Bishop Shanahan drops Spring-Ford, earns district’s final PIAA berth

 

BUCKTOWN >> Within the thinnest of margins, a person or team leans on what they know.

The Bishop Shanahan boys lacrosse team certainly knows what its like to come up clutch in the District 1 fifth place game, also known as a play-in game to the PIAA Championships. It did it in 2015.

On Thursday against a Spring-Ford team desperate for its first foray into the state tournament, the Eagles put on an encore.

Led by Sam Goforth’s three goals and a third quarter burst it used to take the lead and never look back, Bishop Shanahan edged Spring-Ford, 7-6, in the District 1 fifth place at Owen J. Roberts High School to earn a third-straight trip to the state playoffs while ending the Rams’ season.

Sent to the consolation round by Strath Haven in the quarterfinals, the Eagles used the playbacks – just like a year earlier – to prove their worth.

“In our program, we weren’t always this competitive of a team,” Goforth said. “We constantly have to prove teams and people wrong. When you lose and go to the playback bracket you have to prove yourself again and that’s what we did today.”

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Spring-Ford (21-3) was left feeling the pain of seeing the program’s first berth to states elude it, despite getting a step closer after losing its playback opener to Garnet Valley – the team they beat 16-13 on Tuesday to reach the fifth-place game – in 2015.

“It’s a heartbreaking loss,” senior Liam Hare said. “It’s as far as we’ve ever made it in Spring-Ford history so I’m happy to be a part of the class that was able to do that. It’s going to sting for a while but we’re going to hold our heads high.”

Shanahan (18-3), the No. 4 seed, trailed 3-2 at halftime and 4-2 early in the third quarter before scoring four unanswered through the middle of the third quarter – Kyle Pollick (two assists) finding Alex Wagner before Wagner fed Nick Skulski for two goals in 28 seconds to start the run. Goforth, assisted by Ryan McNulty, capped the run at 3:48 for a 6-4 lead.

Goforth got it to 7-5, enough breathing room for kick-save extraordinaire Jason Yoquinto (12 saves) and defensemen Jack Whalen, Tom Ford and Jacob Rucker to see out the game – Ray Orcutt got the Rams within 7-6 with 5:35 left – despite Spring-Ford having the ball over the final 1:15.

Sam Goforth scores while falling down! 7-5 Shanahan after long possession. 8:12 left pic.twitter.com/3CQkevNqQO

— Austin Hertzog (@AustinHertzog) May 26, 2016

Blessing in disguise

The Rams’ Danny Cassidy (three goals, one assist) ripped a buzzer-beating shot to close the first half – a goal the Shanahan bench didn’t believe was scored in time to beat the clock.

The Eagles may have trailed 3-2 at the break, but it supplied a shot in the arm they may have needed.

“I think when they scored that controversial goal at the end of the half and made it 3-2, Coach (Jon) Heisman talked to us and basically told us, ‘We’re not going to lose,’” Goforth said. “We came out firing, got the lead and didn’t lose it.”

Playoff pedigree

In an even battle, the Eagles’ experience may have been the deciding factor.

They were District 1 runner-up in 2014 and have now traversed the district playback route two years in a row.

“I think we play our best when we have our backs against the wall and feel like we’re the underdogs,” Yoquinto said.

They’ve had first-round exits in states each time, something they hope to change next Wednesday when they meet the District 12 champions.

“It’s a chip on shoulders, especially after getting knocked out in the first round two years in a row,” Goforth said. “We have something to prove again.”

Two nice kick saves from BS GK. Still 2-0 SF, 7:55 2Q pic.twitter.com/FsjpZlzrTL

— Austin Hertzog (@AustinHertzog) May 26, 2016

Shanahan has it. Spring-Ford wants it.

“We did a good job leaving our mark on the PAC-10 again and for the most part did a good job with District 1,” Hare said. “We got a round further – you have to keep building it up. You’re not going to be a group of guys together and win a state championship one year without experiencing games like this. You have to use these games to get to the better one.

“They’ve played a lot of games in this kind of environment. They’re a very good team, so you’ve got to give it up to them. I definitely think we had potential this year. I thnk we worked as hard as we possibly could to reach that potential.”

All class

The Spring-Ford program has become the class of the Pioneer Athletic Conference with six straight conference crowns.

The Rams will say goodbye to a senior class led by defensemen Hare and Nick Crawford, goalie Chris Morgan (13 saves), attackmen Jake Hvazda (who missed a second straight game due to concussion), Kevin Todd, midfielders Matt DellaCroce and Justin Schwenk, as well as reserves J.P. Dougherty, Ross McNabb and Simeon Sutterfield.

“It shows the character of those guys, that they’re going to miss this so much,” said coach Kevin Donnelly. “Our seniors are awesome. They’ve been with us these four years and grown to be great men. It’s disappointing for me they can’t continue the journey more.”

The program’s progress was of minor importance in the Rams’ emotional postgame.

“It’s good for the program, but it sucks for these guys,” Donnelly said. “They’ve worked so hard, and I know everybody does, but they really do. They’ve been together for a long time. I love these guys.”