La Salle lacrosse hopes big win revitalizes season
Cadets score 23 goals in victory over Knights
TROY, N.Y. >> Dean Mancini could see a difference in his team just from the pregame warmups. He’d preached the message of important May lacrosse to them earlier, but didn’t know how that message would resonate.
The season hadn’t been what the La Salle head coach had hoped for to that point. But after a 23- 6 win over Troy-area rival Lansingburgh, he felt as though his team had shown something it didn’t so far this year.
“It was good to see that they were ready to play,” Mancini said. “That’s been a struggle all year long. We’ve come out many games just really kind of flat and really not excited. I think a lot of it started (today) just with our warm up. A lot of guys hooting and hollering.”
In the pouring rain, La Salle poured on the offense, implementing a running clock mercy rule early on in the third quarter. Logan DiScanio, Corbin LaFleur and Sebastian Geiger were all high scorers for the Cadets.
Nick Zalucky was impressive too, scoring one goal from the ground on his backside. After it was 7- 3 in the second quarter, La Salle would go on to score the next eight goals to turn a competitive game into a blowout. The Knights dropped to 1-11 on the season.
“We didn’t like the way we started our season,” DiScanio said. “We’ve been in all those tight games, but we’ve come out in the first half really hot and in the second half really cold or visa versa. But our coach is a great coach.”
The message from Mancini has been to play better in May. That’s all that matters. The Cadets were 3-7 and were coming off a 15-3 loss to Corcoran High School in Syracuse. But with May on the calendar, La Salle was finally able to make a statement.
By the end of the game, all the starters had been taken out, and they were all celebrating as the reserves continued what they started. The goals had been poured on, but winning a game by that score might show that the team is a little better than the record indicates.
It was clear to Mancini that he got a different, more excited team on Tuesday evening. Even with the wind and rain, playing a rival and playing it in May seemed to make all the difference for the Cadets, who hope their season is resurgent.
“With Sectionals coming up, our record might not show to other teams that we’re that good,” DiScanio said. “But when we put up 23 goals, it might scare them a little bit that they have to play La Salle.”