Ford saves the way as Archbishop Wood tops La Salle on PKs in PCL semis

PHILADELPHIA >> Connor Ford was named the first team All-Catholic goalkeeper Tuesday and showed why on Wednesday.

The No. 2 Archbishop Wood senior was simply tremendous against No. 3 La Salle in their Philadelphia Catholic League semifinal match Wednesday at Archbishop Ryan. From two game-saving denials during the 110 minutes of regulation and OT to a masterful performance a shootout, Ford made sure his team got to the PCL final.

Ford saved two PKs as Wood topped the two-time defending champion Explorers 4-1 in the shootout following a 0-0 double overtime match.

“He’s the first team All-Catholic goalie, it’s who he is,” senior defender Joe Trodden said. “He’s the best goalie in this league. He played great tonight and he’s going to play great on Sunday.”

The loss ended a remarkable run for La Salle, which won the last two PCL titles and advanced to the semifinals for the fourth straight time under the current senior class. Wood simply dissected the Explorers in the regular season in a 4-0 win, but the Vikings knew Wednesday would be different.

La Salle coach Tom McCaffery said his group defended much better as a team on Wednesday and didn’t make the mistakes that left guys on islands in the first matchup.

“They’re a great team, they have three first team All-Catholics on their roster and fortunately we were able to control two of them for most of the game,” McCaffery said. “Koty (Taylor) had his runs and Bob (Hennessey) got a few shots off but at the end we saw why Connor was considered the best keeper in the league.”

Ford’s first crucial save came early in the second half when Brendan Curran headed a cross by Jack Crawford toward the goal. Leaping up, Ford palmed the ball up and off the bar out for a corner, which Wood was then able to clear.

The stop he made on La Salle’s David Steinbach in the first overtime was equally impressive. Steinbach, a wrecking ball of a defensive mid, ripped a howitzer from deep that Ford was able to put a hand on at the upper corner to keep the match going.

“I play club with Dave Steinbach, so I figured he was shooting for the corner and I was just able to get there,” Ford said.

Like any good keeper, Ford deflected as much credit as he could onto his back line for keeping his box relatively clean and for their work clearing balls out.

The defensive unit of Trodden, Sean Kercheck, Matt Murphy and Joe Baranowski was excellent all night, containing La Salle’s Chris Metzler, covering for each other and winning the balls they absolutely had to. Ford also complimented midfielder Ryan Morgan for following up every header.

“Playing behind that back line makes my job as goalie easy,” Ford said.

Taylor, Wood’s dynamic playmaker and finisher got a feeling during an offseason captains’ practice there was something special in store this season. After a run to the state semifinals last year, the Vikings seniors came back this season focused on reaching the PCL final that had eluded them.

Last season, they lost a 1-0 heartbreaker to Roman Catholic in the semifinals and two seasons back, were sent out in a semifinal PK loss to La Salle.

“It feels amazing, I’ve been wanting this since my freshman year,” Taylor said. “We knew it was a fun year and we were going to win a lot of games but only if we came out and played hard in every game.”

La Salle’s season ends with the loss, but it didn’t detract anything from the accomplishments of not only this year’s side, but the senior class as a whole.

“There’s 15 seniors on this roster and the fact our guys were quality enough to keep coming back for more and doing the job is a testament to the type of young men we have here at school,” McCaffery said. “We hit our stride at the end and it was a great group. The leadership is something we’ll miss but that’s where the young guys can step up and show what they took from some of those lessons.”

Wood went first in the shootout, with Hennessey staking the Vikings to a 1-0 lead. Ford then came up with his first save and Trodden stepped to the spot ready to give his keeper a little more help.

“Once he made that save, I knew if I made it we’d have a huge advantage,” Trodden said. “If I missed, we’d be right back even, so I had to make it.”

For all the calm and clinical nature he plays with, Taylor admitted a few jitters as he stepped up to the spot trying to make it 3-1.

“I was nervous, I’m not going to lie,” Taylor said. “But I knew I had to put it away and give us a good lead.”

Taylor converted, Ford stuffed another shot and then Christian Petro knocked home his spot kick to send the Vikings into celebration. Wood will play for the PCL title at 4 p.m. Sunday at Northeast High.

“I knew my guys were going to bury them,” Ford said. “I just focused in and used my instincts and they led me the right way.”