WYNDMOOR, PA – Despite having never played on the school’s new turf field, La Salle came out Tuesday evening without skipping a beat. The undefeated Explorers matched up against rivals St. Joseph’s Prep in the first of La Salle’s three matches this week.
Within only ten minutes, La Salle defender Cole Hammel leaped above his defender to head in Spencer Patton’s corner kick. From then on, it only went downhill for the Hawks.
Halfway through the first half, La Salle doubled their lead when Anthony Boyle whipped in a cross to the back post. Sophomore, Chris Metzler, was in a perfect position to smash it in on the volley. To finish up the half, Spencer Patton added a third goal thanks to a tremendous assist from Zachary Hogan.
“Without finishing our first three chances, we wouldn’t be up and we wouldn’t have had the confidence we had going into the second half,” La Salle goalkeeper Brett Werner said.
One of La Salle's 3 goals
Although they had confidence, La Salle’s attack cooled off in the second half as the game entered a stalemate. Neither team was able to find an opening, resulting in a 3-0 victory for the Explorers.
The Explorers aren’t just undefeated in the PCL this year, but they also have yet to concede a goal.
“I owe it to my defense obviously because without them I’d be on an island out there,” Werner explained.
He humbly forgot to mention it, but Werner himself has been a key reason for La Salle’s clean sheets. Each game he manages to come up with numerous jaw-dropping saves that have kept the Explorers on top.
Looking ahead, La Salle faces McDevitt tomorrow, North Penn on Saturday, and then Father Judge and Roman Catholic the following week. With the way they’ve been playing, La Salle will certainly want nothing less than four wins.
The Prep will also continue on the road to face Archbishop Carroll tomorrow at 3:45PM.