It seemed fitting that there was some symmetry to it all. The Radnor girls and La Salle boys lacrosse teams had been the premier programs in Pennsylvania over the last three years. Both teams were believed to be the top teams in the state entering this season, the first in which the PIAA, the Pennsylvania’s governing body of high school sports, were hosting the first-ever state lacrosse championship on Saturday.
So it came that both overcame early 2-0 deficits in the state title games, and both programs overcame losses that made them question themselves. But neither Radnor nor La Salle were going to be denied from making history in becoming the first schools to win Pennsylvania’s first state titles in lacrosse.
For Radnor, the Red Raiders had to rebound from the surprising District 1 championship loss to Springfield, which snapped their two-year, 44-game winning streak. Radnor felt it had some unfinished business and wanted to see Springfield again in the state finals.
Their chance for revenge was denied when Springfield didn’t exactly fulfill its end of the deal by getting knocked out in the state quarterfinals. So instead, Radnor faced another Central League rival, Strath Haven, which got out to a quick 2-0 lead before Radnor responded with 11 unanswered goals on the way to a 20-10 state title victory at HersheyPark Stadium.
Senior Sam Ellis led the Red Raiders with six goals, followed by four goals from junior Kelyn Freedman.
“There wasn’t any doubt we would do this, which I think it says a lot about Radnor lacrosse,” said the Princeton-bound Ellis, who scored the Red Raiders’ first goal. “We had to overcome the Springfield loss in the district finals, and I won’t lie to you, we wanted to play them again in the state finals. It was like some unfinished business we wanted to take care of. We did our part, we got the state finals and won.”
In winning, Radnor finished an amazing season in which it went 26-1 and an amazing 49-1 over the last two years. What makes the Red Raiders even more frightening is that Ellis was only one of two senior starters in the state title game, along with Beasley Hays (Colgate).
For La Salle, the Explorers did get a chance to avenge an earlier loss, facing Central League and District 1 powerhouse Conestoga. It was almost two months ago when the two team met in the season-opening game, which the Pioneers won, 6-3, on March 21.
Facing Conestoga was a big priority for the Explorers (21-4). Not just for avenging an earlier loss, but reaffirming their manhood. Conestoga took it to La Salle in the first game physically, catching the Explorers completely by surprise.
“We can play physical, and it’s something I think we had to prove in the state title game,” said La Salle’s Randy Forster, who’s headed to Penn State to play lacrosse. “More importantly, Conestoga was the only team in the state that beat us. We wanted to prove we were the best.”
La Salle did, coming back from an early 2-0 hole to win, 7-3, completely shutting down the Conestoga attack in the second half.
In taking the first-ever state title in boys’ lacrosse, La Salle made additional history in becoming the first lacrosse program—boys or girls—to win the trifecta, taking their league title (Catholic League), district crown (District 12) and state championship.
“You can say it’s the perfect way to go out as a senior,” said La Salle goaltender Niko Amato, who is bound for Maryland and was sterling in the net, making 10 saves. “We knew we were a special group, and we knew we were capable of doing special things. But you really can’t ask for a better way to finish a season and a high school lacrosse career. I’ll remember this as the best day of my life.”
Joseph Santoliquito covers high school sports for the Philadelphia Daily News and is a frequent contributor to MaxPreps.com.
