District championship doesn’t come ‘easy’ for Shanahan against Strath Haven

LOWER MERION — With an early lead over Bishop Shanahan and a shot at winning the District 1 Class 2A boys lacrosse championship Thursday, Strath Haven did the math and committed to a solution.

Keep the ball. Let the clock run. Hang on. And hang on some more.

“Easy,” the Panthers’ coaches would scream during almost every Panthers possession.

Easy.

Slow.

Shoot only when necessary. And even then, reconsider.

“We planned not to force ourselves on their zone,” coach Jef Hewlings explained. “So when they played zone early, we decided we were just going to possess the ball.

“Possession of the ball is a great defense.”

As for offense? Not always. For while Strath Haven’s delay tactics worked as designed to keep the score low against the reigning state champions, its offense did not produce a goal after the first quarter of a 7-3 loss in the championship game at Harriton.

In improving to 19-1, the Eagles finally exhaled, then rolled into the PIAA tournament with a jubilant celebration that spread toward the stands, to the delight of their fans. Second-seeded Strath Haven, which earned a state tournament bid Monday with a victory over Springfield (Montco), was disappointed in the result, but encouraged that it was able to remain competitive against the top-seeded Eagles, to whom they had lost 13-5 in last year’s state final.

With that, the Panthers were determined to earn one more shot at Shanahan in the state tournament, aware that it had first-quarter leads Thursday of 2-1 and 3-2.

“We knew we had to limit their possessions to have a good chance to win this game,” said Matt Faggioli. “And it worked.”

For a while, it did.

After Bryan Rafferty scored the first of his two goals 40 seconds into the game for Shanahan, Nicky Palermo answered and, with 7:41 left in the quarter, Faggioli’s goal gave the Panthers a 2-1 lead.

With that, the stall was on.

“We can’t call it a stall,” Hewlings said, “unless they come and get you.”

By any noun, the Eagles understood what was happening and chose not to over-react. Rather, it would remain in its zone defense and hold the Panthers scoreless for the final 38:32.

Just the same, there was tension along the Shanahan sideline. Owen Murray scored to draw Shanahan even, but Dylan Fitzgerald gave Strath Haven the 3-2 lead, Ethan Belville providing his second assist.

It wasn’t until Rafferty broke through with a second-quarter goal to create a 3-3 halftime score that the Eagles could enjoy some relative comfort.

“I think our defense played really well,” Rafferty said. “We really composed ourselves, we calmed down, we took control of the game and we performed on offense the way we are supposed to.”

That was apparent early in the third, when Owen Mehok and Vincent Riccardo scored within the first 2:12, enough, it would have seemed, to draw the Panthers’ out of their slow-down plan. But with its new urgency, Strath Haven turned a bit rugged, and Mehok and Murray were able to score on man-up situations in the final 6:12 of the third.

Still, the Panthers refused to speed their process. And even down three, in single-elimination stakes in the fourth quarter, they held the ball behind the Shanahan net for more than two minutes without attacking.

Soon, they were out of time.

“They played great,” Shanahan coach John Heisman said. “We expected that. We know you have to slow us down. We’re a train running. If we’re running, we can’t be stopped. So they did exactly what they are supposed to. I take my hat off to them. They hustled. They got ground balls. They played very, very well.”

Kyle Gucwa had five assists, and goalie Nic Pezone made 11 saves for the Panthers. Goalie Vincey Palermo fashioned eight saves to keep the Panthers close.

“If we play them again, we definitely know we can play with them,” Faggioli said. “We were up early and they caught us in the second half. If we play them again, we have to continue to limit their possessions and play hard.”

For one day, it was a plan that worked … at least for a half.

“I give my kids a lot of credit,” Hewlings said. “We played a good team and we went toe-to-toe for most of the game. I thought we shot ourselves in the foot a few times in the second half, especially at some key times. We played a man down too much in the second half. That hurt us a little bit. You can’t give those offensive guys an opportunity in man-up situations.”

The PIAA tournament begins Tuesday. Different stakes, different plans.

“We hope we are still playing again in two weeks,” Hewlings said. “Hopefully they are too and we’ll get another shot.”