Freedom’s lacrosse season came to an end last week in the opening round of the PIAA tournament. The Patriots fell to Wissahickon 10-9 in a game they trailed throughout and could never find their way to top the fourth-seed from District One.

The Pates (17-4) trailed 9-4 at halftime and were in a 10-7 hole in the fourth quarter before scoring two goals in the final minute to close the gap to one goal.

Unfortunately, Freedom couldn’t find the equalizer to give this senior class of back-to-back District 11 champions the opportunity to push further this postseason.

Head coach Tony Fabrizio knew it was disappointing to fall in the PIAA first round again, but looked back with gratitude of what this group has meant for the program.

“This was a season of highs and lows,” he said. “We had a great group of kids who never gave up, no matter what was thrown at them. We reached our goal of winning another district championship, but fell one goal shy of our other goal of winning a state playoff game. Our senior class of five players will be severely missed. Their work ethic and leadership has been outstanding, and has helped continue the culture we’re building at Freedom.”

Alex Greenberg, who led the Pates with three goals on the day, started the comeback with 52 seconds left with a goal to make it 10-8. Antonio Solivan scored with 30 seconds left to close the deficit to a goal, but that was the closest it would come.

The five seniors from this class include Elijah White, Ryan Wooley, Alexander Hume, Ryan Hathaway and Jared Ballerini.

Hume, Hathaway and Ballerini were all first-team EPC members this season.

“To keep this level of play continuing, we will be looking for underclassmen to step up to fill the voids the senior class has left,” Fabrizio said. “The coaching staff is excited to see who will be the ones to step up. We will be looking forward to bringing in a very talented freshmen class next year.”

Winning a third straight district championship will be a challenge for the program, but if Freedom finds themselves in the final again, Fabrizio might look to tweak their schedule moving forward to prepare them for the state tournament.

“I think the biggest takeaway from the state games has been that we need to play more out of area teams,” he said. “We’ve proven we can play with and beat the top teams in our area, but now we want to start making waves throughout the state.”