PIAA-3A Quarterfinals: La Salle roars past Springfield Delco

BRYN MAWR >> After trailing Springfield Delco 3-2 at the half, La Salle put together a third quarter that forever swung momentum — and the score — dramatically in its direction.
“We kind of had some anger that we channelled, which really helped us out,” said Explorer senior attacker Shane Osborne. “It was beautiful to watch. It was awesome.”
Osborne scored a a game-high four goals, including one in the third, to help power the Explorers to an 11-5 win over the Cougars in the PIAA-3A State Quarterfinals at Harriton High. The win advances La Salle to the state semis, where it will face Garnet Valley Tuesday at a site and time to be announced.
“We were really preaching about having a strong sense of belief that if we get down, we can still come back,” Osborne said. “And we just kind of believed in each other and came out with some fire. It was a huge quarter for us.”
Osborne tied things up at three apiece in the opening minute of the second half. Then, Grant Pinto put the Explorers ahead for the first time, 4-3. Three more consecutive goals by La Salle produced a 7-3 cushion by the end of the period, as Zac Coar connected twice and Kyle Cullen capped the run.
“We did a lot of inverting, trying to attack their shorties,” Osborne said of the second-half turnaround. “They had some pretty good poles and I think we did a really good job of swinging that extra pass and getting it to the open guy.”
The Explorers extended the margin all the way to 11-3 in the fourth, with Pinto scoring again, Osborne putting in his third and fourth, and Coar completed his hat trick.
Springfield Delco closed things out with tallies by Jack Spence and Colin Hopkins.
For La Salle, it’s onto Garnet Valley.
“We’re gonna get back to the locker room and start to prepare for them,” Osborne said. “We’re fired up and going in with some momentum.”
The Explorers are also intent on going one step further this season — a year ago the team reached the state final but fell, 6-4, to Manheim Township.
“That’s a little bit of a vengeance thing that we’re working with,” Osborne said. “Personally, I kind of play for the seniors that had a great year last year and played with everything they had, and we’re also playing for our coaching staff.”
It was quite a run by Springfield Delco. The Cougars got three goals from Spence, including two in the first half as they worked their way to a 3-2 halftime lead.
“They’re a very good team. I have a lot of respect for them,” Cougars coach Tom Lemieux said of La Salle. “They do it right over there. I’m just more sad that I’m not gonna see these seniors anymore. It’s so much more than wins and losses with this group. They’re an unbelievable group of kids and I love them.”

PIAA-3A Quarterfinals
La Salle 11,
Springfield Delco 5
Springfield Delco 1 2 0 2 — 5
La Salle 0 2 5 4 — 11
First Quarter
SD-Liam Difonso, 5:19.
Second Quarter
La-Shane Osborne (Danny Mallee), 10:19; SD-Jack Spence, 7:32; La-Chris Mockaitis (Osborne), 5:35; SD-Spence (Difonso), 3:37.
Third Quarter
La-Osborne, 11:11; La-Grant Pinto, 7:51; La-Zac Coar 6:58; La-Coar, 4:28; La-Kyle Cullen, 1:45.
Fourth Quarter
La-Pinto, 10:03; La-Osborne, 9:19; La-Osborne, 3:37; La-Coar, 2:31; SD-Spence (Jack Clark), 1:24; SD-Colin Hopkins (Spence), :34.