La Salle got contributions from all hands Saturday afternoon. The result was a state championship. Seven different players scored goals in the course of a 7-3 win over Peter Township in the Class AAA Pennsylvania Cup championship game at the Robert Morris University Sports Center outside of Pittsburgh.
The win gave the Explorers (16-9-2) their seventh state title, their first since 2019.
“It was a great team effort,” said La Salle coach Wally Muehlbronner.
The Explorers broke the game open with four unanswered goals in the second period.
Charlie Kennedy gave La Salle a 1-0 lead with 41 seconds left in the first period when he put in a rebound of his own shot from the right point.
Will Tomko tied the game for the Indians early in the second period off an offensive left-circle faceoff.
But La Salle dominated the remainder of the period. Julian Tarsi, Evan Golato, Chase Hannon, and Ryan Desmond scored goals to give the Explorers a 5-1 lead at period’s end.
Peters Township (18-4-1) which came into the game as the defending state champion, drew closer with a pair of goals that made it a 5-3 game with 11:02 still left in regulation but Michael Zarzycki extended La Salle’s lead at the 7:39 mark.
Max Monzo finished the scoring with an empty net goal with 1:16 remaining.
““The boys truly bought in and gave one of their best performances of the season,” Muehlbronner said. “Our senior leadership this season was outstanding.”
Ice chips—La Salle’s previous state titles came in 1998, 2008-09, 2012, 2016, and 2019.
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