Bishop Shanahan rolls over Springfield for first district title in school history

WEST CHESTER >> As Springfield-Delco junior midfielder Jack Spence carried the ball up the left side of the attacking zone in the first half of Thursday’s District 1 Class 2A Championship game, he was only thinking about the goal in front of him.

What he didn’t know was that Shanahan junior James Bevevino had Spence in his sights. And a few seconds later, Bevevino set the tone for the entire night.

The Shanahan junior leveled Spence and knocked the ball loose, and despite picking up the ground ball, it was clear from Springfield’s immediate timeout to regroup that Shanahan was not going to leave without its title.

Shanahan controlled the flow of the game with its athleticism and physical style, and rolled to the first District 1 boys lacrosse title in school history with a 14-4 win over Springfield Thursday night at West Chester Henderson.

“I know Jimmy doesn’t hit that much, but I think it was the perfect time for him to lay one on him,” said Shanahan senior defensemen Tom Ford. “My mom grew up in Delaware County and told me that Delco kids are always tough and physical, so we wanted to match that and more.”

It was wire-to-wire dominance for Shanahan, which will march on to the PIAA tournament, opening Tuesday with the fifth place team out of District 3, South Western.

Springfield will play on into states, facing District 12 runner-up Archbishop Wood.

“It’s been a long four years,” said Shanahan senior midfielder Andrew Smythe. “We knew freshman year that this class was special and to finally prove that feels amazing.”

Smythe led the Eagles’ scoring attack with a career-high six goals on the day. Shanahan’s quick offense off restarts and all-around threats made it seemingly impossible to stop for the Springfield defense. Shanahan coach Jon Heisman hinted that he finds whichever of his midfielders the opponent defends with a short-stick defender, that player is going to have a good day.

After Smythe’s fifth goal of the game, he celebrated by counting them all out on his fingers, only to out-do himself with a highlight reel left-handed scoop shot for his sixth.

“I just had confidence in our offense as a whole,” Smythe said. “We know that any of us could put up six goals, that’s one of the main reasons that makes us so lethal.”

Springfield, the two-time defending state champion, had trouble all afternoon getting its offense deep into Shanahan’s back line. The size of defenders like Ford and the athleticism of Connor Whalen weighed heavily on the Cougars top players: Spence and Kyle Long.

On Tuesday night, Strath Haven coach Jef Hewlings credited the Shanahan athleticism with wearing his team down in the second half of the district semifinal, and it was clear  the Cougars suffered a similar fate Thursday night.

After letting up a goal in the first quarter to make the score 3-2, Shanahan closed the game by outscoring Springfield, 11-2.

“Today you saw what a dominant team can do when everyone plays well,” Heisman said. “Our plan was to play fast and use our athletes, which I really believe we did.”

With the win, the Eagles improve their record to 18-1 on the year. While they took time to celebrate their first district title in school history, everyone on the Shanahan side was focused on the state tournament.

“I was telling people all day that we’re the team to beat,” Smythe said. “People underestimated us all season, but we fully believe that were the best team in the state and we’re going for the crown.”

“We’re not done yet. Our goal is to win the state title. We’re happy right now but not satisfied,” Heisman said.