Boys Lacrosse: Conner shoots high, Strath Haven reaches states

LOWER MERION >> By the time the clock ticked under a minute, Jeffrey Conner’s four-man chess match was reduced to three players.

The plan of attack for Strath Haven most of the postseason focused on Conner and Will Huestis, but Bishop Shanahan had effectively muted the latter. So in a tie game, with the dogged defense of All-American long-stick midfielder Ryan McNulty hounding Conner and Shanahan goalie Jason Yoquinto growing in confidence one save at a time, the sophomore attackman figured he’d have to resort to a new tactic.

“I knew in order to get there, I would have to dodge, we would have to create something,” Conner said. “… After (McNulty) stripped me, I knew I had him earlier in the game and he had me. We were going back and forth, so I knew I had to do something. I got that GB, and put one away.”

Conner’s third goal stood as the game-winner with 30 seconds left, piloting No. 5 seed Strath Haven to a 6-5 win over No. 4 Shanahan in the District One quarterfinals at Harriton High School.

Haven (17-4) advances to its first PIAA tournament since the governing body began sanctioning the sport in 2008. First, the Panthers will tangle with top-seeded Avon Grove in Tuesday’s district semifinal.

Conner and Yoquinto played cat-and-mouse all game. The Saint Joseph’s commit scored 38 seconds in but then was kept relatively quiet by the blanketing of McNulty, one of the area’s premier defenders. Conner also had to outfox Yoquinto, who collected 10 saves, including six excellent denials in the fourth quarter, many by getting his lanky frame low and refusing the Panthers the lower part of the net.

He did that well at the 2:46 mark, parrying a shot by Huestis, but the rebound fell to Sam Mutz, who passed off to Conner to rifle one high and into the net, tying the game at 5.

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