CL Lacrosse Finals

Phila. Catholic League Lacrosse Championships
(Compiled by Ted Silary)

1993
At La Salle
La Salle 7, Egan 6 (OT)
The first title game was a wild one. Chris Lynch (three goals, two assists) scored with 13 seconds left in regulation to give La Salle a 6-5 lead and Brian Lasota countered for Egan at 0:04. Lynch fed freshman Greg Erb for the game-winner 2:30 into OT. La Salle's Jim Higgins had two goals.

1994
At La Salle
Carroll 5, La Salle 3
Paul Evans scored two goals in the first half and Chris Corr posted two in the second to pace the Patriots. Phil Fogli was perfect in goal in the second half.

1995
At St. Joseph's Univ.
La Salle 10, Bonner 4
The Explorers roared to a 9-0 lead and Greg Bock was forced to make just nine saves. Mike Morsell and Frank Hoffman had three goals apiece. Mike Koons added two.

1996
At St. Joseph's Univ.
La Salle 16, Carroll 7
The scoring assault was led by Jim Koller (six), Mike Morsell (four) and Frank Hoffman (three).

1997
At La Salle Univ.
La Salle 20, Carroll 6
Mike Morsell led the barrage, pumping home five goals. Mike Durso and Jim Koller chalked up four apiece. Jamie Lockard, Sean Brennan and Ed Walsh had two each for the Patriots.

1998
At St. Joseph's Univ.
La Salle 8, Carroll 6
Goals by Dan Neverosky, Mike Abbott and Sean Kent sparked the Explorers to a 3-0 lead in the first 3 minutes, 1 second. Matt Westley made 12 saves.

1999
At La Salle
La Salle 7, SJ Prep 5
Off a steal, Sean Kent notched an unassisted goal with 5:23 left to provide a 7-5 lead. Kevin Merlini had two scores. Dennis Mahon and Wayne McKillop matched that total for Prep.

2000
At Carroll
La Salle 12, SJ Prep 11 (OT)
In a game featuring six ties, Conrad Lochocki (four goals) ended it on an assist from Brian Madeira 3:07 into sudden death. The Prep's Brian McMonigle scored with 0:30 left in regulation to force OT.

2001
At La Salle
La Salle 8, Ryan 5
Brian Madeira and Conrad Lochocki accounted for all of La Salle's goals, with four apiece. Madeira's score with 6.6 seconds left in the third period snapped a 4-4 tie. Ryan's Dan Thomer had created that deadlock on a feed from Steve Pape.

2002
At Haverford School
La Salle 9, SJ Prep 6
In winning their eighth consecutive title and ninth in the league's 10-year history, the Explorers jumped to a 4-0 lead on goals from Pat Lombard (two), John Lasky and Mike Graham. Lasky finished with four scores. The Prep edged within 5-4 and 6-5 before fading.

2003
At Saint Joseph's Univ.
SJ Prep 9, La Salle 7
Pete Mellen scored four goals, raising his season's total to 49, and his tally off a breakaway with 4:41 left provided a 9-6 lead. Chris Geraghty made three saves from point-blank range. Ed Lawless' goal gave La Salle its only lead, at 1-0.

2004
At Saint Joseph's Univ.
La Salle 12, SJ Prep 3
Brian Neary (four goals) and Rob Forster (three) led the way as the Explorers coasted. The score zoomed to 10-1 when Greg Casey, Pat Lombard and Neary scored three goals within 17 seconds. Mike Haas made seven saves. Andrew Cabrey scored twice for The Prep. The Explorers went on to win the state title, in Hershey, with a 13-5 win over Shady Side Academy, of Pittsburgh.

2005
At Saint Joseph's Univ.
La Salle 13, SJ Prep 2
The Forster brothers, sophomore Jack and senior Rob, scored four and three goals, respectively, to pace another comfortable victory. Jack scored three consecutive goals to provide a 6-0 lead early in the third quarter. Mike Haas made six saves and was solved only by Andrew Cabrey (two goals).

2006
At Saint Joseph's Univ.
La Salle 10, SJ Prep 7
Greg Casey helped to account for half of the Explorers' goals with a hat trick and two assists. Andy Henrich scored thrice. For Prep, Mike Geschke tallied three goals while help came from Vince Quinn (two goals, two assists), All-State honoree Brian Schuster (one, two) and Pat Koehl (one apiece).

2007
At Immaculata Univ.
La Salle 10, SJ Prep 4
Pete Schwartz scored three goals while Andy Henrich and Conrad Ridgway added two apiece. Sophomore goalie Niko Amato made nine saves and all-everything Jack Forster controlled the midfield area.

