GLEN MILLS — For four years, La Salle High's senior lacrosse players have had the goal of winning a PIAA Class 3A title.

Three years ago, as freshmen, they were eliminated in the opening round of states by Wissahickon.

A year later, it was Garnet Valley taking them out, also in the opening round.

And last year, Radnor, on its way to a third straight PIAA title, ousted La Salle High 7-4 in the semifinals before taking down Springfield-Delco 8-1 in the title game.

So, naturally, it will be Radnor standing in the Explorers' way of an elusive PIAA title when the teams meet Saturday at Penn State (4:30 p.m.) in the Class 3A championship game.

"If you want to be the champ, you have to beat the champ," La Salle High head coach Rob Forster said. "And that's what we have to do if we want to win a state title."

La Salle High excelled in PIAA semifinal win

The Explorers sure looked like a worthy opponent for the Raptors after a convincing 7-3 win over Springfield-Delco in a PIAA semifinal Tuesday night at Garnet Valley in a game in which they never trailed.

"This was one of the best games we've played as a team all season and it was a great time to do it," said La Salle High senior Stevie Davis, a University of Pennsylvania commit and one of a core group of eight seniors that lead the Explorers.

"And we're going to have to play even better Saturday if we want to win the state title. That's been our goal for a long time and now we have a chance to go out and do it."

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La Salle College High has rich PIAA history in lacrosse

The Explorers' program is no stranger to PIAA titles.

They won the first one under the PIAA umbrella in 2009 and added two more in 2013 and 2019.

In fact, they're the last team not named Radnor to win a PIAA Class 3A crown. The Raptors have claimed the aforementioned last three titles while the 2020 season was ruined, and the playoffs canceled, by the pandemic.

But for this year's senior Explorers, 2019 might as well be 1919. They were all in the seventh grade and a year away from deciding where they would go to high school the last time the program won a state title.

"This is something that we've been building toward," said La Salle High senior goalie Matt Nelson, a St. John's University commit.

"We've gotten better and better as the season has gone along and that's just through hard work."

The Explorers, who have won eight straight PIAA District 12 titles, head to State College with a 23-1 record. The lone loss came against Malvern Prep, which ended its season as the No. 3-ranked team in the country, according to USA Lacrosse Magazine.

And one of the 23 wins came against Radnor, a 10-9 triple overtime thriller in early May.

"Radnor is really, really good and so is Springfield-Delco," Forster said. "When you get to this point, all of the teams are excellent, and you have to be on top of your game all the time.

"For our guys, our big group of seniors who have been playing — and a lot of them starting for the last three or four years — this is what they've been working toward for a long time."

Radnor to provide biggest test for La Salle in PIAA final

The Raptors, who trailed Garnet Valley by four goals at halftime in their semifinal, come into Saturday's final at 20-5 with their third-place PIAA District One Class 3A finish just a memory since they've rattled off three straight state tournament wins to get back to the final for a remarkable fourth straight time.

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So, obviously, the Explorers' core group of seniors, led by Davis, Nelson, Matt Wills, Paul van Bastelaar, Logan Missett, Karson Seth, Andrew Van Stone and Jack Koch, have their biggest obstacle in front of them in their biggest game.

"We know we have to be ready to go right away on Saturday," Nelson said. "We'll keep doing what we've done all season in practice leading up to now the next couple of days.

"We're really close to our ultimate goal, but we know we're not there, yet."

The PCN network (pcntv.com) will show Saturday's title game live on cable or streaming with PCN Select.

Drew Markol covers local sports for PhillyBurbs.com. Support our journalism with a subscription.

This article originally appeared on Bucks County Courier Times: With one more win, La Salle High can claim PIAA lacrosse crown