The hunt for the lacrosse goal of the season is over. It happened in Pennyslvania, and the goalie who was beat on it is probably still coming to grips with what the heck happened.
The player you see scoring the miraculous goal in the video above is Philadelphia (Penn.) La Salle College High senior Stefan Bergman, a beefy defenseman who is headed to play at Michigan in 2014. Yet Bergman didn’t land his Michigan scholarship for his smooth stick handling, let alone his long distance shot.
Rather, Bergman is seen as a “positional” defenseman, the kind of solid bedrock player who doesn’t make mistakes that cost goals more than he makes plays that set up goals.
That scouting report serves to make his recent foray into the goal scoring charts all the more remarkable. Facing off against elite private school rival Haverford (Penn.) School, Bergman found himself to the left of the cage starting a clear, desperately searching for someone open up the field.
When he couldn’t find anyone, Bergman sent his gaze further up the field and noticed that Haverford goalie Jake Landman had drifted upfield, leaving him off his line in front of goal.
From there, Bergman didn’t hesitate, launching a full 80-yard strike toward the Haverford cage, where the ball landed smoothly over Landman, sending the La Salle sideline into delirium.
The goal gave La Salle a 6-3 lead in the second quarter, though that edge proved to be illusory, with Haverford mounting a second half rally.
As it turns out, the goal was more than just a simple highlight, too; La Salle eventually pulled out an 11-9 victory.
The final score may be what is most important for Bergman and his teammates, but it seems likely that the cult legend of his one big goal will outlast the game, and in all likelihood the rest of the La Salle season.
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