Shanahan roars back to reach state semifinals
WEST GOSHEN >> The Bishop Shanahan girls lacrosse team was a frustrated bunch as their PIAA 2A state championship hopes were seemingly slipping away.
Amazing what an improbable comeback for the ages does for your morale.
Buoyed by a couple of important saves from goalie Allie Hathaway, Shanahan staged a second-half long rally that crescendoed with Paris Masaracchia scoring from a free position with 2,7 seconds left to lift the Eagles to a thrilling 11-10 victory over York Catholic in the PIAA 2A quarterfinals at Harold I. Zimmerman Stadium at West Chester East on a picture perfect Saturday afternoon.
“Oh, my gosh, it’s so exciting,” said Hathaway. “I feel like it’s well deserved for us. We’re so hard working, in practice, we’re so accountable. I really do feel that we’ll go further.”
The Eagles reach the final four in the state for the first time in school history. They will face District 12 champion Archbishop Carroll on Tuesday at Avon Grove High School at 1 p.m.
“We try to break the season up into three seasons and once we get to this part, we never made a final four and this was a chance to take another step as a program,” said Shanahan coach Kacy Small. “To me, it’s always bigger than just lacrosse, it’s nice to see that the girls have the character you think they have. It’s nice to see them play for each other and dig deep.”
Trailing 9-3 at halftime, the Eagles notched the first three goals of the second half, and outscored the Irish, 8-1, in the frame.
The fight back started when Sophie Lymberis, who had three goals for the contest, buried a shot to make it 9-4 with 20:49 left.
Silvia Baptista cut it to 9-5 with 17:11 left. Caitlyn Hubiak made it a three-goal deficit a minute later, and the frustration that had engulfed the Shanahan sideline was replaced by feelings of excitement and belief.
Jessica Daugherty momentarily blunted the momementum by making it 10-6 with, as it turned out, the lone goal of the half by the Irish.
They did have chances, however, but they were stopped by Hathaway, who came up with vital saves at key times that kept the score manageable. After surrendering nine goals in the first half, Hathaway and the defense rebounded with a tremendous performance when giving up scores would have complicated the comeback.
“I knew every single person on the team has my back,” said Hathaway. “I knew my defense has my back. We’re such a good problem-solving team. If something happens on the field, we talk about it in the huddle and we re-adjust.”
Masaracchia electrified the crowd by scoring on an over-the-shoulder shot to make it a three-goal deficit at 10-7.
Goals from Hubiak and Alania Baptista had Shanahan trailing 10-9 with 10:01 left.
Lymberis went top shelf on a free position to beat Irish goalie Amanda Reed to knot the score nearly two minutes later.
After a couple of late defensive stops, one with less than a minute left. Masaracchia steamed upfield on a 20-plus yard run and was fouled while trying to get off a shot. She beat Reed to give the Eagles their first lead since the opening goal of the game.
“I knew that my team was relying on whatever happened on that last play and I knew we had to do it for each other,” she said. “I knew the defense was going to crash hard, so I tried to get it off as quick as I could. I knew that the goalie was tall and I tried to put it low.”
The comeback was fueled by dominating the draw controls and Sam D’Addezio was a big part of that, winning six of them.
York Catholic built its lead on the strength of two apiece from Daugherty, Grace Doyle and Sydney Mentzer as they took advantage of a sloppy first half by Shanahan.
“It was a great team win and the comeback was amazing,” said Small.
Bishop Shanahan 11, York Catholic 10
York Catholic 9 1 – 10
Bishop Shanahan 3 8 – 11
York Catholic goals: Daugherty 3, Doyle 2, Mentzer 2, Perry, Staples, Bullen.
Bishop Shanahan goals: Lymberis 3, Masaracchia 2, Hubiak 2, S. Baptista 2, Wiedel, A. Baptista;.
Goalie saves: Reed (YC) 5; Hathaway (BS) 14.
