Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 4/4/17
Staff Report
La Salle 2018 goalie Mike Clibanoff had a feeling he was going to have a big day on the way to top-ranked Malvern Prep.
“I had a couple good practices and then before the game on the bus ride to Malvern I was locked in,” said Clibanoff, an Ohio State commit. “I was ready in warmups and then I made a couple saves and I knew right away I was going to stop them.”
Clibanoff posted 20 saves and La Salle (3-1) – No. 4 in the Phillylacrosse.com Rankings – took a 7-3 halftime lead and staved off a late Friars challenge for an 8-6 win.
The Friars (5-1) not only entered play ranked No. 1 by Phillylacrosse, but also No. 3 in North America in the C2C Lacrosse Rankings.
Brett Baskin had four goals and an assist and Anthony Giuliani won 11 of 18 faceoffs against Malvern standout Sean Christman.
“The No 1 thing is communication,” said Clibanoff. “From me to the d-poles to the d-middies to the attack, everyone has to be on the same page. we had to take away their strengths. It’s not easy to do that against a great team like Malvern Prep; you have to take away the top side, their sweet spot and not allow them to be comfortable.”
Clibanoff said the Explorers learned much from last week’s 12-2 loss to No. 1-ranked Hill Academy.
“This is a huge win; it shows us how good we can be,” said Clibanoff. “On the other hand the way we struggled against Hill showed us our weaknesses. Today’s win showed us how we can win as a whole unit.”
“The loss was a great learning lesson. I learned I have to keep my stick up; you can never drop your stick even if the ball is 20 yards away. It showed the defense we have to be on the same page and watch the bakc door cuts and communicate off switches. Malvern Prep and Hill Academy are both great at moiving without the ball.”
La Salle coach bill leahy was pleased with the win.
“The offensive played great – we went up 7-3 – and the defense played great and whenever we fell short Mike bailed us out,” said Leahy. “It was a great win, one of the biggest for our program since the Matt Rambo era.”
La Salle 8, Malvern Prep 6
La Salle
Matt Clibanoff 1g,1g
Brett Baskin 4g,1a
Brendan Meagher 1g
Ethan LaMond 1g
Christopher Mockaitis 1g
Anthony Giuliani 11/18 FO
Mike Clibanoff 20 saves
Malvern Prep
Matt Boles – 1 g
Jack Traynor – 1 g
Billy Coyle – 3G
Mac Updike – 3 a
Sam Charlton -1a
Scottie White -1g
Andrew Clark -9 saves
