Scranton Prep’s Owen McPartland (1) attempts to evade a defender during the PIAA Class 2A state playoffs first round game in Scranton on Tuesday, June 2, 2026. (JASON ARDAN / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Scranton Prep’s Will Kane (12) takes a shot during the PIAA Class 2A state playoffs first round game in Scranton on Tuesday, June 2, 2026. (JASON ARDAN / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Scranton Prep’s Braedon McPartland (9) leaps foe the ball during the PIAA Class 2A state playoffs first round game in Scranton on Tuesday, June 2, 2026. (JASON ARDAN / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Scranton Prep’s Will McPartland (4) makes a pass during the PIAA Class 2A state playoffs first round game in Scranton on Tuesday, June 2, 2026. (JASON ARDAN / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Scranton Prep celebrates after scoring during the PIAA Class 2A state playoffs first round game in Scranton on Tuesday, June 2, 2026. (JASON ARDAN / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Scranton Prep’s Owen McPartland (1) takes a shot during the PIAA Class 2A state playoffs first round game in Scranton on Tuesday, June 2, 2026. (JASON ARDAN / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Scranton Prep’s Donato Rinaldi (5) attempts to grab the ball during the PIAA Class 2A state playoffs first round game in Scranton on Tuesday, June 2, 2026. (JASON ARDAN / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Scranton Prep’s Owen McPartland (1) runs with the ball during the PIAA Class 2A state playoffs first round game in Scranton on Tuesday, June 2, 2026. (JASON ARDAN / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Scranton Prep’s Jack Rully (34) pursues Lower Dauphin’s Nick Hengst (2) during the PIAA Class 2A state playoffs first round game in Scranton on Tuesday, June 2, 2026. (JASON ARDAN / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Scranton Prep’s Jack Rully (34) takes a shot during the PIAA Class 2A state playoffs first round game in Scranton on Tuesday, June 2, 2026. (JASON ARDAN / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Scranton Prep’s Owen McPartland (1) pursues Lower Dauphin goalie Cohen Pollock (40) during the PIAA Class 2A state playoffs first round game in Scranton on Tuesday, June 2, 2026. (JASON ARDAN / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Lower Dauphin celebrates after scoring during the PIAA Class 2A state playoffs first round game in Scranton on Tuesday, June 2, 2026. (JASON ARDAN / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Scranton Prep’s Braedon McPartland (9) follows through with a shot during the PIAA Class 2A state playoffs first round game in Scranton on Tuesday, June 2, 2026. (JASON ARDAN / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
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Scranton Prep’s Owen McPartland (1) attempts to evade a defender during the PIAA Class 2A state playoffs first round game in Scranton on Tuesday, June 2, 2026. (JASON ARDAN / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
SCRANTON — The most discernible name Scranton Prep fans shout during a boys lacrosse game is “Tato.”
It’s the nickname for Cavaliers star Braedon McPartland.
With the game on the line in double overtime, Tato justified the fans’ excitement every time he touches the ball.
The Cavaliers junior cut to the left side of the goal, sprinted around a defender, bolted in front of the net and fired the ball past the goalie to send District 2 champion Scranton Prep to the PIAA Class 2A quarterfinals with a 7-6, double-overtime victory over District 3 runner-up Lower Dauphin on Tuesday at Scranton Prep’s Loyola Field.
“(It feels) amazing, not really the fact that I scored it, but the fact that we pulled off that game and won in overtime,” said McPartland, who finished with three goals.
Scranton Prep (20-0) will face District 3 bronze medalist Twin Valley, a 14-6 winner over District 12 champ Cardinal O’Hara, in Saturday’s quarterfinals at a site and time to be determined.
“I was dodging from that same place all game, and I knew I could get underneath him,” McPartland said. “So when I got the ball, I was like, I’m just going to go score and end the game.”
It wasn’t the first time McPartland came through with the Cavaliers’ backs against the wall.
Jace Ganly and Cody Woodring scored back-to-back goals four minutes apart to give Lower Dauphin (18-4) a 3-2 lead with 2:01 left in the third quarter.
Seconds later, the fans yelled “Tato,” as he took control of the ball, bolted toward the goal and scored to tie the game 12 seconds after the Woodring goal.
“Tato made an unbelievable move at midfield where a kid tried to get in front of him and Tato kind of knocked him over and got him off-balance, put him on his back and made a great move going down the middle of the lane and had a good shot, which was a boost,” Scranton Prep coach Keith Toolan said. “It got the team fired up. It was just a moment in the game that we could look back at and think that was the turning point.”
