Lansdale Catholic routs Father Judge, closes in on PCL playoff bid

LANSDALE >> There was a time, very recently, when the Lansdale Catholic boys lacrosse team suffered double-figure losses pretty regularly.

Just another Philadelphia Catholic League squad that regularly took its lumps from the La Salles and St. Joseph Preps of the world.

These days, the Crusaders are not vying for a PCL crown, but they are closing in on a Catholic League playoff berth.
And Wednesday, LC took another step in that direction with a decisive 15-0 win over Father Judge.

Grady Kelly had six goals and three assists and Phil White added three goals and three assists as the Crusaders ran it up.

But it wasn’t the win that got LC fired up, it was the possibility of becoming a playoff team that had the winners completely riled.

“We came out on fire and gave it everything we had,” Kelly said. “We were able to move the ball well and we played as a team.

“It’s nice being on a winning team, and not being the team that’s down by 15. We’ve been in that position before.”

The win, said LC head coach Tom Nace, was spurred by the Crusaders’ coaching staff’s attempt to figure out what makes the team go.

“We’ve spent the last week or two looking inside,” Nace said. “We were looking to see what makes us tick.

“We had a great practice (Tuesday) and the guys executed those same things today.”

Dan White got the scoring started for the Crusaders at the 10:38 mark, but before the first quarter ended, the home team kept piling it on, eventually going up, 8-0, by quarter’s end.

By halftime, the home team had the 12-goal clock running, and were thinking about grabbing a PCL playoff berth.

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“We have Roman (Catholic) on Saturday at home, and if we put together another win, hopefully that will get us in,” Nace said.

As for Father Judge, head coach Ryan Kalinowski said he expected better from his team.

“It was a tough game,” Kalinowski said. “We knew what we needed to do, we just didn’t execute.

“We have a good team with good senior leadership. They understand their goal, which is to get into the playoffs. We have another game Friday and we’ll try and get back to the things we do well.”

By that time, LC could already have qualified for the playoffs.

“I don’t know if we qualify for the playoffs with a win on Saturday, but I know that will put us closer,” Kelly said.
Which is something that hasn’t been said around LC for some time.

LAX-ENDS: Along with Kelly’s and White’s haul, LC got three goals from Steven Davis and a goal and an assist from Mike Basilii and a single goal from Joe Walsh. … LC netminder Bob Bausman had three saves, and none after the first half, while Judge goaltenders Steve McGrath and Nick Delowski had 12 saves between them.