Shanahan ousts Holy Ghost Prep to advance to district semifinal
DOWNINGTOWN >> In some ways, it seems like ancient history. But it’s important to remember that the Bishop Shanahan boys have reigned over District 1 2A lacrosse dating back to 2018. And the Eagles started off impressively in their quest to keep it going.
Seeded second, Shanahan led wire-to-wire and bounced No. 7 Holy Ghost Prep, 8-2, on Wednesday in round one of the district playoffs at Jack Mancini Field. Now 14-4 overall, the Eagles advance to the semifinals where they will host sixth-seeded Marple Newtown on May 25.
“We have to win one more game to get into the state playoffs,” said head coach Jon Heisman. “And believe it or not, we are looking to win our third district title in a row with last season being cancelled. That’s our goal.”
Shanahan won the district and state titles in both 2018 and 2019, but returned just three starters after the 2020 COVID-19 hiatus. Heisman termed it a “total rebuild” and that’s exactly what’s transpired.
“We’ve had time to get some things accomplished,” Heisman explained. “The young guys have really bought in, and our older guys are steadying players. They do what they’ve always done and now the younger guys a little better.”
The Eagles will take a 12-game winning streak into the next round against a Marple Newtown squad that is 12-6 overall. A win there could mean a rematch in the finals against Ches-Mont foe and top-seeded West Chester Rustin. The Knights topped Shanahan 13-7 in the regular season, but it happened more than a month ago.
“We had a bunch of younger kids and they just had to work their way into playing the different speed of high school lacrosse,” said senior defender J.D. Shimer.
“We are coming together now, we’ve build chemistry, and all of the young guys have stepped up,” added senior midfielder/attacker Owen Mehok. “We are hungry.”
With most of its experience in the back end, the Eagles are young and undersized up front, but also highly skilled. Shanahan has now outscored its last five opponents by a combined 64-7. And how about this for a positive sign: five of the team’s eight goals on Wednesday came from ninth graders.
“I told our two freshmen attackmen – Joe Devine and Devin Mullen – that they played great,” Heisman said. “They might have passed up a few shots here and there, but all-in-all for their first playoff game, it was pretty good.”
The youthful attack got a boost early by scoring three first quarter goals in a three minute span to take the lead for good. Devine notched two of those goals and Mehok’s nifty over-the-shoulder tally made it 3-0.
The scoring rate slowed a bit the rest of the way, but the Eagles got a second quarter goal from Mullen. And then Mullen and Mehok turned single goals into a 6-2 lead through three quarters.
“Our winning streak just speaks to the fact that our defense is operating like a well-oiled machine and the offense is getting traction,” Shimer said. “We are just ready to rock now.”
Mehok completed the hat-trick early the fourth quarter and freshman Trevor Barbadora rounded out the scoring.
“All of the young guys have exceeded my expectations,” said Mehok, who has signed to play collegiately at Drexel. “I thought it might be a one-man show, but it’s far from that.
“Joe (Devine) and Devin (Mullen) have really given me some support. And (junior) Colin McGrory just picked up a lacrosse stick a couple years ago and he’s been real good.”
The defense, of course, has been the anchor all season, and it played out that way against the Firebirds (5-11 overall). In all, the home team had a 23-9 edge in shots on goal, and sophomore goaltender Joe Pezone stopped seven of the nine.
“Our defense is excellent. They are our bread and butter for sure and they’ve done it all season. We just hope the magic continues,” Heisman said.
“They keep us in every game. They are our rock,” Mehok said of the defense. “They have a zone (defense) that pretty much no one has been able to beat.”
Devine and Mullen each finished with two goals and an assist. And even though the offense is making big strides, Heisman knows that his team is going to have to lean on its defense in order to make a deep postseason run.
“Our style is to play good defense and hope to control the middle of the field if we can,” Heisman pointed out.
“We have steadying influences to do it. (Long-stick midfielder Collin) Gucwa is probably going to be an All-American. Liam (Blakely) is our face off guys and is a superb defender, and J.D. Shimer is a stud. Those guys keep us in games.
“This is not like the teams of the past where we scored 18 or 20 goals. But we will do whatever we are successful with.”
Bishop Shanahan 8, Holy Ghost Prep 2
Holy Ghost Prep 0 1 1 0 — 2
Bishop Shanahan 3 1 2 2 — 8
Holy Ghost Prep goals: McLoughlin, Rittenmeyer.
Bishop Shanahan goals: Mehok 3, Barbadora, Mullen 2, Devine 2.
Goalie saves: Forde (HGP) 15; Pezone (BS) 7.
