Come playoff time, most coaches will tell you that the regular-season records belong one place -- out the window.

The single-elimination format has no prejudice to what a team did for two months during the regular season. The common cliché of throwing the records out the window once the playoffs start might sound like wishful thinking for Franklin Regional boys' lacrosse coach Chris Stiles.

After all his team's record was 7-10 entering the playoffs.

The Panthers then went ahead and proved the cliché correct ... and in memorable fashion.

They pulled off back-to-back stunners knocking off North Allegheny, 9-7, in the first round and upsetting top-ranked Seneca Valley, 10-9, in the semifinals.

"By the time the playoffs start, those regular-season records don't mean much," Stiles said.

"It is a matter of whatever team gets it done that day."

Franklin Regional got it done both days against elite Division 1 teams. North Allegheny entered the game with a 12-6 record while Seneca Valley was ranked No. 1 in the WPIAL by Laxpower.com.

The unprecedented WPIAL playoff run ended for Franklin Regional in the WPIAL Division 1 title game when it fell to Sewickley Academy, 9-7. It was the first time Franklin Regional had reached the Western lacrosse finals since 1999.

Franklin held a 5-3 lead at halftime but costly mistakes allowed Sewickley to score three consecutive goals to open the second half.

"We had a couple instances where we just threw the ball away," Skiles said. "The third quarter is where our mistakes started to occur. Overall, we played hard but only one team can win."

Only one team could win but both teams, along with Seneca Valley, qualified for the PIAA playoffs. Franklin Regional bounced back to defeat Elizabethtown, 7-6 in overtime, Tuesday in a first-round PIAA playoff game. The Panthers will play Manheim Township 5 p.m. Saturday at Memorial Field in State College.

The improvement from a 7-10 regular season to a trip to the WPIAL Division 1 title game was not a matter of a team hitting an "on switch" when the playoffs rolled around. The 10 losses the Panthers suffered came mostly against established out-of-state lacrosse programs and top teams from the area.

So the record may have been a little misleading. On top of that Skiles went to work changing the style of play Franklin Regional would use in the postseason.

"We changed our system around," Skiles said.

"We wanted to take advantage of our strengths and execute fundamental passing and catching. Those little things mean so much in terms of giving you a chance to pull off the upset."

A personnel change made by Skiles was to move top player Jordan Riley from midfield, where he has played for the last few years, to attack during the playoffs.

Senior midfielder Luke Dozzi and junior midfielder Mark Wagner stepped up big in the playoffs as did senior John Arcangelo, who led the defense all season. Wagner had been playing predominantly junior varsity before a call-up in time for the playoffs. He adjusted to his new role in pressure-packed playoff games without a problem.

Skiles has been with the Franklin Regional lacrosse program for the past eight years. He was a JV coach for five years and is in his third year as varsity coach.

"It has been real nice seeing the players playing at such a high level for such a long season," Skiles said.

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