“I definitely think the defense played a great game, but it being the (Philadelphia) championship game, we definitely had some jitters,” Amato said afterwards. “I feel like they didn’t capitalize on their opportunities, but we were contesting everything and getting in their gloves.”
A key component of La Salle’s stellar defensive effort was junior All-American Durkin, who hounded Malvern’s Mackrides all night. Mackrides managed two goals, but beat Durkin cleanly just once the whole game.
And Durkin came up huge in the final seconds, as he prevented Malvern’s star from getting to the net on their last possession before forcing him into a double team that jarred the ball loose. The Explorers picked up the ball and celebrated as the clock ran out.
“I think it’s impossible to play a perfect game on him, he’s just too quick,” Durkin said of Mackrides. “I think I played a good game, we played a good game overall, but it was an even matchup.”
Assistant coach
Tony Resch, who orchestrates La Salle’s defense from the sideline, praised the way his whole defense played, and saved a special compliment for Durkin.
“I would say that’s a stalemate, and anytime as a defenseman you can stalemate a
Matt Mackrides that’s an unbelievable accomplishment,” Resch said. “He’s just grown into that type of defenseman that he can take a top guy and we don’t need to help him.”
Mackrides, who found other ways to contribute to the Malvern effort outside of his scoring, mainly through his remarkable riding skills and instincts, also had praise for Durkin.
“He’s one of the better defensemen I’ve ever gone against; it was fun playing against him,” Mackrides said.
The Penn State-bound senior thought that the Explorers did a great job of disrupting Malvern’s offensive rhythm.
“They shut us down early, and got us out of our groove right away. After that happened we tried to go to the net more and score more often and we took shots that probably weren’t good shots,” he said. “We weren’t getting the dodges that we wanted and we weren’t getting the shots that we wanted.”
On the offensive side for La Salle, midfielder Schwartz, also an All-
American, led the way with two goals and an assist.
The talented junior, who is considering Maryland, Notre Dame, Duke, Princeton and Harvard for college, boosted the Explorers with his play in the third quarter and helped turn a 2-1 halftime lead into a decisive 4-1 advantage at the end of the frame.
First, he swept from left to right across the box and beat
Andrew O’Connell (All-EPSLA, 5 saves) on the first possession of the second half with a hard outside shot.
Five minutes later, against increasing Malvern pressure, he shook loose of his defender and found Under Armour All-American
Conrad Ridgway, who evaded one Friar and then unleashed his famed shot for the eventual game-winning goal.
For Malvern, a team that had been scoring goals in bunches until this contest, it was a night where things simply didn’t go its way.
“I thought they had a good plan, they took the middies away early and made us go with the attack,” Malvern coach
John McEvoy said. “We didn’t adjust very well, and when we did it was probably a little too late.”
The Friars were also frustrated by their inability to hit their numerous opportunities in the second and fourth quarters. However, they continued to plug away and almost got even at the end, when
Colin McGeehin converted
Chris Layne’s find off of a top dodge and Mackrides split a double team with a sensational spinning swim move to pull Malvern to within one with 2 minutes and 2 seconds left.
“What you do is you keep shooting,” McEvoy said. “You try to get the next one and not let it get in your head, and I think we did. In the fourth quarter we got some looks and they made some great saves and we hit some pipes.”
La Salle’s win means that the Explorers will face Central Pennsylvania Scholastic Lacrosse Association champion Manheim Township in Friday’s Keystone Cup game, a game the EPSLA champ has never lost. Leahy will look for that record to remain unblemished in the last state championship before the Pennsylvania Iinterscholastic Athletic Association takes over jurisdiction.
“These guys are centered men, so they’re focused and they know that they’ve got to do it one more time to be state champ,” Leahy said of his side. “They did it on ’04, and these guys will come to play.”