By Chris Goldberg
Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 6/1/16
Brett Baskin scored off a Jared Walls assist with 2:29 left in overtime Wednesday night as La Salle defeated Bishop Shanahan, 8-7, in the first round of the PIAA tournament at Plymouth Whitemarsh High.
Jared Walls (left) and Brett Baskin combined to score the winning goal Wednesday night
The Explorers (19-3, ranked No. 3 by Phillylacrosse.com) advance to the quarterfinals Saturday vs. 25-0 Wilson-West Lawn (a 12-3 winner over Shady Side Academy) at a site and time to be determined.
Bishop Shanahan, No. 8 in the rankings, closes at 18-4.
The Eagles had come back from a 6-4 deficit to take their first lead, 7-6, on a goal by Connor Heisman with 6:58 to play. But Cody Mazurek (two goals) tied it on an EMO goal with 4:35 to play and La Salle had possession for the final several minutes of regulation but failed to convert.
Shanahan’s Ryan McNulty scooped the groundball off the OT face-off and Shanahan worked it around. But a pass to McNulty was broken up by Explorer defenseman Matt Webster, and Walls snared the groundball. He sped up field on a transition and waited until Baskin was open. Baskin (two goals, three assists), faked goalie Jason Yoquinto and deposited the game-winner.
“I just wanted to get in front of the net and not fade away,” said Baskin. “I tucked my stick a little and got to the middle of the cage and just finished. From our defense down to me, I had the easiest job. They got the stop, Jared got the groundball and he drew the guy and I was lucky I caught the ball and finished.”
“It was a great win, a team win,” added Walls. “I saw the ball on the ground and I knew I had to get it. At that point you win or your go home. I picked up the ball and saw Bret right away. I knew I had to draw a slide so I just pushing it until I was able to dump it off to him.”
Alex Wagner led Shanahan with three goals; two of which pulled the Eagles within 5-4 early in the second half. Kohler Setley put la Salle up 6-4, but then McNulty, Eli Goforth and Heisman scored.
Bishop Shanahan coach Jon Heisman said it was a disappointing end to a strong game for the Eagles, who have lost in the first round of states three straight years.
‘It’s a shame, we had a great year,” he said. “I am extremely disappointed that the outcome wasn’t different. That’s a great team but we played our tails off.
“That man-up (on the tying goal) killed us and we didn’t have a man-up all game. We have a great group of seniors and we’ll regroup and give it another shot next year. We did everything we could but win.”
Said La Salle coach Bill Leahy: “I was very impressed (with Shanahan), they are a well-coached team and that’s one of the first things I said after watching film. I love how we handled their zone early and then our mentality went man-to-man and that’s not how you beat a zone.”
La Salle 8, Bishop Shanahan 7, OT
La Salle 2-3-1-1-1 – 8
B. Shanahan 2-1-3-1-0- 7
La Salle
Cody Mazurek 2g
Brett Baskin 2g, 3a
Brendan Meagher 1g, 1a
Matt Clibanoff 1g
Ethan LaMond 1g
Kohler Setley 1g
Jared Walls 1a
Colin Cahill 1a
Michael Clibanoff 5 saves
Bishop Shanahan
Alex Wagner 3g
Ryan McNulty 1g
Eli Goforth 1g
Nck Skulski 2a
Sam Goforth 1g
Spencer Bicking 1a
Connor Heisman 1g
Ryan Smith 1a
Jason Yoquinto 7 saves