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BOYS’ SOCCER: La Salle Soccer Advances to PCL Semifinals With Victory Over The Prep

By Nick Ormsby, La Salle Jr. Reporter, 10/22/16, 3:00PM EDT

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WYNDMOOR, PA – In front of a packed Lower Bartley Field, the first-seed La Salle Explorers had no trouble taking care of business against rivals St. Joseph’s Prep.

Halfway through the first half, La Salle’s Joseph Brigidi whipped in a corner to Jimmy Natale who nodded the ball into the back of the net to put La Salle up 1-0. Natale, the towering senior center back, has been a key part of La Salle’s incredible defensive record this season. Paired alongside sophomore Cole Hammel, Natale and the rest of the defense have only allowed 6 goals in the PCL this season.

Eight minutes into the second half, La Salle doubled their lead through sophomore Chris Metzler. Shortly after coming on as a substitute, Metzler found himself on a break away with the Hawk’s defense trailing behind him. The forward dribbled around the onrushing keeper and calmly passed it into the open net, sending the overflowing student section into ruptures. La Salle comfortably held on to their 2-0 lead for the remainder of the match.

With this Quarterfinal defeat, so ends Prep’s season as well as the long tenure of head coach Jim Murray, who will be retiring after decades with the Philadelphia Catholic League. The Hawks finished the regular season with a 4-7 record.        

La Salle, meanwhile, will move onto the PCL Semifinals Wednesday at the United German Hungarian Club. The Explorers will face fourth-seed Archbishop Wood who defeated Archbishop Ryan in their Quarterfinal matchup.

“We’re going to have to shut down Mike Smith,” Jimmy Natale explained. “They’re a great team with a great defense so we need to put away our chances.”

The match will either be played at 5:00 PM or 7:45 PM Wednesday with the other semifinal being between Roman Catholic and Father Judge. The championship is set for October 29th at 6:30 PM at the South Philadelphia Supersite.