The Parkland High School boys lacrosse team had an exciting week, winning four of its five games. Two of those victories came right at the end of one-goal victories.

The Trojans defeated Central Catholic 12-11 last Tuesday night in overtime at Salisbury High School and followed that two nights later with another one-goal win, 7-6, over Northwestern Lehigh at home. Parkland concluded the week with a 15-5 defeat in nonconference action at Wilson West Lawn and began this week with a 17-4 victory at Southern Lehigh.

Head coach Vince Arezzi is happy with how his team has performed so far this season, but knows it can do more.

“It’s been a season of ups and downs with inconsistent performances on both offense and defense,” said Arezzi. “We’ve had some successes but are not yet performing at the level we’re striving for. As we look to the second half of the season, we’re trying to find the right formula for consistency.”

Parkland’s only losses this season have come in a tough nonconference schedule. The Trojans are 6-0 in the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference, one of just two teams undefeated in the league.

“The EPC rivalries get our players fired up,” Arezzi said. “We’ve performed best in the EPC games due to the focus and intensity of the players. We still have several tough EPC opponents in front of us and expect them to be prepared to put up a fight.

“There will be no easy games, and we need to earn a playoff spot with solid performances.”

Against the Vikings, the score was tied 3-3 after one and Central led 7-5 at halftime and then 10-6 after three.

The Trojans mounted a comeback in the fourth quarter, outscoring CCHS 5-1 to force overtime. Max Esteban’s first goal of the game was an important one as it was the game winner in the extra period.

John Gerancher had a hat trick. Parker Kusko, Jake Beidleman and Tyler Smith netted two goals and Danny Tapia and Matt Kelley had the other goals. Andrew Matulevicius finished with eight saves.

In a back-and-forth game, the Trojans led the defending District 11 Class 2A champion Tigers 4-3 after the first and 6-3 after the second and third quarters as the third period was scoreless.

Parkland had to hold off a comeback surge and was outscored 3-1 in that final frame. Blake Finnegan tallied three goals and an assist. Gerancher finished with two goals and two assists.

Tapia and Kusko each had a goal with the latter adding an assist and Smith contributed an assist. Matulevicius made 14 saves.

The Trojans did not score a goal in the entire second half against the Bulldogs after trailing 11-5 at halftime.

Beidleman led the team with two goals and each of Kusko, Tapia and Gerancher had a goal. Kelley added two assists. Matulevicius finished with 13 saves.

Parkland led 5-0 after the opening quarter and 7-2 at halftime before opening up a double-digit lead (14-3) after three quarters against the Spartans.

Kusko scored a team and game high nine goals. Finnegan added three goals and one assist.

Parkland, which improved its record to 9-4 overall and an unbeaten 6-0 in the conference, hosts Liberty on Thursday night for senior night.

The Trojans are then at Boyertown on Saturday morning in a nonconference game before traveling to take on Nazareth on Monday night.