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2007 GIRLS' WATER POLO TEAM

NA PLAYERS NAMED TO PENNSYLVANIA ALL-STATE TEAMS

Three water polo players finished their seasons by being named to 2007 Pennsylvania All State teams.  Senior Ginny Thistle was selected to the All State Second Team for girls; junior Cameron Illes was named to the All State Second Team for boys while junior Luis Rodriguez received Honorable Mention for his play.

All State selections are based on season play and were announced at the recent state championships.

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GIRLS’ WATER POLO TEAM WINS ONE AT STATES

The Lady Tigers Water Polo Team traveled to Eastern Pennsylvania this past weekend for the Pennsylvania State Water Polo Championships at North Penn High School.  They faced a strong field of seven other teams, most of which were from Eastern PA, where water polo has a long history that has produced some powerhouse squads.

The team had a tough start Friday night, losing their first game to Cumberland Valley, the eventual state champions.  Junior Katie Knable and Sophomore Stephanie Graham each scored a goal in the game.  Knable also had an assist.

The team came back strong on Saturday morning, playing very tough against a strong Wilson team, the 2005 state champs.  While NA ended up losing 11-5, the score was closer throughout much of the game.  Goals were scored by Senior Kara Stone (2), Senior Ginny Thistle (2), and Graham (1).  Assists were made by Senior Jamie Chakany, Thistle, and Stone.

Next came Governor Mifflin.  Again, the Lady Tigers played a very strong game, and were tied with Mifflin 2-2 at the end of the first quarter.  Eventually, though, Mifflin pulled ahead and ended up winning 11-5.  Senior Vanessa Carik was the high scorer for NA, with three goals.  Thistle and Graham each added a goal, and Stone had two assists.

NA’s final game was the 7^th place game against Wissahickon, a team that NA had lost to early in the season, but had beaten at their second meeting.  While the game was close, NA kept the lead the entire game, and came away with a well-deserved win, 8-7.  Virtually all of NA’s starting offensive players had goals or assists in the game.  Goals were scored by Chakany (1), Stone (2), Thistle (1), Knable (2), and Carik (2), with assists by Stone (4), Carik (2), Thistle (1), and Junior Mackenzie Minear (1). 

An integral part of the Lady Tigers’ success at the tournament came literally at the hands of goalie Senior Lisa Czerniewski.  Czerniewski had numerous saves throughout all four games.  As she had done throughout the season, Czerniewski sacrificed her love of and talents at offense by using her strengths in goal for the benefit of the team.  Sophomore Emma Gryger, who has gotten stronger and stronger throughout the season, also contributed in goal with a couple terrific saves.

The team made the large, cheering group of NA spectators proud coming off the State Tourney with a win and a lot of excellent playing.

Congratulations to Freshmen Caroline Schweers, Jen Harpur, and Marina Rozick, all of whom were selected to the 2007 Pennsylvania Women’s All-Freshman Team, and to Ginny Thistle for selection to the Second Team All-State.

Congratulations to both the NA girls and boys water polo teams for a great, exciting season!  And a big thank you goes to girls coach Adrienne Fyock, head coach Corky Semler, and coaches Tim Heusey, Dan Goss, Nikola Zivaljevic, Patrick Wenzel, and Damir Matanovic for their excellent coaching and support this season.

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LADY TIGERS WIN THREE OF FOUR AT BEAST OF
 THE EAST TOURNAMENT

The Lady Tigers defeated three opponents at the Beast of the East Tournament on Saturday at Wilson High School before dropping a 7-3 decision to the host team in the final game.  NA topped Episcopal, 14-5, Reading, 17-7, and Wissahickon, 7-4.  Leading the way was senior Vanessa Carik with 12 goals while seniors Jamie Chakany and Kara Stone added six goals each.

