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CONCORD — There aren’t weaknesses, per se, in the boys lacrosse teams at Springfield and La Salle. Maybe merely areas of less relative strength.
So in devising how to break the other down in a PIAA Class 3A semifinal Tuesday night, there were few obvious areas to exploit – maybe a niche here, a slight edge there. Instead, for two teams with similar DNA and suffocating defenses, it would come down to winning matchups, man-on-man, head-to-head.
For the entire middle two quarters at Garnet Valley High, La Salle’s star-filled defense did that, shackling Springfield on the way to a 7-3 victory and its first PIAA final berth since 2019.
“They’re an amazing team, they play great team defense and they have players all over the field,” La Salle faceoff man Stevie Davis said of Springfield. “Our defense is the same way, and they play us the same way in practice, so it really helped going into this game.”
Davis was the X-factor. The Penn-bound La Salle faceoff man isn’t only one of the best on draws in his class in the nation, his stick skills make him La Salle’s most electric midfielder. He’s capable of exploiting the slightest weakness – like in the first, when defensive coverage was just a tad too casual on a sweep dodge, so he planted a shot in the back of the net.
It was the first of three goals for Davis, who was 8-for-13 at the X.
Given how well each team’s poles neutralized attackmen, it fell to middies like Davis to exploit short-stick defensive middies to create space.
“We’re usually a hot and cold team,” Davis said. “We’ll come out hot and we’ll cool off. We’ll come out cool and we’ll heat up. Tonight I felt like we were pretty consistent all over. Those early goals really do get us fired up for the entire game.”
Defensively, Springfield was typically solid. Paul Van Bastelaar made it 2-1 late in the first quarter, and Davis had the only goal of the second, capitalizing on a momentary scramble where he and fellow middie Will Trymbiski attacked short-sticks in a pick.
“I think overall we did a fantastic job,” said Springfield defender Billy Henderson, who came up with several stellar plays. “We knew all their key guys were down low. We had all of our big matchups down there and just slid early when we had a step.”
But Springfield didn’t get those individual wins from its attack. Tyler Gougler, matched up most of the night with imposing Harvard signee Andrew Van Stone, bulled his way to the crease to score at 7:37 of the opening quarter while absorbing a slash. But his attack-mates Patrick Flaherty (with Matt Wills for company most of the way) and Brad Barber (checked by fellow sophomore Cooper Heilig) didn’t record a point.
Springfield wouldn’t score for another 33 minutes, 46 seconds, by which point La Salle led 5-1. The Cougars’ run came when Conner Aughe picked up a loose ball and buried one from the doorstep with 9:51 to play. Gougler found Luke Valerio 36 seconds later to cut the deficit to 5-3.
But goalie Matt Nelson denied Gougler in tight, then had a massive save on Barber with 1:52 left to keep the Cougars at bay.
“We have confidence in all of our guys, and we think everyone can play everyone,” Van Stone said. “So we don’t stress the matchups too much. … I think as a defense, we communicate so well and we’ve built so much chemistry playing against great teams.”
Van Bastelaar had two goals and an assist, setting up Alex Rossi with 4:11 left to cash in a long possession after Rossi’s excellent cut on the crease to stem the momentum.
There are echoes for the Cougars to last year’s state final, an 8-1 loss to Radnor, though Tuesday brought more offense eventually. For a team that reached the last two District 1 finals and at least the state semifinals each of the last three years, they’ve accomplished plenty along the way.
“From last year, we knew this team was going to be the team,” Henderson said. “I think we did a brilliant job throughout the whole entire year.”
