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NORTH ALLEGHENY VARSITY GIRLS'
LACROSSE
File Photos Courtesy of Laurie Luitgaarden POST SEASON AWARDS ANNOUNCED Coach Harry Datz has released the post season awards given at the Annual Team Banquet along with the USLacrosse Awards. Most Outstanding Player Chelsea Cameron Most Outstanding Offensive Player Chelsea Cameron Most Outstanding Defensive Player Morgan Snow Outstanding Rookie Player Emily Rosenzweig Outstanding Rookie Player DANA SPELLMAN most improved Player connor willard PLAYER’S PLAYER elise moore SPIRIT OF THE GAME ANGELA SMARTO 2007 GIRLS LACROSSE
TEAM CAPTAIN: CHELSEA CAMERON USLACROSSE ACADEMIC ALL AMERICANS
WHITNEY WILSON WPIAL SECTION 1 ALL STARS
WHITNEY WILSON WPIAL ALL STAR
SECOND
TEAM
2006 Girls JV Lacrosse Amber Wetzel
2006 Girls JV Lacrosse Emma Luitgaarden
2006 Girls JV Lacrosse Piper Foight Congratulations to all of the awardees!!! * * * * * * * * * * * * * * MT. LEBANON TOO STRONG FOR
LADY TIGERS The Lady Tigers made their first appearance in the WPIAL Playoffs on Tuesday night at Mt. Lebanon, and the #1 ranked Blue Devils ended NA's season with a 17-2 victory. The loss gave the Lady Tigers a final overall record of 10-10 after finishing in second place in Section 1 with a 7-3 section mark. WPIAL GIRLS' LACROSSE CHAMPIONSHIP
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * FRANKLIN REGIONAL FINISHES LADY TIGERS REGULAR SEASON, 14-5 by Coach Harry Datz On Saturday, the Tigers wrapped up the regular season with a 14-5 loss at home against the Franklin Regional Panthers. The loss drops the Tigers record to 10-9, their first winning season in the WPIAL. They have lost their last three in a row and final two at home after going undefeated all season in the friendly confines of Newman Stadium. Franklin Regional opened up with a two goal lead before Whitney Wilson scored her first goal of the morning at 6:09. FR would then get the goal back five minutes later as both teams played a strong game in the mid field transition. Wilson responded with her second tally of the day and 44th of the season at 11:43 to keep the Tigers within a goal. Defensive clearing turnovers would then cost the Tigers the next three goals as Franklin would stretch their lead to 4 goals with ten minutes remaining in the opening half. The Tiger attack would then rally to get back within a goal. Elise Moore would wrap up her regular season scoring her 17th goal of the 2006 season. Strealy Clark would then complete the Tiger scoring with her 30th and 31st goals with just under 5 minutes remaining. The Panthers would have none of it by scoring the final two goals of the period and going into halftime with an 8-5 lead.Tiger goalie Angela Smarto stopped 7 of 15 first half shots. The second half belonged to the Section 4 undefeated champs as the Panthers scored all six of the goals with the final score ending up at 14-5. The Tigers ended the game with 15 turnovers and only 8 shots on goal. They were able to hang with the #3 ranked team in the WPIAL, according to laxpower.com, for much of the first half. The Franklin midfield proved to be too strong for NA’s transition game. Megan Litterini had another strong defensive showing, controlling draws, groundballs, and two interceptions. Strealy Clark also had a good showing with her two goals, one off of a free position shot, three groundballs, and forcing a Panther turnover. The Tigers face the #1 ranked Mt. Lebanon Blue Devils at 7:30 on Tuesday at Lebo. The game is a change from the WPIAL calendar which originally would have allowed all teams a week of preparation for the final run. Mt. Lebanon is the defending WPIAL Champion as the Tigers make their first ever playoff appearance. Season Stat Leaders:
Goals:
Whitney Wilson (44)
GAME SUMMARY
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * LATE GOALS GIVE LADY TIGERS To listen to a replay of the game, click here! After Latrobe came back to tie the game at 6-6 with 5:02 remaining, the Lady Tigers rallied for three goals to post a 9-6 victory in the non-division contest. Senior Whitney Wilson scored two of her three goals down the stretch to pace the NA rally. Junior Strealy Clark added a pair of goals for the winning Tigers. The Lady Tigers got off to a great start scoring a pair of goals in the first 2:41 of the game. Wilson gave NA a 1-0 lead at the 22:39 mark, and junior Chelsea Cameron made it 2-0 just 20 seconds later. Kelly Naugle answered for Latrobe with a spectacular