La Salle turns it on after halftime, renews rivalry with North Penn
TOWAMENCIN >> Sam McShane was in his comfort zone.
The La Salle College High School senior heard his name come from the bench with the Explorers having won a free kick about 27 yards out from North Penn’s goal and stepped over the ball. Earlier in the half, it was his play to keep a ball in play that led to La Salle’s first goal and how he had a chance to add a third and all but ice a road win over the Knights.
McShane hit the ball just right, making all his practice just perfect as La Salle topped North Penn 3-0 on Saturday as the teams met for the first time since 2019.
“It’s all practice,” McShane said. “Coach (Tom McCaffery) was kind enough to put me on that shot and I work on those top of the box free kicks before and after practice so it was just my time to step up and hit that one.
“We had a little bit of a rough performance against (Springside Chestnut Hill) on Thursday, but we had a great win today.”
The teams have met annually in the regular season, with both programs knowing its a match that will benefit them later on but due to the pandemic last fall, the series had to take a one-year break. Last time the Explorers and Knights knocked the ball around, it was the PIAA 4A semifinals, where North Penn bounced La Salle on its way to its first state title.
Granted, the rosters are lot different than that cold November evening, but there are enough guys left over on both sides that Saturday’s match had welcome feel seeing back on the fixture sheet.
“It felt great playing them again,” La Salle senior captain Sean Jennings said. “They got us when I was a sophomore, so it was good to get them back. I’m hoping we’ll see them again down the road this season.”
Knights senior captain Alex Stewart was a bench player in 2019 but now as one of the team’s leaders, he noted the importance of Saturday’s match. Facing a team like La Salle, especially once the Explorers got going after halftime, is a good way to see where things stand and Stewart felt it was a good way for his team to see what still has to be done.
“This could be the best team we play all year and to learn from that and see what our weaknesses are, it’s actually a good thing,” Stewart said. “From here on, we can move forward and see what we have to work on and that’s what will make us a better team.
“Work rate is one of the most important things in high school soccer and we know if we’re going to compete with these top teams and be one of the best in our district, we have to keep the work rate up and keep the intensity up.”
While it may have been fair to expect some tired legs from a La Salle team playing its third game in as many days, the Explorers have a high standard for themselves and their start was not up to it. The Explorers weren’t playing with the directness and pace that make them so dynamic as an offensive team and against a good team like North Penn, it could have been a recipe for disaster.
Fortunately for the visitors, center backs Jake Yuskevich and Brendan Agnew helped keep North Penn out, while Ryan Mindick and keeper Gabe Kemp did the same for the Knights against the Explorers.
La Salle’s halftime message was pretty direct in that the team’s play was anything but.
The Explorers came out of the half energized and were able to quickly capitalize by doing what they’re good at. After winning a first ball at the back, Jennings was able to follow up and booted a long clear up the field in McShane’s direction. The senior brought it down and off a high bounce, deftly kept the ball in while flicking it on toward Seth Michalak.
Michalak did the rest, latching on and running into the box where he found the angle and tucked his shot off the far post five-and-a-half minutes into the new half.
“We had a good talk with Coach at halftime and he let us know we didn’t come out with enough intensity, so I think we were able to really pick it up in the second half,” McShane said. “It’s a big lift, I think once you can go get one, it automatically raises the intensity all over. The first goal helped us a lot, then we were able to go get two more.”
They wouldn’t wait long for the second. A build-up through the middle started with Michalak laying the ball back to Jennings in the middle and a few touches later, finding Joe Cole with the senior drilling a cross into the box.
Michalak was there again, tapping into Jennings’ path with the big senior midfielder pushing it home for a 2-0 lead before 10 minutes had run off the clock.
“We talked about playing with more urgency and playing faster. I think we attacked the ball and started connecting passes faster, we didn’t get any shots the first half so just starting to shoot created a lot more chances,” Jennings, who recently committed to Penn, said. “The outside wingers were always on, so once we found that last pass, we’ve got some big boys who can get in the box and win balls in there.”
Stewart felt that’s where the game changed for the Knights as well. La Salle’s wide players just got after the ball whether they had possession or not and it started to tax North Penn’s midfield and shape trying to keep pace.
The midfielder was confident his team would learn from its mistakes Saturday and use those lessons well as it rounds out SOL crossover play and begins a second look at the SOL Colonial conference.
“Once they stretched us out, we were working hard but I felt like some of our guys started getting tired,” Stewart said. “Once one or two guys get tired, it starts to spread and sets our whole team back. They’re such a good team, every little thing they get, they can take and get something out of it.”
McShane added the third goal with 12 minutes left. La Salle also starts a big week with important PCL dates against Father Judge and Lansdale Catholic before national power Calvert Hall makes the trip up from Baltimore for a clash next Saturday at La Salle. McCaffery stressed to his players the focus needs to be on the two Catholic League games first and Jennings added he wants to see his team get rid of the slow starts.
“It’s something we talk about a lot,” Jennings said. “We have to get to the point where we’re coming out like every game is the most important of our life. We did it today in the second half but it has to be there from the beginning.”
LA SALLE 3, NORTH PENN 0
LA SALLE 0 3 – 3
NORTH PENN 0 0 – 0
Goals: L – Seth Michalak, Sean Jennings (Michalak), Sam McShane.
