The La Salle College High School Explorers won the RugbyPA boys HS 7s State Championship last week at Cumberland Valley HS.

The Explorers bested teams from Doylestown, Coventry, Gregory the Great Academy and Media to go an impressive 5-0 on the day and capture its first state title in the team’s three year history.

Gregory the Great beat an experienced and well coached St. Joes Prep team in the quarter finals and lost a close game to LaSalle in the Semi-finals. Media beat Bishop Shanahan in the Semi-finals to advance to the finals.

The Explorers kicked off to a talented and fast Media team led by Dan Brown and Liam McCauley for the final contest of the day. Media struck quickly and La Salle, who had been plagued with slow starts all day, was once again down 12-0 early.  La Salle’s Kevin Noonan got things started in the 2nd half with a long try set up by an aggressive run by Tim Groff. 

Media’s Dan Brown scored and the Explorers were once again down 12 with little time left. La Salle’s Danny Murray , who had a great day, came through again with a huge score, cutting Media’s lead to seven  With no time on the clock, La Salle’s Luke Sabia entered the try zone in the corner but was able to shake off several tacklers and center the ball for the 2 point conversion needed to tie the game. Tournament MVP Liam McGowan, who ahd kicked well all day, slotted the tough conversion, bouncing it in off the upright, to tie the game at 19-19.

So on to sudden death overtime. La Salle kicked off to Media to start the extra time, but brought the defensive pressure. Groff made the tackle and Sabia poached the ball, and was able to offload to McGowan. While McGowan was brought down short of the tryline, he was close enough to stretch over to score his 5th try of the day, and tournament-winner.

The 12 teams that participated were: 

Pool A: West Shore, Saint Joe’s Prep and Downingtown

Pool B: Cumberland Valley, Bishop Shanahan, Malvern Prep

Pool C:  Media, Gregory the Great Accademy and Kiski Valley

Pool D: Doylestown, Coventry and La Salle College High School