The Cavaliers seized the momentum the rest of the quarter, as Owen McPartland scored with 1:06 left and Braedon McPartland scored off a rebound of Will McPartland’s shot with 9.6 seconds left to give Scranton Prep a 5-3 lead heading into the fourth quarter.
Gavin Hess cut the deficit to 5-4 with 10:56 left in the fourth, but Will McPartland sprinted down the middle and fired the ball into the top-left corner of the net to push the lead to 6-4 with 7:04 left in the fourth.
The Falcons put the pressure on in the last seven minutes, and goalie Packy James stood tall for most of the barrage, securing four of his six saves.
“Our goalie Packy James saved us at the end of the game,” Braedon McPartland said. “Our defense held them to six goals against a great team, which really kept us in the game.”
However, Ganly bulldozed his way to the net and scored with 4:45 left in the fourth and Woodring snuck a shot that James got his stick on into the goal to tie it at 6 with 8.1 seconds left in the fourth.
“Just keep fighting, keep playing gritty,” Toolan said of his message to the team entering overtime. “Like we said, it’s been a special season for us and if it wasn’t a special season, these wins wouldn’t come in overtime. So, we just said keep believing, just lock in, do your job and good things will happen.”
Late in the first overtime, Scranton Prep was a man down because of a penalty, and Lower Dauphin had possession. However, Ricky Dewey knocked the ball away from Will Gray, and Henry Barrett scooped up the loose ball to get the game to a second overtime.
“The best thing about our defense is that they go against one of the best offenses day in and day out, so they were comfortable,” Toolan said. “We knew what they were going to kind of do. We mimicked their offense a little bit with some of our guys on the offense, and they did an awesome job communicating and making their correct switches and making their correct slides where it worked. I couldn’t be more proud of the defense.”
One minute and nine seconds later, Braedon McPartland ended it for the Cavaliers’ third overtime win of the season and fourth one-goal victory.
“In practice, we just go hard live. We train for these kinds of situations and we do two-minute drills where you have to keep it in and it’s practice for this kind of stuff,” Braedon McPartland said. “And I think the heart and grit on our team is really what pushes us to win these games.”
Scranton Prep entered Tuesday averaging 17 goals per game, but knew facing the Falcons would be a different challenge.
“The team’s performance tonight was gritty, hard-working,” Toolan said. “We knew it was going to be a low-scoring game. We had some film on them, and they played some high-quality teams in the state, and looking at their scores, it was always a low-scoring game.
“So, we had a gameplan coming in that we had to execute, make the extra passes, and when the shot was there, we had to take quality shots. We knew we weren’t going to get as many shots as we’ve had in the past, but we focused, we dialed in, we locked in this week. We needed one more at the end again, and just an unbelievable move by Tato to break the crease and get a shot on that goalie.”
Will Kane and Jack Rully each had a goal in the first half, Will McPartland added two assists to his one goal and James and James Stallman combined for 11 saves, with Stallman securing five.
Woodring had three goals, and Ganly had two to lead Lower Dauphin.
SP goals-assists: O. McPartland 1-0, Rully 1-0, W. McPartland 1-2, B. McPartland 3-0, Kane 1-0; LD goals-assists: Ganly 2-0, Woodring 3-0, Hess 1-0, Medlin 0-2, Gray 0-1; Saves: Stallman (SP) 5, James (SP) 6, Pollock (LD) 14.
Abington Heights 15, Selinsgrove 6
Chris Bohn had six goals and three assists, as the District 2 runner-up Comets cruised to a win over the District 4 champ Seals in the PIAA Class 2A boys lacrosse first round Tuesday at Selinsgrove High School.
Abington Heights (17-4) will face District 1 champ Penncrest, a 17-4 winner over District 12 runner-up Devon Prep, in Saturday’s quarterfinals at a site and time to be announced.
Rodman Azar had three goals, Logan Fedor had two goals, Gavin Anders and Braghan Pallis each had one goal and two assists, Mike Arcure had a goal and Alec Walsh had an assist for the Comets.
Graham Davis had two goals, and Ben Bucher had one goal and two assists for Selinsgrove (14-5).
AH goals-assists: Bohn 6-3, Azar 3-0, Fedor 2-0, Anders 1-2, Pallis 1-2, Arcure 1-0, Walsh 0-1; SEL goals-assists: Davis 2-0, Bucher 1-2, Fordyce 1-0, Scorsone 1-0, Davis 1-0; Saves: Naholnik (AH) 9, Sheltman (SEL) 27.