backhanded shot after coming out from behind the net to cut the lead to 2-1 with 20:39 remaining in the half. Naugle tied the game with another tough shot from a bad angle a little over a minute later. With the game tied at 2-2, Latrobe continued to try to set up their offense from behind the NA goal. Coach Harry Datz elected to keep his defenders in front of the goal rather than chase the Wildcats. The strategy worked for most of the evening, but Emily Noel got free in front of the Tiger net and scored to give Latrobe a 3-2 lead with 11:20 left in the half. Clark answered with a pair of goals just minutes later. At the 9:48 mark, senior Elise Moore set up Clark in front of the goal and the Tiger junior finished to tie the game at 3-3. With 6:09 left, Clark was able to score on a free position shot as NA took a 4-3 lead into the intermission. Early in the second half, junior Emily Murphy scored in transition to extend the margin to 5-3 at the 22:10 mark. Latrobe then went back to their first half strategy of controlling the ball behind the NA net. The Lady Tiger defense, led by junior Nicole Orlosky and junior goalie Ang Smarto, kept the Wildcats off the board for the next eight minutes. Gina Dominick finally broke through from behind the goal to cut the NA lead to 5-4 with 14:31 remaining. Latrobe continued to control the ball, but the Tigers were able to score again when junior Megan Litterini broke down the middle to give NA a 6-4 advantage with just 9:33 remaining. Naugle then took over for the Wildcats scoring two quick goals to tie the score at 6-6 at the 5:02 mark. At this point, Coach Datz sent in his top scorers and they did the job! Wilson scored on a left-handed shot to give NA a 7-6 advantage at the 4:08 mark. Junior Michelle Wetzel extended the lead to 8-6 with a tough shot from along the goal line that beat Latrobe goalie Emily Farah with a little over three minutes left. Wilson put the finishing touches on the victory with her third goal of the game and 39th of the season with 2:43 on the second half clock. The Lady Tigers were able to hold off Latrobe for the remainder of the game to take a 9-6 victory. It was an impressive performance by the Lady Tigers for most of the evening. The NA defense was outstanding with Smarto making a number of key saves. Coach Datz was able to play most of his bench throughout the game, and they played well. The North Allegheny Sports Network selected Strealy Clark for her efforts both offensively and defensively in the contest. With the win, the Lady Tigers improved their overall record to 10-7 on the season. NA will close out their section season on Tuesday night when they host North Hills at Newman Stadium. It will be Senior Night with game time set for 7:30 pm. GAME SUMMARY
INDIVIDUAL SCORING
* * * * * * * * * * * * * SENECA VALLEY EDGES LADY TIGERS, 10-7, IN BATTLE FOR SECTION LEAD by Coach Harry Datz The North Allegheny Tigers lost a tough game against the Seneca Valley Raiders last night by a score of 10-7. The loss leaves the Tigers little chance of sharing the Section Title. The Tigers would need to win at home on Tuesday against North Hills and the Raiders would have to lose to Butler at Butler. It is not all that heartbreaking for the young Tiger squad, they have just made the playoffs for the first time and are looking forward to the final three games of the season. The Tigers were never able to hold a lead in the game last night. Seneca Valley jumped on the ball early and scored at 21:36 of the first half. Strealy Clark was able to tie it up 2 minutes later and Chelsea Cameron gave NA their only lead 2 minutes after Clark’s goal from a sweet assist by Whitney Wilson. Seneca Valley would then pop in the next two and then traded goals with NA through the end of the period. Cameron scored her second of the night, assisted by Clark. Seneca valley scored and then Clark put in NA’s fourth and final goal of the first half. Seneca would finish off the half with two more goals, the final one coming with just 20 seconds left to play in the opening half. Ang Smarto faced 17 shots to open the game, stopping 11 of them. The second half saw the Raiders take control of the game and score the opening three goals before Clark would put 2 behind Seneca’s keeper. Seneca would score one last time before Cameron put up her hat trick goal with 5:52 remaining in the game. The Raiders then played keep away from the Tiger defense to close out the rest of the game. Final score 10-7.
