off the ensuing faceoff for a two-goal lead.
Purple responded with McCormack scoring off the next faceoff, needing just six seconds to convert and making it a combined three goals in 13 seconds.
The goals kept coming.
Johnson scooped up a groundball and quickly turned it into a goal with 5:19 left and O’Farrell again set up Zabroski. The goal, with 4:57 left, came in transition, with O’Farrell running down the middle of the field before sending a pass ahead.
The team’s fourth goal in less than a minute was part of Yellow outscoring Purple, 6-5, in the third quarter and, 11-8, in the second half.
The decisive stretch was another quick burst.
O’Farrell won the faceoff and assisted Zabroski for a 14-11 lead just six seconds after the Jones goal for Purple.
Fey’s long outlet pass from his goalie position hit O’Farrell, who kept the fastbreak moving with a pass to Wood for the next goal 32 seconds later.
Zabroski closed the flurry with a hard shot down the middle for the game’s only five-goal lead.
WVC coaches named Zabroski the Offensive Player of the Year during their all-star voting. He finished the season with 85 goals and 62 assists and racked up 178 goals and 142 assists in his career despite not having a junior season because of the pandemic.
At Grove City in western Pennsylvania, Zabroski will be joining the Presidents’ Athletic Conference champions. The Wolverines went 11-2 with the second loss coming in the first round of the National Collegiate Athletic Association Division III Tournament. They were 6-0 in the PAC regular season and won two more playoff games to take the title.
“I really like the program there and the coaches,” Zabroski said in an interview at the end of the high school season. “I’ve been talking to a lot of the players out there and it seems like a really nice team and a nice program to go into.”
