La Salle rallies around task, tops Archbishop Ryan in PCL semifinals

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BENSALEM >> Players huddled around, La Salle boys soccer coach Tom McCaffery’s postgame talk centered on all of them doing their jobs.

It wasn’t an easy night, it wasn’t the Explorers sharpest night but when a team is committed to doing the job, it can often find a way. Challenged by an Archbishop Ryan looking to knock off another high seed in the PCL playoffs, La Salle needed every guy on the roster to do their job.

The Explorers did, holding on to win a 4-3 thriller in their PCL semifinal Wednesday night at Trifecta Sporting Club.

“Seeing them beat (Father) Judge 1-0 in the quarterfinal was a real eye-opener, we knew this was going to be a battle,” La Salle forward Lucho Narcisi said. “The fact they put three in just amped us up more to hold onto our fourth.”

Top seed La Salle will face No. 3 Roman Catholic, a 1-0 winner over No. 5 Archbishop Wood, in the PCL title game Saturday at Ramp Playground. Ryan, the No. 7 seed but playing well above that ranking, didn’t want to let La Salle waltz to its third title game in the last four years.

It didn’t look like the Raiders would have much say early as La Salle blitzed off the opening tap. No sooner had Narcisi hit the post on a shot, Sean Jennings worked down the right side and played a ball into the box that Brendan Curran punched home for the 1-0 lead.

La Salle took a 2-0 lead in the span of a blink, with a hard shot off the left side deflecting off a defender before Narcisi headed it in on the goal line.

“When you have young men who rally like Ryan does, you’re going to be in for a fight,” McCaffery said. “We knew we would get their best effort and I think we got that and then some, so all the credit in the world to their coaching staff and the young men on that team for making this a tough game for 80 minutes.”

La Salle couldn’t keep the energy of that six minute surge going and Ryan quickly found itself back in the game and attacking an Explorers back line that wasn’t reacting quickly. Forward Sidiki Fofana led the charge and the Raiders followed his lead.

Ryan cut the lead in half on a golazo from Teddy Westervelt, who hit a laser from about 30 yards out off a clear out following a Raiders cross. The one-timer galvanized the No. 7 seed and Ryan only redoubled its efforts while La Salle tried to recover.

Two minutes later, the Explorers gave up a foul in a dangerous space and Fofana stepped over the ball. The junior hit the free kick perfectly, bending it around the wall and just inside the post out of reach of Jack Heineman to tie the game.

Fofana injured shortly after, taped it up at halftime but had to leave the match in the second half when the injury flared up again. McCaffery lauded the forward for gutting it out and felt it summed up Ryan’s effort as a team.

“When you look at the emotional week Ryan had with the big win, they knew they had a shot,” McCaffery said. “When you have the best forward in the league, as they do, you’re always going to be in a game and they did a really nice job freeing him up and letting him go at our back line.”

La Salle tried to get the lead back but freshman keeper Joey Phillips was having none of it. Phillips, who took a cleat to the face on La Salle’s second goal, came out of the game bloodied and went back in with two bandages, a head wrap and a lot of heart.

The keeper would finish with 11 saves, all of them coming after his injury.

Phillips couldn’t stop a late-half effort from Jennings however, as the big sophomore was able to turn in the box and tuck a shot inside the near post in the final minute of the half for a 3-2 lead. Having re-established a foothold, La Salle exited to the half with some momentum.

“When it’s a game like this and it’s a playoff game with high stakes, you have to unite,” defender Ben Herron said. “Coach brought us together really well at halftime, we talked about what we needed to do and how we were going to get this win to move on to the next stage.”

“It started us in the new half with an advantage,” Narcisi said. “We talked that we had this advantage so we had to take it and use it. We got the fourth goal off it and that’s what won us the game.”

Herron is a center back, so he doesn’t score often from the run of play. But on set pieces, he’s a definite weapon and thanks to Taj Weems, he got to show why.

Weems first hit a terrific free kick that Phillips parried over the bar, giving La Salle a corner kick. Weems then took the service, dipping the ball into the box where Herron was able to cash in, giving the Explorers a 4-2 advantage.

“We have guys who can put a service in really well and I can say from experience, it’s really tough to defend a ball like that,” Herron said. “It’s huge momentum for the defense, I guess for the offense too, but it’s something that gets your confidence up.”

Ryan got a goal back when George Karusky re-directed a shot from the top corner of the box following a corner kick. Phillips made a double-save shortly after to keep it a one-goal game.

La Salle generated 17 shots on goal, something Narcisi totaled up as moving the ball quickly, forward and with purpose. The junior forward said the team will need to be better for 80 minutes on Saturday and has to find a way to extend that quick start into a more sustained run.

While the program is back in the final, it’s a first time experience for a majority of the team’s players. Having to earn it the way they did Wednesday only added to the meaning of the accomplishment for the Explorers.

“It means a lot for the seniors but it means a lot to us too, we want to do it for them,” Herron said. “It’s a big stepping stone for the program and really emphasized our character as a team.”

LA SALLE 4, ARCHBISHOP RYAN 3
LA SALLE 3 1 – 4
ARCHBISHOP RYAN  2 1 – 3
Goals: L – Brendan Curran (Sean Jennings), Lucho Narcisi, Jennings, Ben Herron (Taj Weems); AR – Teddy Westervelt, Sidiki Fofana, George Karusky.

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Andrew Robinson

Andrew Robinson
Montgomery Media/Lansdale Reporter sports writer.

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