Smarto finished with 18
saves from 28 shots. Clark had an assist on Cameron’s final goal of the
night. NA had 18 fouls called against them with just nine for Seneca. Before they can worry about the playoffs, the Tigers must play the Section 4 #2 Latrobe team tonight at Newman Stadium. Last season, the Tigers beat Latrobe away in overtime. The Latrobe coach Jym Walters and NA coach Harry Datz are both Saint Vincent graduates of the class of 1996 where both were members of the then NCAA Division 2 men’s lacrosse team. Each coach had a hand in developing the now NCAA Division 3 Lady Bearcat Lacrosse Team. Game time is set for 7:30 tonight. JV: UPDATE: The junior varsity team suffered a defeat at the hands of the Seneca Valley Raiders. The Raiders scored against Goaltender Ali Schwer an impressive 14 times on 24 shots and held the Tigers to just 3 goals. The Tigers and Raiders both held each other scoreless for nearly the first five minutes of play in the game; however, after the Raiders scored their second goal, the Tigers began making key errors to allow the Raiders to continue their run. Scoring first for the Tigers was Center Shelby Roehre with a goal that Attack Wing Amber Wetzel assisted on. Attack Wing Emma Luitgaarden scored the remaining two goals. The Tigers take on Latrobe tonight at Newman Stadium.
GAME
SUMMARY
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * LADY TIGERS UPEND SHALER, 8-4, TO SECURE PLAYOFF SPOT by Coach Harry Datz Bring on the playoffs!!! The Tigers defeated the Shaler Area Titans last night by a score of 8-4. With the victory, North Allegheny is assured a spot in this years WPIAL playoff bracket for the first time. The Tigers have only one section loss and only two section games remaining. Seneca Valley stands in second place pending the outcome of their contest against NA’s only loss, Pine Richland; the Raiders will also have 2 games remaining. The next team has 4 losses and thereby, assures the Tigers of a playoff position. Scoring did not come easy for the Tigers last night. The NA offense controlled the tempo of the game but was unable to get quality shots past the Titan’s goalkeeper. Chelsea Cameron finally put one in the back of the goal at 9:25 of the first half. Shaler then tied the game three minutes later. Captain Whitney Wilson would then score two goals and give the Tigers a cushion for their lead. Cameron finished out the scoring in the first half with 1:18 remaining. Goalie Angela Smarto was back in net for the Tigers stopping 7 of 8 first half shots. The Titans came out of half time with a vengeance and smoked a shot past Smarto in the opening minute of the second half. North Allegheny would then put the next four behind the Shaler goalie to wrap up the victory. Scoring in the second for NA was completed by Strealy Clark on a free position shot, Megan Litterini, Dana Spellman, and Cameron to complete her hat trick. Shaler would also score two more in the closing minutes of play. Smarto finished the game with 15 saves from 19 shots. Spellman and Elise Moore also added assists for the Tigers. Nicole Orlosky had a strong game on defense with 6 groundball pick ups and a forced turnover. The Tigers are back in action at Seneca Valley for what is essentially a battle for first place in Section 1. Game time is set for 7:30. In their first meeting of the season, the Tigers won at home by a score of 9-7 in a broadcast game. The Raiders brought a raucous crowd to Newman Stadium when they first met in April. The girls hope that you come out to Seneca Valley and support them in their quest to be Section Champs. If you cannot make the game, be sure to support the team in the hallways and wish them well! JV UPDATE: The Tiger junior varsity lacrosse team defeated Shaler last night by a score of 8-4. The Titans posted three quick goals in the first half and held the Tigers to 2, both of which were scored by Attack Wing Emma Luitgaarden. After a great rally during half time, Defensive Wing Amber Wetzel led the Tigers into a tremendous second half when she scored three goals, two of which were in the first two minutes of play. The entire Tiger squad displayed excellent passing and smart plays. Luitgaarden had another more goal in the second half and Center Shelby Roehre and Attack Wing Kim Davis also contributed one goal a piece. The Titans never fully recovered as they only posted one goal in second half. Goaltender Ali Schwer stopped 5 out of 9 shots. The Tigers play a tough Seneca Valley team on Thursday, May 4 at the Raider's stadium.
