LaSalle moves on to Class C Final Friday
TROY, N.Y » LaSalle lacrosse hasn’t had much luck over the last years in the opening round of the sectional tournament.
This year they changed that.
“It’s been tough in sectional play the last few years. We’ve been in Class A, but that’s no excuse,” said LaSalle Head Coach CJ Squires Tuesday. “Those are big schools with big time opponents. We came down to this class to have a better shot to go deeper into sectionals. Not that it is any easier, but we thought we would have a better shot.”
LaSalle entered the Section II Class C tournament as the one seed, earning the
bye in the first round and leap frogging straight to the semifinal, where they handled Scotia for the 16-8 win Tuesday night.
“Scotia is a good team,” said Squires. “They made a run back.”
Leading the LaSalle Cadets was Sebastian Geiger. The Clarkson commit was on fire both dodging, and from the outside, as he scored seven goals and assisted on one more in the win.
“All six guys on the offense were working together and moving the ball,” said Geiger. “It starts with our defense and our goalie, and winning faceoffs gets us more opportunities. We were able to bury them tonight. That’s what good lacrosse is about.”
The attack as a whole looked confident and capable. They may have tried to be too fancy at times, but got the job done none the less.
Nick Zalucky tallied two goals and an assist and Sam Mulson scored four. Both on the attack. From the midfield, Sam Haita and Mike Baker each scored one, with Louis Zalucky added two.
LaSalle’s offense was rolling early. with the first goal coming at 9:55 in the first. From there, LaSalle took a 7- 0 lead into the second quarter and were able to pot two more for the nine goal differential early in the quarter.
It had looked as if LaSalle had all but clinched the win. That was, until Scotia rattled off four unanswered goals to end the first half to make it 9- 4 heading into halftime.
“I talked to my guys about it before. When you start playing in sectional games, it’s all about runs,” said Squires. “Four goals here, five goals there, you just have to withstand the tide and keep playing together. That’s what it was. Wewent on a run, they went on a run, then we went on a run, and we stuck through it and got the win.”
Highlights from the first half were the Geiger, Zalucky, and Mulson combo on the attack that worked so well together throughout the game. The cohesive group moved off ball well, and were able to cut toward the cage in big moments to create an outlet pass for the dodging ball carrier.
“[ Zalucky and I] have been playing together for four years now, with Sam [Haita] on the midfield too, and we know where each other are. We know how to work with each other,” said Geiger. “The chemistry has really built over the last four years and it all comes together right now.”
The beauty of both Geiger and Zalucky is their ability to be versatile on the attack. What most would consider pretty prototypical dodging and driving attackmen, neither Geiger or Zalucky are afraid to unload from ten or so yards out, as Geiger showed in the second half from the right alley.
“Just focusing on reading the defense and either taking it myself or looking for a guy on the crease off ball,” said Geiger on his style of offense. “The five guys on offense really help me out and we have great chemistry. It’s a team unit out there.”
A lowlight of the first half, other than the Scotia run, was the loss of Christian Luizzi for the Cadets. The teams fogo, who would also hop on as a short stick defensive midfielder, was sidelined after the first quarter with what looked to be a knee injury.
Luizzi did not return for the remainder of the game.
“It’s about the next man stepping up,” said Squires on the loss of Luizzi. “Luizzi is a huge part of our team, he is the heartbeat of our team, as you saw. With him, we went up 9- 0.”
Helping suppress that Scotia run in the first half was goalie Jim Carlow, who finished with ten saves on the night. Carlow made some important saves in the final minutes of the first half to keep the Cadets’ cushion still pretty strong.
In the second half, the game went back to LaSalle control. Seven goals in the half coming from both the midfield and attack kept the Scotia defense on its toes.
Scotia’s James Almond proved to be a threat. The lefty had height on several of LaSalle’s defenders, allowing for easy shots on goal if he were close enough. Almond’s ability to roll to the left and take outside shots proved to work once or twice, but was soon figured out by the defending Cadets.
Next up, the LaSalle Institute Lacrosse team will see Glens Falls for the Section II Class C Championship. A rematch from earlier in the year where the Cadets fell 13-12 in overtime to the Indians.
“We are a different team now and we have different players here playing and we relish the opportunity to play Friday,” said Squires. “It’s where we want to be and ultimately, Friday is what we talked about all year.”