By Harry Chaykun
Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 5/26/22
Bishop Shanahan reached its second major goal of the season tonight at West Chester East High’s Zimmerman Stadium with a 13-4 decision over Strath Haven in the PIAA District 1 Class 2A championship game
“We won the Ches-Mont championship on this field,” senior Paris Masaracchia said. “And now we won the district championship here.”
The league and district crowns each were the second in a row for Shanahan.
Left unsaid was that the Eagles would be happy to finish their season at WC East, which will host the PIAA championship games Saturday, June 11.
“We’ll be back on the field for practice at 9 Friday morning,” said Eagles coach Kacy Smallm whose team opens PIAA action Tuesday vs. District 2 runner-up Wyoming Area. “They’ve done a nice job to this point, but we have to keep the focus on the games we want to be playing in the next two weeks.
“We’ve put game plans together that have been working the last two weeks. They all know that execution is the key. We’ve been getting that from our senior leadership as well as our junior leadership. Today we had a good start, then when (Strath Haven) came back at us we took the game back.”
Shanahan built a 3-0 lead in the first six minutes on a pair of goals by Sophia Lymberis (three goals, one assist) and the first of Ellie Udo’s three goals.
“We might have been a little nervous,” Lymberis said. “But it was good nerves.”
Strong efforts at both ends of the field were important for the Eagles, who forced the Panthers into a dozen turnovers.
“We knew this was an important game,” said Udo, a Brown commit named USA Lacrosse All-American today. “But it was our next game, which made it even more important.
“Éveryone on this team is so close. I know I’m just as happy to see one of my teammates score as I am to get a goal.”
After Laura Conner scored for Strath Haven seven minutes into the game, the next goal came from Udo’s stick. By halftime, the Eagles were up, 6-3.
The Shanahan defense, sparked by Masaracchia, Nina Duncheskie, Paige Melvin, Udo and goalie Allie Hathaway (six saves) kept Haven off the scoreboard for the first 22 minutes of the second half. Samantha D’Addezio, picked up the Eagles’ first two goals following the break, then Silvia Baptista scored two of the next three goals.
Masaracchia – also named All-American – and Claire Fader earned three draw controls for Shanahan and Stella Dambro chipped in with two.
Neiczpiel led Strath Haven with two goals and five draw controls and Conner got one goal and one assist. Goalie Ava Yancey turned back 12 shots.
“We’ll be playing our first states game at home Tuesday,” Conner said of the Panthers’ state opener vs. District 3 third-place finisher Susquehannock. “I think whoever we play will see a team that is mad about what happened today and wants to play a lot better.”
Bishop Shanahan 13, Strath Haven 4
Half: Shanahan 6-3
Strath Haven: Kaitlin Neiczpiel 2G, Laura Conner 1G 1A, Julia Steere 1G.
Bishop Shanahan: Ellie Udo 3G 2A, Sophia Lymberis 3G 1A, Samantha D’Addezio 2G 1A, Silvia Baptista 2G, Alaina Baptista 1G 1A, Caitlyn Hubiak 1G, Stella Dambro 1G, Claire Fader 1A, Pairs Masaracchia 1A.
Goalies: Ava Yancey (SH) 12 saves; Allie Hathaway (BS) 6 saves.
