PIAA Class 3A Boys Lacrosse: Incessant offensively, relentless on defense, Radnor sails past Springfield

STATE COLLEGE — An eerie silence descended on Panzer Stadium at Penn State in the final minute Saturday evening.

It wasn’t shock, exactly, for no one should be surprised by the achievements of Radnor lacrosse. But for a program which has won every which way — with style and flair, with power and skill — Saturday’s installment was different, less a runaway train than the steady, inevitability of a steamroller.

Either way, nothing is left standing in its path.

Radnor kept Springfield off the board for three full quarters, a nonpareil defensive display from a program that has made that its calling card, in an 8-1 victory over its Central League rival in the PIAA Class 3A championship.

That championship victory completes a Class 3A three-peat for Radnor (23-3). It’s the Raptors’ fourth title since the PIAA started sponsoring the sport in 2009, breaking a tie with Conestoga and La Salle for the most. The win matches Conestoga’s three-peat from 2010-12, and it settles the season series with Springfield, the Cougars winning District 1 while Radnor took home league and state crowns.

“You think a state championship your junior year is the best feeling in the world, until you get one your senior year and it feels like your team,” senior midfielder Cooper Mueller said. “Our seniors, it feels like you’re really leading the squad and it’s all your brothers that you’ve been playing with since second grade, and it’s your last game together. And coming out on a win and getting a ring is the best feeling you could imagine.”

Perhaps most amazing about Radnor’s 3-peat is that it’s allowed just eight goals in the three state finals games – two to Kennett in 2021, five to Garnet Valley last year and one this year. Add it up and the Raptors have outscored their PIAA finals opponents by a margin of 30-8.

Saturday was a defensive performance that will be hard to top. They held Springfield to 12 shots in the first three quarters. They kept them off the board for the game’s first 41 minutes until Aidan Kreydt scored with 6:13 to play.

It brings the Raptors’ season total to 101 goals allowed in 26 games, a rate of 3.885. That narrowly undercuts the 3.96 goals/game in 2021 (99 in 25).

“It’s just about filling in new pieces,” junior defenseman Michael Savadove said, “figuring out your role and what you do best and putting it all together.”

Savadove was one of the biggest changes from a 10-8 loss in the district final. The junior Harvard commit didn’t play that day thanks to a leg injury, and it was a leg injury that befell Springfield’s Tyler Gougler that night, the district final’s four-goal hero ruled out of states. The swing was obvious.

“They came out on our gloves heavy and they pressured,” Kreydt said. “They gave us everything they’ve got. They have one of their best kids back in Savadove, so I feel like that didn’t help us very much. I think they adjusted well from the district ‘chip’ game.”

Radnor goalie Nick DeCain wasn’t heavily taxed, making five saves but coming up with some big ones. Springfield hit the post four times, including twice late in the third quarter in what seemed like a darkly comedic skit. Even Kreydt’s goal went post and in, lest the concussion risk from hands-on-head be further elevated on the Springfield sideline.

“It’s how it went today,” Kreydt said. “We were there but we’re not there at the same time. It’s hard, but we’ve got to learn from it.”

Even with the extra man, Springfield couldn’t get clean looks against Radnor’s outstanding defense, much less goals. Led by Savadove, senior captain Luciano Chadha, Pablo Strid and Drew Knight, with Henry Pierce rotating in and a cast of defensive middies led by Mueller, Tucker Graham and Matt Wolfington, they would be a historic unit if not for how good their recent predecessors were.

Colin French, who scored the game’s first two goals, got the second when Strid forced a turnover man-down and head-manned a rush. With Radnor down two men in the second half and the game still manageable at 4-0, Chadha jumped a passing lane and disrupted a Springfield possession.

“We’re all defense,” Mueller said. “That’s all we love. We love to keep guys to as minimal of goals as we can, slow offenses down, shut them down. I think we did that really well today.”

That gave Radnor’s offense room to operate. The Raptors went into the break up 3-0 when Tommy DeShan found Mason Montrella to rifle home with 18 seconds left before the break.

Montrella scored 52 seconds into the second half, then made it 5-0 off a French feed. He would add his fourth goal in the fourth.

Max Goldstein buried a superb low-to-high shot in the third quarter to make it 6-0, then Owen Knight went high when Springfield goalie Jackson Kennedy (who was superb with eight saves) thought he would go low to make it 7-0. Carter Mountain played a big role in nullifying Springfield’s edge on draws, limiting Lucas Aaron to a 7-for-13 day.

“It definitely frees us up,” French said of the defense. “Every time we get a silly turnover on offense, we know we’re pretty much going to get the ball back because we know our defense is so good. It feels great to have such a great defense to rely on.”

Three straight state titles is something the Raptors struggled to put into words Saturday. But the impact on their legacy at the school is clear.

“Senior year, it just feels great to out on top,” French said. “Three-peat, our legacy is stamped.”