La Salle puts in the work, tops Archbishop Wood 1-0
WARMINSTER >> Bobby Bohner knew he couldn’t hesitate.
The La Salle senior center back’s touch had left the ball in that delicate 50/50 space and he knew any holdback or a missed challenge would send Archbishop Wood the other way. So Bohner didn’t hesitate. He won the ball, it found Jacob Mittman and the forward did the rest.
The Explorers shook off a slow start to match the energized Vikings as they claimed a 1-0 win in their Philadelphia Catholic League matchup Tuesday at Warminster Community Park.
“We knew they were going to be coming for us after we went to PKs in the PCL semifinals last year,” Bohner said. “We were making some excuses for ourselves, which did not help but then we realized we had to go do our thing.”
The Vikings were coming off a 2-1 loss to Hatboro-Horsham on Saturday night and knew they would need to be better to contend with La Salle, last year’s PCL champion. For the most part, the Vikings were better than Saturday, especially in the midfield.
Wood had La Salle on its heels a bit early, after the Explorers got stuck in traffic and had to rush through a warm-up.
“We had a couple chances and we didn’t finish,” Wood coach Hugh Kelly said. “They had a couple chances and managed to put one away. It was a good back-and-forth game and basically what I expected it to be. It proves that we’re right in the pack and we can hang with them, we just have to finish our chances.”
La Salle is a different team than last season, but they have a good core of returners on the back line. Senior keeper Brett Werner anchors the unit, which also features returnees in center back Nicholas Hammel and left back Joe Brigidi. Bohner, a senior, is one of the new adds in the back, but the group has already established it will be tough to break down.
The Explorers may not have a standout like Spencer Patton, but they have plenty of guys who are willing to work hard and stick themselves into a tackle.
“Although some of our talent isn’t in the same positions, we still find a way to do the hard work and ground it out,” La Salle coach Tom McCaffery said. “I think this team does a really good job of embracing that indentity of being a hard-working, grind-it-out type of team.”
Bohner, who played a strong match defensively, made the key offensive play when he won a ball at midfield and sent it up the field to Mittman.
Once Mittman received the ball, he shielded off a defender in the box, touched around Wood’s onrushing keeper and slotted the ball into the net. The goal, which came in the 28th minute, was the kind of blue-collar effort the Explorers are trying to embrace.
“The ball was sort of slipping through but I picked it off, kind of cut around one guy into a 50/50 and got it through,” Bohner said. “I saw Mittman on the back line and played it through and he did worked real hard, got around his defender and put it home.
“If I’m going up the field to get a ball, it’s 100 percent. They were going right the other way, we saw it a couple times today and I have to make sure if I’m pressuring, I run hard and get there.”
La Salle’s back line, which also has Chris Marzullo at right back to make it an all-senior back five, broke down late in the first half. That’s where Werner stepped up, making a great diving save on Wood’s Hugh Lynch on a breakaway in the 38th minute.
“He’s so great to have back there, he’s so confident, he’s always coming out and picking off the ball,” Bohner said. “If we have a slip-up, he’s there to save us.”
Wood has tried to embrace the same kind of blue-collared, hard-working identity as La Salle and it helped the Vikings to a 5-0 start.
“We know we’ve got to work hard and when we don’t work hard, we play poorly, no two ways about it,” Kelly said. “We were much more disciplined today than we were Saturday night so I was happy with that aspect.”
Wood’s midfield play was much better on Tuesday and it prompted a yeoman’s effort out of La Salle center mids David Steinbach and Max Mocharnuk to contain it.
Things don’t get easier for Wood, with Lansdale Catholic on Friday and a trip to North Penn on Saturday. While it’s a daunting stretch, Kelly said the PCL is so tight that there’s no wiggle room anyway so his team can’t afford to overlook any opponent.
La Salle travels to Bonner-Prendie next and McCaffrey cautioned his guys on Tuesday they can’t start thinking they can just show up and win.
“It’s the idea of recognizing the challenge each team presents,” McCaffrey said. “Our league is so deep with talented teams and they present their own different identity. We have to game-plan properly and make sure the guys know where we’re attacking from and where the threats come from and make sure they’re prepared.”
La Salle saw how much work it took to win the PCL last year and for the guys on this year’s squad, returner or newcomer, the lesson is the same.
“It shows you can have as much talent as you want, but whoever works the hardest is going to dominate,” Bohner said.
LA SALLE 1, ARCHBISHOP WOOD 0
LA SALLE 1 0 – 1
ARCHBISHOP WOOD 0 0 – 0
Goals: L – Jacob Mittman.
