WILMINGTON — Salesianum is headed back to the DIAA boys lacrosse championship game after a 19-0 victory over St. Andrew’s in a semifinal matchup on May 27 at Abessinio Stadium. The Sals will be seeking their sixth straight title and 13th in the past 15 years. This is the 18th straight season the Sals are appearing in the final.
The Sals, seeded No. 1, were never challenged, holding the Saints to fewer than five shots in the contest. St. Andrew’s, the fourth seed, did not have a sustained offensive possession in the first half, when Salesianum scored almost at will.
The scoring started early when Andrew Althouse hit the net. By the end of the first quarter, the Sals led, 9-0, with Althouse and Jake Getty each scoring twice. The Motta brothers, Drew and Trent, teamed up for a goal with 30 seconds remaining, with Drew getting the assist on his younger brother’s tally.
The second quarter opened with a St. Andrew’s turnover on a long pass, and Salesianum long pole Adam Dodia made them pay. Twelve seconds later, Luca added the Sals’ 11th goal after winning the faceoff and doing the dirty work himself.
The Sals scored their 19th goal in the fourth quarter, with Peter Schwenzer hitting paydirt. The Sals held the ball for most of the rest of the game.
Salesianum (14-4) will battle No. 2 Cape Henlopen on Saturday at noon at Caesar Rodney High School in Camden. It will be the seventh consecutive season the Sals and Vikings have played for the title. Cape won in 2019. There was no game in 2020 because of the covid pandemic, and the Sals have won since 2021.
Tickets, which must be purchased online, are available at www.gofan.co/app/school/DIAA.
This is the 12th time the Sals and Cape have played each other in the final. The last time neither of those teams made the championship game was 2005, when Tower Hill defeated Caesar Rodney.
In other state tournament action, also at Abessinio Stadium, No. 4 Padua opened play in the Division I girls soccer tournament with a convincing 3-0 victory over No. 5 Caesar Rodney.
The Pandas controlled the tempo all night long against the Riders. Padua played the outside for most of the night, looking for their big hitters in the middle and often finding them. Early on, they just missed high with a shot off the football crossbar. Four minutes later, Caitlin Igo took a pass from the baseline outside the 18-yard box and buried a shot in the upper 90 out of the reach of CR keeper Eva Sheppard.
In the 22nd minute, Charlotte McDerby and Kasey Nwokobia executed a textbook give and go. McDerby finished the play with a ground ball into the net to widen the lead.
Sheppard did all she could to keep the Riders close, but the Pandas’ defense did not allow their opponent to get anything going on the other end. Padua senior Emme Mulvena (St. Mary Magdalen Parish), who was stoned by Sheppard in the 48th minute, weaved around two defenders shortly thereafter and sent a left-footed shot home for the final goal.
Padua improved to 9-4-2 and will meet No. 1 Appoquinimink on June 3 at a location and time to be announced. Appo defeated the Pandas, 2-0, during the regular season.
Elsewhere, Archmere fell to undefeated Tower Hill, 20-12, in a girls lacrosse semifinal. The top-seeded Hillers jumped out to an early lead, only to see the No. 5 Auks get right back into it. Tower steadily stretched the lead and returns to the championship game against Cape Henlopen on Saturday at 3 p.m. at Caesar Rodney High School.
Giada Giordano led Archmere with four goals; senior Claudia Koch added three, and the DeLuca sisters, Ellie and Annie (St. Mary of the Assumption Parish) each had a pair. Sarah Dahms scored the Auks’ other goal. Mia Luce stopped eight shots on goal. The Auks finished with a record of 13-5.
Finally, No. 3 Saint Mark’s got going in the Division II girls soccer tournament with a 4-0 second-round home win over No. 11 Wilmington Christian. Saint Mark’s will play the winner of Archmere-Caravel in one semifinal next week.
Whitney Evancho returned from a late-season injury to score twice for the Spartans, and Joy Baffone and Brynn Casapulla had one each. Emma Gibbons stopped three Warriors shots.
Photos by Mike Lang.
