Central Bucks East shocked the lacrosse world with its 8-6 upset of nationally-ranked La Salle College High School in Saturday’s PIAA Class 3A quarterfinals. Photos provided courtesy of Keith Clemens Photography. CLICK HERE or on any photo below to go directly to the BOYS' LACROSSE GALLERY.
#1-4 CENTRAL BUCKS EAST 8, #12-1 LA SALLE 6
It’s an outcome few - if any - saw coming, and when the final horn sounded on the Patriots’ stunning upset of nationally-ranked La Salle, the jubilant Patriots converged on junior goalie Liam Rosenthal, who disappeared in a sea of blue.
This was a win worth celebrating.
“Oh my god, it’s the best feeling ever,” junior Brant Billingsley said. “The key today was showing up and thinking we had a shot because no one else thought we had a chance.
“All week our coaches preached – ‘We can do it, we can do it. Let’s shock the world,’ and that’s what we did today. Waking up this morning, our whole team was sending each other motivational videos trying to get pumped up. It was David versus Goliath.”
And on Saturday, David brought Goliath to his knees, silencing those who said they couldn’t compete with a team whose roster includes three All-Americans and numerous players committed to big-time college programs.
“You just can’t listen to them,” Rosenthal said of the doubters. “It’s just a title – All-Americans. What happens on the field is a completely different thing.”
Bryan McIntosh dubbed Saturday’s win “The Miracle on Grass.”
“We were looked down on by everyone,” said the Patriots’ senior captain, who effectively silenced All-American Brett Baskin, limiting the John Hopkins commit to just one goal and one assist.
“We were saying, ‘Let’s shock the world,’” McIntosh continued. “We went in with our heads up. I can’t even put words together. It’s amazing, it’s absolutely amazing.”
In truth, it didn’t take a miracle for the Patriots to defeat the Explorers. It simply was a matter of the Patriots playing their game. They were methodical and precise on offense, and at the other end of the field, they were relentless, smothering the Explorers at every turn.
It also didn’t hurt that Rosenthal turned in the performance of his young career, finishing with 10 saves.
“That’s huge,” junior Colin Stein said. “As soon as he gets that save, you have our ‘D’ middies breaking out, we get fast breaks, and it turns it into offense. He stepped up today.”
“He was amazing,” Billingsley said. “This is probably the best game he’s played ever, and without him, we wouldn’t be here.
“Every time they shot, I knew he was going to make a key save. He played fantastic.”
Many of Rosenthal’s saves came in a second quarter that saw the Patriots’ defense shut out the Explorers.
“We relaxed and realized that we’re just playing lacrosse like we do every day at practice,” Rosenthal said. “Once we thought that, we went out here, we locked down and played some hard defense. We didn’t give them a chance, we got after them every play, every ground ball.”
“It was team defense,” said Stein, his arm in a sling after taking a hard hit late in the second half. “Everyone on the defensive end played well. We rotated well, and it was just a well-rounded defensive game.
“We started off a little slow, but in the second, third and fourth quarters, I thought we played great.”
In the opening quarter, the game followed the script most had predicated as the Explorers opened up a 3-1 lead. Only a goal by Alec Bracken (Billingsley assist) interrupted the Explorers’ party.
The tide began to turn in the second quarter. Bracken’s second goal – this one with a Ryan Schmidt assist – made it a 3-2 game. Several huge Rosenthal saves kept it a one-goal game, and with 54 seconds remaining, the Patriots, who had just gained possession, called a timeout. With seven seconds remaining, Ryan Bullota scored the equalizer on a low, powerful shot to the opposite post as he was falling, knotting the score 3-3 and sending the Patriots into halftime with some all-important momentum.
“We did exactly in the second quarter what we did in the first quarter,” East coach Bruce Garcia said. “I don’t know if everyone can keep up with our speed and our stamina because the way we play – we let these guys run.”
Bulotta turned a pass from Ryan Stout into a goal that gave the Patriots their first lead four minutes into the second half. Michael Ott won the ensuing face-off, and the Patriots led 5-3 after Ryan Brown scored on the rebound of a goalie save. Christopher Hladczuk’s goal broke an Explorer scoring drought of more than 22 minutes, but then came the backbreaker.
An East takeaway on the defensive end with time winding down in the quarter resulted in Brown – in a desperate attempt to get a shot off before time expired – firing a shot from 25 yards out that found the net at the buzzer, giving the Patriots a 6-4 lead heading into the final quarter.
“We’re never a first half team,” Brown said. “We had some great defense in the second half. Liam Rosenthal put up a great game.
“Bryan McIntosh, Joe Thiroway and Drew Bethke – they all played great defense against guys that are going to Maryland, Johns Hopkins.”
An East takeaway set up a goal by Brown two minutes into the final quarter, and when Billingsley – going down after some hard contact - fired a shot from the ground that found the net and gave the Patriots an 8-4 lead with 8:31 remaining.
“The key was relaxing and knowing that we can play with them, and that’s what we did today,” Billingsley said. “We settled the ball like we always do, and we stuck to the game plan, and we never got out of control. We played CB East lacrosse.”
The Explorers scored a pair of goals, pulling to within two (8-6) after an Ethan LaMond goal with 3:53 remaining. Twenty-two seconds later LaMond found himself on the sidelines with a non-releasable two-minute penalty.
“At the end there, they were getting frustrating,” McIntosh said. “We had them on the ropes the whole entire game.”
There would be no comeback for the Explorers as the Patriots held on for the huge win.
After giving up three first-quarter goals, the Patriots allowed just three the rest of the way, controlling play for the better part of 36 minutes.
“I think we’re a slow team coming off the bus,” Stein said. “It takes a little bit to get going.
“When we got going, we didn’t turn back. It’s a great feeling. Everyone from the start this whole week of practice – we were watching film, and our coach said, ‘This is a beatable team.’ It turned out to be a beatable team, and it’s just a great team win.”
Ott won 7 of 16 face-offs, never once backing down to La Salle All-American Anthony Giuliani.
“A huge shout-out to Mike Ott,” McIntosh said. “He controlled those face-offs. Giuliani got All-State, All-American, and Ott didn’t get anything, which I think he deserved.
“It’s amazing. My senior year – it’s the best time for this to happen. A lot of teams peak early, but we’re peaking now.”
Central Bucks East (18-5, 9-0 SOL) will face District One champion Avon Grove in Tuesday’s PIAA Class 3A semifinal at Methacton High School (4 p.m.). It’s a rematch of the district semifinal that saw Avon Grove edge East 10-9.
EXTRA SHOTS: Lost in the shuffle of the remarkable win was the fact that Central Bucks East had its Senior Prom on Friday night. “I have to commend all of the seniors because they committed to an early practice, they committed to a curfew,” Garcia said. “All of them came through on that curfew. They showed up this morning for the bus bright-eyed, clear and ready to play this game. They played after a Senior Prom. That’s huge.”…Final stats show Brown with the hat trick while Bullotta and Bracken both had two goals. Bracken also had an assist. Billingsley had a goal and assist while Stout, Ott and McIntosh each had an assist. McIntosh led the Patriots with three ground balls. Ott and Schmidt both had two while Thiroway, Brown, John Galow, Jake Ventresca and Rosenthal had one each. McIntosh and John Galow both had two caused turnovers, and Thiroway had one.
Central Bucks East 1-2-3-2 8
La Salle 3-0-1-2 6
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