Some things old are new again.

The 2023 PIAA quarterfinal game between Parkland (18-5) and LaSalle College (17-5) was a replay of the 2018 quarterfinal matchup that saw the two teams battle with the Explorers taking a 6-3 decision.

This time around, the Explorers were able to control a potent Trojan offense and win by a 10-1 decision to deny Parkland its first appearance in the semifinal round.

The Explorers focused the whole game on shutting down the key components of Parkland’s success. Not only were they the first team to keep Parker and Chase Kusko from doing damage, but they did a strong job on James Scott, one of the best faceoff players in the Lehigh Valley.

LaSalle’s Stevie Davis was able to win 12 of the 15 faceoffs in the game and helped the Explorers to jump start their offense.

Early in the first quarter, the two teams were jockeying for momentum and it took until the clock wound down to the 5:45 mark for someone to break the ice.

LaSalle’s Evan Golato fed a pass to Davis, who was positioned directly in front of the net and fired a shot past Andrew Matulevicius for a 1-0 lead. That was a jumping off point for the Explorers, who picked up two more goals in the next three minutes for a 3-0 lead.

Parkland had opportunities early in the game, but the LaSalle defense closed gaps and turned Parkland away or held the Trojans to low percentage shots. When the Trojans did break through, goalie Matt Nelson knocked the shots away. Nelson finished with seven saves on the day.

“If we had converted early with some of the inside looks, we think it would have definitely changed some momentum,” said Parkland head coach Vince Arezzi. “They are a state championship caliber team, and it was going to be hard to play with them for four quarters.”

Arezzi took a timeout with 7:24 left in the second quarter and when play resumed, Parkland looked more organized and relaxed. Two minutes later, Jake Beidelman gave a great feed to Drew Filipovits, who fired a shot from a low angle, catching Nelson off guard and putting the Trojans on the board, making it a 3-1 game.

The timeout had also given the defense some clues into how to shut down the Explorers attack team and they were able to hold LaSalle to just one second quarter goal making it a 4-1 game at halftime.

LaSalle coach Rob Forster used halftime to adjust the earlier adjustments that Arezzi had made. The changes primarily were on the offensive scheme, but also focused on shutting down the offensive attack of the Trojans. The result was four unanswered goals for LaSalle in the third quarter and an 8-1 lead.

“We have a veteran defense, and they have carried us all year,” said LaSalle coach Rob Forster. “On offense, we are a little young and inexperienced, but I thought we did a great job today against a good team.”

With a commanding lead, the Explorers were in no hurry to add to their goal total and spent time spreading the field and passing the ball around the attack zone. At times, the pace was so slow that Parkland questioned whether a stalling call was in order, but none were given. On two occasions, the Explorers found opportunities to score that were just too good to pass up and took advantage of them. Golato netted his second goal of the game and junior midfielder Paul vanBastelaar scored his third.

While Parkland allowed 10 goals, Matulevicius, who is only a sophomore, had another solid game in goal for the Trojans, making 14 saves.

“We had a combination of good young players and a group of seniors that we rode to get here, and they have helped to pass along their knowledge,” said Arezzi. “Being able to tutor and mentor those guys was a huge benefit and we are hoping that pays dividends.”