Archbishop Wood starts fast, handles La Salle in battle of unbeatens

HORSHAM >> Archbishop Wood and La Salle College High School were originally scheduled to play Tuesday afternoon.

The Philadelphia Catholic League rivals tried to play through heavy rain, but the game was postponed after 10 minutes.

The Vikings only got a quick glimpse of their opposition, but used it to their advantage when the game restarted from the beginning Wednesday.

Wood scored two goals in the first 10 minutes and was on its way to a 4-0 win over La Salle at the Ukrainian-American Sport Center to stay unbeaten in PCL play.

“We knew we could go at their backs,” Wood captain Kody Taylor said. “Their outside backs are good, but we knew we could exploit them and go in from the outsides. We saw that in the first 10 minutes of the game (Tuesday) so that’s what we went at today.”

The first tally came in the fourth minute. Taylor sent a long pass down the right side of the field to fellow captain Bob Hennessey. Hennessey gathered and never broke stride. He carried towards the goal and found the back of the net to give the Vikings a 1-0 lead.

Taylor added another in the 10th minute — a low shot from just outside the box to double the lead to two.

“We knew coming into this game that it was going to be a high-pressure game with good competition all around the field,” Taylor said. “We just came out ready to play, found combinations in the field and we were able to finish.

“Getting those first two goals, it was just like, ‘Wow, we’re in this, let’s keep it going.’ We weren’t going to stop after two. We knew they’re a strong team, they’re always going to come back. We just kept it high-pressure.”

Wood extended its lead to 3-0 in the 22nd minute. Taylor and Hennessey worked a give-and-go that resulted in Taylor taking a shot. La Salle goalie Owen Ranck went to the ground to make a save, but the ball bounced away and Vikings midfielder Shane Collier was there to put it away.

“I give (Wood) a lot of credit,” La Salle coach Tom McCaffery said. “That’s a very veteran, fast team that plays really really well together. They took advantage with their speed over the top for the early goal and I think we staggered and we never really recovered. They did a lot of things pressure-wise and then once they got a couple goals up and they sat in we couldn’t figure it out. Full credit to them, it was their day. They ran all over us and they made it look easy.”

The Explorers had plenty of opportunities to score, but couldn’t put much on net. They totalled three shots in the game — all from free kicks.

Wood had to defend a number of corners and was able to clear most of them and a few times La Salle shot wide of the goal.

“(Wood’s defense is) very organized,” McCaffery said. “I give full credit not only to the back line, but the guys in front of them. The holding midfielders did a great job of making sure the lanes were cut off. I think it really comes down to that understanding of where each other’s going to be and the speed. Their speed is really high-paced and that’s something as much as you train for and talk about, you’re not going to be ready for it until you see it.”

Hennessey added his second goal of the game in the final 10 minutes to make it 4-0.

The loss brings an end to La Salle’s PCL winning streak. The Explorers hadn’t lost a league game — regular or post-season — since Oct. 2015.

“It’s been five years since we’ve beat them,” Taylor said. “My four years here — never beat them. The first time — it’s pretty hype.”

“At the end of the day if we’re fortunate enough to get back into the final and win another championship,” McCaffery said, “or if we’re fortunate enough to find our way into the district or state playoffs — that’s what it’s all about. It’s great for the guys who came before this the last couple years to see that type of a streak. It might be nothing that I ever get to see again, but it was a fun ride.”

Wood improved to 6-0 with the win and La Salle fell to 5-1. Roman Catholic also entered Wednesday 5-0 and will meet Wood Friday.