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Finn Petrone‘s sophomore season didn’t exactly end the way he’d have liked.
The Radnor (Pa.) lefty attackman racked up a whopping 67 goals and 22 assists last year and looked poised to potentially help the Raptors collect a fifth straight PIAA championship. In the District One title game, though, his season came to a halt when he broke his collarbone against rival Springfield. The Cougars went on to win the district and the state championship a few weeks later.
Petrone missed his recruiting summer, though ended up committing to Lehigh. This year, though, he’s back and better than ever. He’s been filling up the stat sheet all year long, a trend that continued in Tuesday’s 7-4 win over Springfield in the PIAA title game rematch. Petrone netted a hat trick and tossed out three assists as the Raptors claimed the first of what will undoubtedly be two or three matchups this year.
“I feel like last year, I didn’t have a lot of assists or a lot of dodging,” Petrone said. “In the offseason, I focused a lot on my dodging skills and vision and seeing into the middle of the crease and up top. I feel a lot more dangerous as a dodger and I worked on it. For my passing, my vision’s gotten a lot better.”
Petrone Shows Improved Versatility
That was on display all night, though perhaps none of his feeds were better than a picturesque dish from X to set up a Max Peterson stepdown crank from up top. Petrone’s clearly a lot more confident as a do-it-all attackman, and he’s significantly more dangerous as a result. His calling card, though, is still his lightning-quick release and shooting ability. He works impeccably well with Tommy Goldstein (Cornell) as the finisher to Goldstein’s setups. Goldstein found him on each of Radnor’s first two goals, including a snappy rip from Petrone on the second.
“Tommy is a very good feeder and a very good dodger, and we’ve played together almost our whole lives,” Petrone said. “We kind of know where each other’s going to be on the field at any time.”
Radnor, Springfield Always Eyeing the Rematch
The two teams split the 2023 (Radnor) and 2025 (Springfield) state championship games and the consensus is that it’ll be one of them or District 12 powerhouse La Salle that’ll be celebrating at Penn State’s Panzer Field on June 13. That’ll give the Cougars more time to work on cracking the Raptors’ stifling zone defense, which was led Tuesday by senior Brendan Cox and sophomore James Cox. It also helps when you’ve got Teddy Curry in goal. The sophomore shook off two early Springfield goals with 13 stops as he continues to prove why he’s one of the best goalies in the class of 2028.
Springfield got two goals and an assist from senior Maryland signee Brad Barber. Senior Penn State signee Luke Valerio added a goal and an assist for the Cougars. Springfield’s got plenty of big-game experience and knows that another meeting(s) with Radnor is almost a certainty. The Cougars will be ready for the next one… and the one after that.
Radnor vs. Springfield Standouts
Brad Barber ’26, attack, Springfield (Pa.) – Maryland
Barber had some ups and downs throughout the night, but that’s to be expected for a player still feeling his way back from a torn ACL. When he’s on, though, he’s a problem. Barber got the scoring started with an absolute missile from up top 45 seconds into the game. He worked a give-and-go just below GLE to set up a tally from Luke Valerio (Penn State). Barber then once again showed off his shooting range with another stepdown on a Valerio setup in the fourth quarter. Barber doesn’t seem like he’s quite at 100 percent yet, but if he can get there, Springfield’s chances at a repeat will improve dramatically.
Teddy Curry ’28, goalie, Radnor (Pa.)
One of the best goalies in the 2028 class, Curry delivered another gem for the Raptors. Last year’s regular-season Springfield game was his first career start, in which he was brilliant. That happened again this time as he made 13 saves and never gave the Cougars a chance to get offensive momentum after they went up 2-0. It’s very clear that Curry is infinitely more confident in the Radnor cage this year since he knows he doesn’t have to look over his shoulder to keep a stranglehold on the job. Curry made a terrific save on a partial breakaway. Later, Zach French gave Radnor a 6-3 lead and Curry immediately denied a great high-to-high look from Mason Ellis to keep all the momentum with the Raptors. He also added a terrific stop off of a righty offering from Luke Valerio, then iced the game with a clean stop on a Gabe Ryan stepdown with 1:32 to play. The lefty keeper looks noticeably bigger than a year ago, but he still has the quickness to go with the IQ to quickly diagnose plays.
“We just know what shots we want to give up and trust me to stop, and our guys did a great job and got a lot of knockdowns,” Curry said. “(Sophomore LSM) James Cox had, like, three caused turnovers. My game has developed from working with our offense every day. We have great shooters everywhere in our offense and that’s probably the biggest part of it.”
Tommy Goldstein ’26, attack, Radnor (Pa.) – Cornell
Goldstein had a productive day at the office, setting up three goals for the Raptors. More importantly, though, is the overall impact that he has on the offense. Goldstein is always in control and uses his phenomenal vision and first step to keep defenses off balance. Traditionally an X attackman, he looked very comfortable dodging from up top, picking up his first two assists on feeds from above the cage. He has incredible chemistry with lefty sniper Finn Petrone (Lehigh) and the duo linked up for the first two Radnor goals to erase Springfield’s early lead. It wouldn’t be a surprise to see start his Big Red career as an offensive midfielder, and his versatility kept the Springfield defense off-balance.
“I know I can use my speed, especially up top where there’s a lot more space,” Goldstein said. “I can use my change-of-direction and speed, and I can see the field a little better from up top. It’s a lot easier from behind to see both sides of the field, but when you’re up top, they have longer slides, so you can kind of see where it comes from whether it’s through or adjacent.”
Tommy Toomey ’26, defense, Springfield (Pa.) – High Point
Toomey got the Tommy Goldstein matchup and came out of it relatively unscathed. It’s really hard to go 1v1 against Goldstein and hold him to double bagels. Toomey was excellent with his footwork and stayed in front of Goldstein on a number of dodges. The 6-1, 185-pounder’s basketball background has clearly had an impact on his defensive coverage as he’s able to glide around and stay between the man and the net. He got his stick on a couple of loose balls, too.