Old story: No WPIAL teams will play in finals
Tri-State Sports & News Service
Another year passes and, once again, districts from Philadelphia and Harrisburg will be well represented in the PIAA boys and girls lacrosse finals.
And, like every other season, the WPIAL will not.
Coming into this year there had been 20 championship matches played in boys and girls lacrosse since the PIAA first recognized lacrosse as an official team sport in 2009. Of those 40 finalists, 31 were from District 1 in suburban Philadelphia with 17 total titles while eight were from District 12, which encompasses the Philadelphia city schools and represent the other three state titles.
Kennard Dale is the lone school to not come from those two lacrosse hotbeds, but the District 3 representative lost to Radnor, 20-8, in the Class 2A girls final a year ago.
Mars nearly became the first WPIAL team to ever make it onto that list this year. Not only did the Planets make a rare district appearance in the PIAA Class 2A semifinals, they held a halftime lead over Strath Haven in a lightning-delayed match that took more than three hours to complete.
In the end, however, despite the fact Mars came back from two goals down in the final eight minutes to force overtime, the Panthers were able to pull out a 12-11 victory just 43 seconds into the extra frame on a Nicky Palermo goal that once again set up an all-District 1 final and left the WPIAL out in the cold.
“We thought we were at our best when we were on the attack,” Mars coach Bob Marcoux said. “We thought we had things going our way until that first lightning delay and, when — Bob Marcoux, Mars coach on Strath Haven loss we came out, we were a little flat and they took advantage of it.”
With the PIAA split into two classifications last year, however, there are now twice as many opportunitiesfor other districts to make their mark and it appears to be happening. This year, for the first time, there will not be a District 1 representative in a state final as District 12 LaSalle College will take on District 3 champion Manheim Township – which defeated Pine-Richland in the quarterfinals – in the boys Class 3A title match on Saturday at 4:30 p.m.at West Chester East.
Manheim Township’s girls are also playing in the Class 3A finals against Unionville, while Kennard Dale is back for its second go-round in the Class 2A girls finals and will face Villa Maria.
With inroads being made, and considering how close Mars came to breaking the glass ceiling for the WPIAL, it’s beginning to look more like when the WPIAL will have a team in the lacrosse finals rather than if.
“It’s critical to go and play out there and see how good these kids are so they can hone their skills against clearly the best in the country,” Marcoux said. “Philly, Baltimore, Upstate New York and Long Island are the hotbeds of lacrosse and the only way you can get better is to play against the best.”