The first few days of last week weren't particularly uplifting for the boys' lacrosse squad at Penn Charter. On Tuesday afternoon, a relatively inexperienced PC team opened Inter-Ac League play by hosting the seasoned and very talented Malvern Friars, and fell 17-3 to the Chester County club.

The Quakers turned the other cheek, and COVID-19 smacked it. On Wednesday it was learned that there had been Coronavirus contact on the team, and that competition and practice would have to be suspended for two weeks. This hasn't been uncommon at area schools, but it's certainly discouraging right at the start of league play.

The Quakers went on hiatus with an overall record of 2-5. They started out by losing to four out-of-state rivals, then won two games in a row over Friends Schools League opponents Academy of the New Church and Westtown School.

The Malvern team left School House Lane with a mark of 4-1, its only loss coming against Maryland's Archbishop Spalding High School. The Friars won the Inter-Ac championship in 2018 and 2019, and this spring their roster lists no fewer than 13 seniors who will go on to play Division I college lacrosse.

After Malvern opened Tuesday's scoring a minute-and-a-half into the match, Charter came upfield and sent a shot into the pads of goalie Chris O'Grady. He's a senior, as is the Quakers' starting keeper, Ben Tomkins.

PC began with seniors Conor McKee and juniors Petey Malitas and Colin Michener on attack and with senior Ryan Yeatman, junior Generoso Rullo, and sophomore Seamus McCain as the defensemen. On the first midfield line were seniors Tone DeMarco and Kellen Seth and junior Oliver Leedale-Brown.

The score remained 1-0 for a stretch, then near the middle of the period Malvern pumped in three goals in just over a minute-and-a-half. Penn Charter called time-out, but the visitors made it 5-0 not long after play resumed, with 6:13 still remaining in the first period.

The Friars' familiarity with one another showed in their awareness of the field and of their teammates, with snappy ball movement and off-the-ball cuts that were anticipated by the ballhandlers.

A PC player was sent to the penalty area with 3:18 remaining, but Charter weathered this well, with a lone Malvern shot hitting a goalpost. The visitors were not done for the quarter, though; a hard overhand shot by senior Eric Spanos made it 6-0 at the end of the first frame.

After the Friars bumped their lead up to 7-0 early in the second quarter, Penn Charter ended the shutout with 5:12 to go in the half. Malitas placed the ball in the cage from a step off the crease on the right side. The gap was back to seven points by halftime, with senior Will Peden scoring for Malvern in the final minute.

Peden also recorded the first goal of the second half, finishing off a transition sequence for the visitors.

A little later, the Quakers had their most successful short spell of offense of the day, netting back-to-back goals with 8:15 and 7:09 left in the third period. Sophomore Chet Kempenski moved across the front of the cage from left to right to fire the first of these, then DeMarco (a North Carolina signee) whipped in an outside shot from the top of the offense to make it 9-3.

Malvern responded quickly to PC's second straight goal, pushing its total to double digits with 6:57 on the clock. The Friars added two more markers before the end of the third round to make it 12-3. The Quakers wouldn't score again, and were out-pointed 5-0 in the fourth quarter.

In the Penn Charter goal, Tompkins made 13 saves before he was relieved late in the game by sophomore Noah Dacanay, who provided six stops.

Spanos scored a game-high four goals, and Nick Potemski had a hat trick.

Fellow seniors Peden and Colin McGill each put in a pair. Malvern keeper O'Grady (four saves) was backed up by junior Joseph Doherty (three).