GAME SUMMARY
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * LADY TIGERS BATTER BUTLER, 12-5 by Coach Harry Datz The Tigers completed their sweep of the Golden Tornado at Newman Stadium last night. Whitney Wilson had a six point night with three goals and three assists as NA beat Butler 12-5. The win stretches the Tiger’s home win streak to 9 games dating back to last season and 6 for the current season. The Tigers again took an early lead with two goals in the opening 2 minutes of play. Butler came back and tied the game with 17:34 left in the first half, but NA rallied to take an 11-3 lead at halftime. Starting in goal for the first time was Senior Elise Moore as veteran starter Angela Smarto had prior commitments to the NA Jazz Band. Moore had previously played goalie in her junior high days on the 8th grade team. She played an aggressive fast paced style to stop 5 out of 8 shots in the half. She frequently challenged shooters by stepping to them and even coming out of the crease on shots and for defensive clearing opportunities. Scoring in the first half were Wilson with her three goals, all on free position shots, Strealy Clark with three, Alexa Jennings with two, Megan Litterini with one plus an assist, Dana Spellman with one goal and an assist, and Chelsea Cameron with her first of two goals. During the second half, Coach Datz swapped the offense and defense to allow them the opportunity to see how their counterparts played. Moore gave up two goals from ten shots and Chelsea Cameron scored the Tiger’s lone second half goal for NA, rushing down the field from her coverpoint position. Megan Litterini had a stellar game. In addition to her goal and assist, Megan forced a turnover, had an interception, a draw control, and led all Tigers with four groundball pick ups. The Tigers are off until Tuesday when they next take on the Titans at Shaler. North Allegheny previously beat Shaler 16-5 at Newman Stadium. Game time is set for 7:30. JV UPDATE: The JV girls lacrosse team won a close contest against the Butler Golden Tornadoes at Newman Stadium on Thursday night with a final score of 5-3. The Tigers worked hard on all fronts with many strong performances coming from all positions. They started out early with a burst of offensive and outscored the Tornadoes 3-0 in the first ten minutes of the game, but the Tornadoes stayed with the Tigers for the remainder. Second home Katie Rossier played very strong on offense and scored first for the Tigers early two minutes into the game. Attack wing Emma Luitgaarden led the scoring with three goals and an assist and center Shelby Roehre had two interceptions and a goal. The Tigers have a break until Tuesday night in which they face their second season sectional match-up against the Shaler Titans at Shaler.
GAME
SUMMARY
* * * * * * * * * * * * * *
PINE-RICHLAND UPSETS LADY TIGERS, 11-10, by Coach Harry Datz The Lady Tigers lost their first section contest last night, in overtime by a score of 11-10, to the Pine Richland Rams. It was a tough loss for North Allegheny as they came back from a 3 goal deficit to tie the score at 10 with 2:58 remaining in the second half. The loss allows NA to hold first place in a tie with Seneca Valley. The top two teams from each section make the playoffs. NA started the scoring off in the first minute of play with Whitney Wilson’s 31st goal of the season. Strealy Clark followed with her first goal of seven on the night, just 38 seconds later. The Tiger defense would then allow Pine Richland to tie the score within the next four minutes. Strealy Clark then answered with her second goal to regain the lead. The Rams then rattled off three consecutive goals to give them a small cushion. The Rams were able to confuse the Tiger defense by setting high picks and cutting low on the defense. This technique proved effective after many tries and a few illegal screens. Nonetheless, the Rams were up by two goals. Chelsea Cameron then cut the Rams lead to one on a free position shot with 7:02 left in the first half. The teams would then trade scores before the end of the half. Pine Richland popped in another shot past Ang Smarto and Senior Elise Moore scored to finish off the first half. Smarto finished the first half with 8 saves from 14 shots on goal. The second half began in the same manner as the first half ended…trading goals. The Rams started by racing the ball down the field and scoring on their first shot just 26 seconds into the half giving them their 2 goal lead, again. Clark would then complete her hat trick 1:19 later. Pine Richland scored just 1:16 after Strealy racked up the hat trick. Clark would then score just 33 seconds afterwards. The Rams then completed their scoring in regulation by posting two more goals with 17:27 left in the game. Strealy Clark took over the rest of the second half with a slow and steady effort. She notched her fifth goal at the 11:27 mark, her sixth at 17:18 and her final goal at 22:02 to tie the game. The NA defense played a sound defense to finish out the game, junior defensive wing Christy Sisko was able to force the Rams to turn the ball over three times and junior center Dana Spellman had an interception as well as a forced turn over. Smarto allowed 4 goals from 7 shots. In the overtime, the Tigers lost the coin toss and reverted back to the end of the field that saw them give up six goals in the first half. The Rams got two shots off on the Tiger goal with the second crossing the plane from a low shovel shot, just 57 seconds into the extra period. Smarto finished with 12 saves from 23 shots. Strealy Clark controlled the offensive comeback with her seven goals, a new single game record surpassing Megan Coleman’s 6 goals against Quaker Valley in 2005. The Tigers take on Butler today at 7:30 in a section match up. Earlier in the year, NA played a close game on the Golden Tornado grass field, winning by a 5-4 margin. JV UPDATE: The JV team dropped a close 9-7 decision against Pine-Richland last night. The Tigers stayed with the Fighting Rams for the entire game. Goaltender Ali Schwer stopped 13 of 22 of the Rams' shots. Leading the scoring for the Tigers was Emma Luitgaarden with 5 goals, followed by Lauren Bates with two. Both Shelby Roehre and Amy Rosenzweig played strong at center winning key faceoffs and Amber Wetzel was impressive on defense. The Tigers play Butler at home tonight.
