Shanahan trounces Lake Lehman to advance to state quarterfinal
LONDON GROVE >> There was no district championship hangover in round one of states for the Bishop Shanahan girls’ lacrosse squad.
Just five days removed from an historic first-ever District 1 crown, Eagles’ head coach Kacy Small and his staff had no trouble getting their player’s heads out of the clouds and back on task, and that was bad news for Lake Lehman, the second-seed out of District 2.
Shanahan won the first six face offs, scored the first seven goals and went on to trounce the Knights 17-4 to advance to the PIAA 2A Quarterfinals next Saturday. Up next is District 3 runner-up Twin Valley, who throttled its first round foe 18-1.
Now 17-3 overall, the Eagles have won 14 in a row, and are just three victories from a state title.
“We’ve been getting off to quick starts, which is something we focus on – making sure we put our best foot forward out of the gates,” Small said. “We certainly don’t want to play from behind.”
There was never really a chance of that happening, especially after five different Eagles scored to make it 5-0 midway through the first half. Shanahan went on to score two more times on second goals from Silvia Baptista and Olivia Murphy before the Knights even got on the board.
“We talk about being well-balanced,” Small said. “If an opponent is scouting us, we want to make sure the ball is spread around so it is harder to prepare for us.”
And then for the rest of the way in the half, senior Michelle Warren took over. The midfielder scored Shanahan’s final three goals, including one on a steal and breakaway, and another off a free position, to make it 10-2 at the half.
She then scored the first of the second half, which means that at one stretch, Warren either scored or assisted on five straight goals.
“Once Michelle gets going, she can get hot,” Small pointed out. “We welcome that, of course – it’s certainly a good thing to have on your side.”
In all, the Eagles scored the first four goals in the second half to make it 14-2 and necessitate a running clock the rest of the way.
“We were ready to roll today,” Warren said. “Now that we’re into state’s we have a different mindset about everything. It’s all about holding yourself accountable and being all together as one.
“Some teams have that one player where they want to get the ball to that specific player and let her go to goal. Yes we have a very special team, and everyone is very athletic, but Kacy makes sure everyone gets an opportunity to use their talents.”
At some point late in the opening half, Warren notched the 100th goal of her high school career. She received a poster and balloons at the conclusion of the match to celebrate the accomplishment.
“I think it was the third (goal),” she said. “It does feel good once in a while to have an individual accomplishment, but we are much more concerned with what we are doing as a unit.”
Overall, Warren led the way with five goals and an assist, and Murphy finished with three goals. Ellie Udo and sisters Alaina and Silvia Baptista each added two goals for Shanahan.
“Our postgame talk was about how we really need to clean some things up,” Small said. “We know that the next opponent is definitely going to be tougher challenge.
“If anything, we just want the girls to stay grounded. We talk about not getting too high or too low. Through this (14-0) stretch, that’s really been our focal point. That next play, next play mentality.”
Led by junior Paris Masaracchia, the Eagles’ defense surrendered just nine shots on goal all evening. It helped that Shanahan’s faceoff specialists, Lila Ceribelli and Annabelle Wiedel, won 14 of 22, and the Eagles had a significant edge in possession time.
“The key on defense is playing as a team,” Masaracchia said. “One person can’t defend every girl and one person can get beat very easily.
“And no matter how much we are ahead, we have to stay on our toes. Even though this wasn’t the most difficult game we’ve ever played, it was challenging because if we play sloppy today, we might play sloppy in the future, and we just can’t have that.”
Shanahan’s coaching staff has been talking a lot recently about splitting the campaign into three separate seasons: the regular season and league championship is one; the districts are two, and states are three.
“So now we are into our third season,” Masaracchia explained. “It’s a two-week season and we need to stay focused on what we have next.”
Bishop Shanahan 17, Lake Lehman 4
Lake Lehman 2 2 — 4
Bishop Shanahan 10 7 — 17
Lake Lehman goals: Raspen 3, Lasinski.
Bishop Shanahan goals: Warren 5, Murphy 3, A. Baptista 2, S. Baptista 2, Udo 2, Lymberis, Wiedal, Hubiak.
Goalie saves: Harry (LL) 8; Newman (BS) 1; Billie (BS) 4.