2008
At Plymouth-Whitemarsh HS
La Salle 6, SJ Prep 5
Goals by Pete Schwartz, Conrad Ridgway and Westy Hopkins pushed the Explorers to a 3-0 lead, but the Prep roared to four in a row, necessitating a late comeback. Junior Randy Forster tied it at 4-4. Schwartz and frosh Kevin Forster (yes, they're brothers of earlier heroes Rob and Jack) added two more before Brendan O'Donnell tallied his second goal for Prep with 3:29 left. Niki Amato made five saves to nail down the Explorers' 14th title in the league's 16th year of existence. The teams met six days later in the EPSLA playoffs. La Salle frolicked, 13-3, and went on to capture the last Keystone Cup by topping Manheim Township, 7-5. Randy Forster posted a hat trick and one assist. Amato had 14 saves.

2009
At Swarthmore College
La Salle 4, SJ Prep 3
After crunching the Hawks by 16-6 during the regular season, La Salle likely expected to frolic. Didn't happen. In fact, it fell into a 3-1 hole. Nevertheless, the Explorers captured their sixth consecutive crown as Westy Hopkins scored two goals. His game-winner came one minute into the fourth quarter after teammate Pete Schwartz created a 3-3 tie in the third. Niko Amato made seven saves. This was the PIAA's first year sponsoring lacrosse state playoffs. The Explorers stormed to the title in the 16-team tourney, defeating Central Bucks East, Downingtown East, Manheim Township and Conestoga. In the 7-3 final, Pete Schwartz (three) and Westy Hopkins (two) led the scoring and Niko Amato made 10 saves.

2010
At Plymouth-Whitemarsh HS
La Salle 7, SJ Prep 5
The Explorers shook off a 2-0 deficit while storming to their seventh consecutive title. Christian Cardinal recorded a hat trick and received single-goal help from Pat Resch, Sean Coleman, Nick Cruice and Jack Bogorowski. John Lawlor made seven saves. Bradley James and Rob Watts halved four scores for the Prep. Though the Explorers again advanced to the state final, this time they fell to Conestoga, 10-6. Christian Cardinal scored twice.

2011
At O'Hara
SJ Prep 8, La Salle 6
Call it the Year of the Breakthrough. After seeing the soccer team win its first CL title the previous fall, following 15 unsuccessful finals visits dating back to 1975, the lacrosse Hawks halted a seven-game finals skid behind a hat trick from Blaine Fleming and two goals apiece from Jeff Heath/Brad James. Anthony Marini also scored and Liam Correia made five saves; among his defenders were twins Pat and Will Farrell. Matt Rambo tallied thrice for La Salle. It was the teams' 10th consecutive championship clash and 12th in 13 years. The Hawks advanced to the state final and even rolled to a 3-0 lead. However, Conestoga regrouped and prevailed emphatically, 13-4.

2012
At Plymouth-Whitemarsh HS
La Salle 8, SJ Prep 7
Lightning struck twice. The real variety delayed the game's start by 57 minutes. The lacrosse version occurred as the Explorers scored five consecutive goals to take a 7-4 lead into halftime. Matt Rambo led the way with five goals while Jeff Cimbalista added two scores and one assist. Pat Walsh notched four goals for the Hawks and his last one cut the deficit to 8-7 with 3:20 left. Corey Shaffer then added his 11th save to preserve the victory. The Explorers were topped by Conestoga, 10-7, in the state final. Adam Stefanowicz posted two goals while Rambo managed one goal and three assists.

2013
At Plymouth-Whitemarsh HS
La Salle 11, SJ Prep 6
Sean Coleman fed Matt Rambo (four goals) for a tally that made it 8-6, and the Explorers frolicked from there while winning their ninth CL crown in 10 years and 18th in 21. Jeff Cimbalista added three goals. Bill Savage and Scott Scheuerle halved four for the Hawks. The Explorers stormed to the state championship for the first time since 2009 and hammered the final nail with gusto -- 13-4 over Conestoga. Matt Rambo tallied four goals, Sean Coleman added four assists to two goals and Jeff Cimbalista scored thrice. Nick Hreshko and Colin MacDougall halved eight saves.

2014
At Neumann University
La Salle 8, SJ Prep 7
In quite the exciting stretch run, the Prep's Pat Walsh scored his third goal -- on a behind-the-backer, no less -- with 51.3 seconds left to create a 7-7 tie, then Zach Drake, working off Mitch Soufleris' pick, fired home the game-winner at 8.8 as the Explorers capped a rousing comeback from a 3-0 halftime deficit. Aidan Kerrigan notched a hat trick while Soufleris scored twice. Colin MacDougall managed 10 saves. The Prep's Kevin Stump and Steve Tobia halved four tallies. In the state quarterfinals, the Explorers suffered a 6-5 loss vs. Penncrest. Trent Melsheimer managed two goals.

2015
SJ Prep 12, La Salle 10
Details to come . . .