WILMINGTON — Salesianum motored through the lacrosse regular season ranked in or near the top 25 nationally, but that did not guarantee the Sals a fourth straight state championship. The No. 1 seed had to dispatch perennial foe Cape Henlopen, and they did just that, winning the title with a 16-6 victory at Delaware Military Academy on a sun-splashed June 1 afternoon.
Top-seeded Salesianum appeared in the title game for the 17th straight season, and it was the fifth consecutive time they played the No. 2 Vikings. Cape, the second seed this year, won the first one in 2019, but the Sals have taken the last four.
They did it with a mix of players who had been in the program for four years and others who had entered along the journey. One of the newcomers was Carson Robins, who sat out his junior campaign before getting on the field this season.
“It was totally worth it,” Robins said. “I wouldn’t change a single thing. I’d wait all four years to play with this team. They’re amazing. I wouldn’t trade it for the world.”
Robins got the scoring started a minute and a half into the game. The Sals took possession after a Cape turnover and worked the ball behind the Vikings’ net. Noah Driggs hit a cutting Robins to make the score 1-0. The Sals would add two more goals over the next two and a half minutes, one each from Luca Pompeii and Elliot Dotson, before Cape Henlopen’s Evan Burris fought off a few Sals defenders to get his team on the board.
Salesianum answered immediately. After a faceoff win by Brayden Lasensky, Dotson beat Cape goalie Mason Trench just 13 seconds later. The Vikings got one back, but the Sals closed out the first period with the final three goals, including Robins’ second with 17 seconds remaining.
Salesianum coach Bob Healy said this year’s team moved the ball very well, and that led to them having multiple players who were a threat to score.
“Played selfless, always looking for that extra pass,” Healy said. “When you do that, there’s going to be a bunch of different guys who have an opportunity to score, and they were incredible.”
Salesianum spread its offense in the second quarter, and the defenses and goalies were solid throughout. The Vikings scored midway through, but that was it until just 2:41 remained in the half, when Brenner Short skipped a shot past Sals goalie Cam Taylor — a goal that followed a huge save by Trench.
That cut the Sals’ lead to 7-4, but it took Salesianum just 43 seconds to reverse the momentum for good. With 53 seconds left in the half, Driggs found Nurry all alone in front of the goal for the Sals’ first tally of the quarter. Lasensky won the ensuing faceoff and found Driggs by himself in front of the Vikings net for the team’s second goal in 10 seconds. Finally, after another win on the draw, the Sals burned most of the remainder of the time off the clock before Robins earned his hat trick with 10.5 seconds left.
The Sals scored the first three goals of the second half to extend their lead to nine, and it was eight heading into the fourth quarter. Again, the first three goals went to the Sals as they clinched their fourth straight state title.
Nurry said Cape is always a worthy opponent. “Cape always brings it. It’s a credit to them and their coaches. It’s been a pleasure playing against them for four years now. They’ve got a great coach, and they have a great group of guys. They had a great season.”
Unofficially, Robins led the Sals with five goals, while Dotson had four and Nurry three. The Sals, who won their 14th championship overall, finished the season 17-2.
Burke Healy led the Vikings with two goals. Cape went 14-5.
Photos by Mike Lang.
