Shanahan smothers Haven for second straight D1 title
WEST GOSHEN » Strath Haven put a lot of thought into the game plan for defending District 1 Class 2A lacrosse champion Bishop Shanahan.
The Panthers thought of almost everything, as they were ready to unfurl a celebratory banner just in case junior Kaitlin Neiczpiel scored her 100th goal.
The Eagles, however, wreaked havoc on all those plans Thursday with a rough-and-tough 13-4 triumph to win their second straight district title at the expense of the Panthers. Last spring, the Eagles beat the Panthers 14-9.
If you’re keeping score, that’s back-to-back ChesMont and district championships for Kacy Small and the Eagles (18-4), who do so much double-teaming defensively that the opposition is seeing double before halftime.
“Our first goal is always winning the Ches-Mont,” Small said. “Once we kind of got that monkey off our back we just set our sight on districts. I think our experience last year really helped us here with us being an older team and just kind of being in this position before. I don’t think we were nervous, which is kind of weird because I always expect them to be nervous. They were just extremely confident and ready to go.”
Make no mistake, the Panthers put up the good fight at West Chester East. Laura Conner got them on the board after senior Sophia Lymberis, who had three goals, netted two in a row as Shanahan grabbed a 3-0 lead.
Conner got the goal on a free position shot. Two of the Panthers’ goals came that way, the other from fellow junior Neiczpiel, who had two tallies on the afternoon.
Those were some of the more open looks Haven got all day as it was next to impossible for attackers to square themselves before shooting after fighting through a stifling Shanahan defense featuring senior Paris Masaracchia, the Clemson commit with next level skills.
“They play with a backer,” Panthers coach Pigeon Graham said. “There’s somebody always open but if you try to do a one-on-one, there’s somebody there to meet you at the 8-meter. So, it’s almost like they double everything. You have to be really fast to run that defense. That’s not an easy defense to run and they stymied us in the second half, for sure.”
The Panthers had a bit of momentum when Conner fed Neiczpiel for a goal with 1:26 remaining in the first half to cut the deficit to 6-3. The girls low-fived each other with sticks. That was the first time they connected, as goalie Allie Hathaway (seven saves) robbed them earlier in the frame, while also stopping a free position shot. The Panthers also hit a couple of posts early on.
“We came out strong in the first half,” Conner said. “The second half, I think we got into our heads a little bit. I’m just happy that we stayed with it. We did what we could.”
The Panthers ran out of steam in the second half. At one point sophomore goalie Ava Yancey made an outstanding save but couldn’t find an open teammate to get the ball to. The Eagles that stayed behind to defend the Panther trailers completely locked them down. That’s how tough Shanahan plays D.
Speaking of tough, Yancey made 11 basically spectacular saves to keep the game from getting completely out of hand. She did that despite missing practice time this week with a stomach virus.
“She was so good,” Graham said. “She had some great saves. They were an excellent team. We knew from Day 1, all roads led to Bishop Shanahan. We knew it would be a really tough game. We knew they were awesome shooters. We had
a game plan that was a little harder to implement than we thought it was.”
The Panthers wouldn’t give in. With 3:46 remaining, junior Julia Steere scored to get them within 11-4. The Eagles were relentless. Senior Ellie Udo, who finished with three goals and two assists, followed with a goal and Masaracchia finished the scoring with 34.9 ticks left.
Conner didn’t make it to the finish line. She was disqualified for two yellow cards, the second with 3:15 remaining in a game that Graham called “physical all
around, especially going to goal on both ends with everybody forcing their way through.”
Conner, a captain, doesn’t want to leave her teammates again.
The good news is the second-seeded Panthers have a chance to redeem themselves when they host a state tournament game next Tuesday.
It’s also another opportunity to get Neiczpiel to 100 goals. She needs one.
“We’ll get it,” Conner said. “We’ve got another game to play in states. Now we need to win in states.”