Baskin scores 7 goals, La Salle rolls past Lansdale Catholic to make PCL final

SPRINGFIELD >> Both La Salle and Lansdale Catholic walked away from Friday’s Philadelphia Catholic League playoff semifinal contest pleased.

No, the Crusaders were not happy with the 15-2 La Salle win.

But head coach Thomas Nace was pleased with the way his team took on the challenge of the perennial PCL heavyweights and refused to back down.

“La Salle is an incredible program, from the coaching staff to the talent they bring in,” Nace said. “It wouldn’t be out of the question to see them win a state championship.

“You don’t want to lose the last game of the year, but I was happy with the way these guys didn’t back down and played hard to the end.”

No one would have blamed the Crusaders if they had packed it in.

The Explorers, who will seek their 20th PCL lacrosse championship Monday against St. Joseph’s Prep (7 p.m. Neumann University), made short work of the Crusaders, scoring six times in both the first and second quarters to kick in the running clock for the complete duration of the second half.

Brett Baskin led the way, scoring seven times before sitting out the entire fourth quarter.

But the Explorers offense was not the entire story of the game.

Anthony and John Giuliani controlled the bulk of the draws, while Baskin netted seven goals, Michael Mehlmann had two and Craig Coleman, Matt Clibanoff, Austin Clibanoff, Chris Hladczuk and Kevin Lacon all notched one.
Meanwhile, the Crusaders got second-half goals from Grady Kelly and Mike Basilii.

With the victory assured, the Explorers turned their attention to working on things they’ll try to put to good use Monday against Prep.

“I thought we played well today,” Baskin said. “We just stuck to what we’ve been doing all year.

“For the most part we stayed poised and finished our shots.”

As for Monday, Baskin said the Explorers are aware that even though they bested the Prep earlier this year, it won’t mean much come Monday.

“We know it really doesn’t matter that we beat them earlier this year,” the junior attack said. “Monday is what matters.”

As for the Crusaders, they were pleased with their season.

“Our goals at the beginning of the year were to make the (PCL) playoffs and win a game we did both of those things,” Nace said.

Then, pointing in the direction of the Crusaders as they walked off the field, the coach managed a smile.

“These guys can walk off the field with their heads held high. They love the green and gold.”

LC goaltender Bob Bausman, who was named the All-Catholic first team goaltender, showed just why with 13 saves, including a few that defied description.