GAME
SUMMARY
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * LADY TIGERS LOSE THREE IN OHIO by Coach Harry Datz The North Allegheny Girls Lacrosse team traveled to Columbus, Ohio this past weekend to face their toughest competition of the season. They played three of the top ten teams in Ohio and came back to Wexford 0-3. Accompanying the 17 player Varsity squad for added depth were Junior Varsity players Lauren Smith, Sophomore DW, and Maddie Saldana, Freshman Attack. On Friday night, under the lights and in a drenching rain, the Tigers dropped a 13-1 decision to #7 Thomas Worthington High School. The Tigers were able to hold a superior attack of TWHS out of the net until 7:02 of the first half. The Cardinals finally put their sixth shot past junior goalie Angela Smarto. They then rattled off two more goals before NA held them scoreless for another 6:47. TWHS then put in 3 more to lead 6-0 at the half. Smarto stopped 10 of 16 shots in the opening half. The Tigers then came out roaring as junior Chelsea Cameron scored NA’s lone goal of the night in the opening minute of the second half. The Tigers had issues with offensive ball control throughout the game, turning it over 13 times. That downfall led to 7 more goals for the Cardinals in the second half and a 13-1 win. Smarto stopped 19 of 32 shots and won acclaim in The Columbus Dispatch newspaper as many of her saves were spectacular against a very potent Cardinal offense. On Saturday morning, NA competed in the Hannigan Galipault tournament against even tougher opponents. In the 9:00 game the Tigers faced #4 Upper Arlington and lost 14-0. The North Allegheny offense did not have an opportunity to touch the ball much as the defense got worn down gain by a ball control offense. Upper Arlington controlled every ball and rarely dropped a pass. The Tigers could only muster 5 groundballs and 2 interceptions. North Allegheny completed the game with 2 shots on goal. Again, junior Angela Smarto had a great game by stopping 13 of 27 shots. The 11:00 game had the Tigers pitted against the Lady Aves of Sycamore. At the tournament, Sycamore was ranked #2 but would later beat the #1 Cleveland Heights team. The Sycamore team took it to the NA defense once again, scoring 17 times from 28 shots. Chelsea Cameron was again the lone scorer for the Tigers. She was able to put her only shot past the Lady Aves keeper with 5:45 remaining in the first half. The weekend was the first outside experience for many NA players to play outside of Pennsylvania’s WPIAL and WPSLA. It proved to be an educational and athletic experience that will benefit the Tigers in their quest to be Section Champs. The team was prepared for tough competition and handled the games to their best abilities. Both JV players, Saldana and Smith were amazed at the speed of the game at the Varsity level and how smooth the game flows. Varsity players were impressed with the calls that the officials made, the local press coverage, and the stick skills of the Ohio teams and hope to emulate some of their techniques. Coach Datz believes that playing teams outside of the area is very important to the growth of the lacrosse program and the elevation of lacrosse in Western Pennsylvania. He stated, “It gives the team an opportunity to see how the game is played and officiated outside of the area. In the Pittsburgh area, we are getting more and more girls interested in the sport from grade school all the way up to some very successful collegiate programs. We have to continue to bring back to Pittsburgh what the rest of the nation is doing. Ohio definitely proved that the game of lacrosse does not only excel on the East Coast.” The team looks forward to bringing their experience back to Wexford and playing an elevated game of lacrosse. The Lady Tigers will travel to Pine-Richland on Wednesday for an 8:00 pm contest. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * WPIAL GIRLS' LACROSSE - 2006 The Lady Tigers will be playing again in the WPIAL along with 25 other teams. A WPIAL section plaque will be awarded to each of the section winners. Those winners will be the teams who have the best record against all schools in their section. Teams that tie for first place will not have the tie broken and both will be declared co-champions and each will receive a section winner's plaque. All ties in section record will be broken by head-to-head competition. The top two teams in each section will enter the WPIAL tournament. All playoff entries will be determined by section record only and will be determined by the best section won/lost record. In the event of a tie for second, the tiebreaker system will be employed. If a tie persists, head to head competition will determine the qualifier. In the event of a three-way tie the following tiebreaker will be employed: a. Section records of the
tied teams will be compiled. There is no PIAA tournament. All games are to be conducted under the rules of the US Lacrosse Rule Book. Duration of the game shall be a maximum of fifty minutes played in two equal halves. All games that end in a tie will have the tie broken by the overtime procedure outlined in the US Lacrosse rulebook. WPIAL SECTION ALIGNMENT - 26 TEAMS
Any questions or comments should
be directed to Athletic Director Bob Bozzuto at:
bbozzuto@northallegheny.org |