Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 6/12/24
Staff Report
Few programs feel their history quite as profoundly as La Salle. As a senior steward of the lineage that has produced three state titles and reached seven PIAA finals, defenseman Andrew Van Stone understood Tuesday better than most what three seasons without a state final meant to the Explorers.
He and his classmates have long regarded four straight as unacceptable.
They rectified that absence on their resumes Tuesday at Garnet Valley, controlling Springfield-Delco most of the game in a 7-3 win to reach State College and book a date with 3-time defending champion Radnor in Saturday’s PIAA Class 3A final at 4:30 p.m. Radnor won a 10-9 overtime thriller over Garnet Valley.
“Obviously, we come into the season wanting to beat good teams and win the PCL,” said Van Stone, whose Explorers (23-1) have been No. 1 in the PA State Lacrosse Rankings in class AAA all year. “But of course, the state championship is our ultimate goal because we know what the program is capable of, with our great coaches and always having great players in the program.
“That’s definitely the biggest goal for us, and it’s the one we’re all looking at, even if we don’t say it.”
They can say it now, thanks in part to the District 12 champion’s suffocating defense, led by Van Stone. La Salle limited Springfield to just 13 shots – La Salle had 13, against Springfield’s zero, in the third quarter alone. The Explorers got five saves from Matt Nelson, a few of them clutch.
But by and large, a defense led by Van Stone (Harvard), All-American Matt Wills (Penn) and Logan Missett (Cornell) plus sophomore Cooper Heilig, dominated. It held Springfield’s trio of 80-point attackmen to just two, a goal and an assist for Tyler Gougler.
Combined with All-American Stevie Davis controlling the X and the depth of defensive middies from Jack Koch and Kieran Campbell on down, and Springfield just couldn’t find a way through.
Davis was the difference-maker offensively with a hat trick. He opened the scoring at 8:56, though Gougler evened the game 1:19 later. Davis’s goal with five seconds left in the first half was the only marker of the second quarter, sending the Explorers into the locker room up 3-1. And he finished it off by firing into the empty cage with 50 seconds left.
Most importantly, his 8-for-13 performance at the X dissuaded Springfield, which recouped a six-goal deficit to force overtime in the District 1 final, from thinking it could author a similar fightback.
“It’s so great knowing you have Stevie because he’s so good,” Van Stone said. “His performance speaks for itself. We have so much confidence in him.”
La Salle grew its 3-1 halftime lead to 5-1 in the third. Max Wickersham took a dodge out high and got a rare step on Billy Henderson, who was otherwise fabulous, to make it 4-1 at 7:36 of the third. Springfield’s Jackson Kennedy, who finished with eight stops and was excellent, made back-to-back denials of another All-American, Paul Van Bastelaar, who scored in the first quarter, and Darryl Kuriger before Kuriger collected a rebound behind the cage and fed van Bastelaar on the doorstep to make it 5-1 at 3:53.
Springfield’s surge came in the fourth. Conner Aughe deposited a loose ball into the back of the net at 9:51, then Gougler found Luke Valerio 36 ticks later. It ended a scoring drought of 33 minutes, 46 seconds.
“In the fourth quarter, we had those two goals to get back in the game,” Henderson said. “But we just came up short on it.”
Davis helped stop the momentum. While Lucas Aaron (6-for-13) acquitted himself well, Davis was the bulwark against a make-it, take-it spree. Aaron won the draw after Valerio’s goal, La Salle needing Nelson to stone Gougler in tight to keep the spread at two. Nelson would later deny Brad Barber point blank with 1:52 left and the game still a three-goal margin.
Van Bastelaar restored a three-goal bump at 4:11, finding Alex Rossi on a slick cut to the crease, after Kennedy had turned aside two shots. From there, Davis wouldn’t let Springfield back in the game, exerting a fitting level of control for someone who rarely leaves the field.
“I’m a guy who’s always anxious and I always want to be on the field,” Davis said. “I’m never comfortable in a game because it’s a game of runs. As you saw, they almost came back there, but our defense really iced them and got some transition goals at the end.”
PIAA Class AAA semifinals
La Salle 7, Springfield-Delco 3
Springfield 1 0 0 2 – 3
La Salle 2 1 2 2 – 7
Springfield-D
Ty Gougler 1g, 1a
Conner Aughe 1g
Luke Valerio 1g
Lucas Aaron 6-for-13
Jackson Kennedy 8 saves
La Salle
Stevie Davis 3g, 8-for-13
Paul van Bastelaar 2g, 1a
Max Wickersham 1g
Alex Rossi 1g
Will Trymbiski 1a
Darryl Kuriger 1a
Matt Nelson 5 saves