The boys' team dropped four games, two by one goal, against tough Eastern Pennsylvania competition.  NA dropped an 8-7 decision to Governor Mifflin and a 6-5 game to Cumberland Valley along with losses to Penn Charter and Calvert Hall.  Leading the boys were junior Luis Rodriguez with 5 goals with senior Kyle Bradshaw and junior Joey Weiland scoring four goals each.  Junior goalie Cameron Illes did a great job in goal for the Tigers.

BEAST OF THE EAST TOURNAMENT
Wilson High School
September 29, 2007

RESULTS  - NA only

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McDOWELL TAKES TWO FROM NA

Both the boys and girls' teams were defeated by the McDowell Trojans on Saturday.  The boys' squad dropped to 0-4 in the Western Division with a tough 3-2 loss to McDowell.  Juniors Andrew Ho and senior Kyle Bradshaw scored the NA goals.  Wesley Hansen had a pair for McDowell while Robby Gausman scored the third.  Junior goalie Cameron Illes had 18 saves to keep the Tigers close.  The Trojans improved their record to 3-0 in division play.

McDowell also defeated the Lady Tigers.  Meghan Milloy had three goals to pace the Trojans to a 9-3 victory.  Senior Ginny Thistle had a pair of goals to pace NA while sophomore Kasey Manko scored the third.  Junior Katie Knable added four steals. 

LADY TIGERS QUALIFY FOR STATES WITH
TWO WINS ON FRIDAY

FRIDAY'S SUMMARY

On Friday, the boys were defeated by Cathedral Prep, 9-3, with Bradshaw scoring twice and junior Luis Rodriguez once.  In girls' play on Friday, the Lady Tigers qualified for the state playoffs with a pair of wins.  NA defeated Villa Maria, 6-3, with senior Kara Stone leading the way with three goals.  Thistle added a pair of tallies with sophomore Kylie Grady also scoring for NA.  Senior goalie Lisa Czerniewski kept Villa scoreless in the second half to preserve the victory.  Tough NA defense held Villa to 9 shots on goal.  Thistle and senior Vanessa Carik led the team with five steals each.  Also on Friday, the Lady Tigers downed Fairview, 12-9, with Knable scoring thee times while Manko, sophomore Stephanie Graham, and Grady added two goals each.  Manko had six steals for the winning Lady Tigers. 

The Tiger teams will host South Park at the Senior High pool on Monday afternoon with game times set at 4:00 and 5:00 pm.

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TIGERS HOST WESTERN TIGER CLASSIC
OVER THE WEEKEND

Photo Courtesy of John Grady

The past weekend, the girls' water polo team gained an inside track to qualify of the State Championships by defeating two of three Western Division opponents.  The Lady Tigers beat Fairview decisively by a score of 19-9 and downed Villa Maria by a count of 10-2.  Vanessa Carik led all NA scorers with 8 goals while MacKenzie Minear, Jamie Chakany, Katie Knable, Kara Stone and Ginny Thistle all added valuable points.

The boys' squad was defeated by both Division opponents losing to McDowell, 9-5 and Cathedral Prep, 8-6.  Luis Rodriguez led all NA scorers despite an injury that kept him from playing the final two games of the weekend.  Joey Weiland, Kyle Bradshaw, Max Rzodkiewicz and Trenton Oczypok all contributed valuable goals during the games.

Thanks to all the students who attended the competitions!  Both teams travel to Erie this weekend for a rematch with the Western Division opponents.

Photo Gallery

(Thanks to Coach Semler for the information in this report!)

WESTERN TIGER CLASSIC
North Allegheny Senior High pool
Friday, Saturday, September 14-15, 2007

SCORES (NA ONLY)

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TIGER TEAMS OPEN SEASON AT
SCREAMIN' EAGLE TOURNAMENT

The Tiger teams began play in the 2007 season with competition in the Screamin' Eagle Tournament at Cumberland Valley High School on Friday and Saturday.  The boys' team played extremely well in several close contests.  The Tigers dropped a tough 5-4 decision to host Cumberland Valley in the opener on Friday but came back to defeat Malvern Prep, 14-7, for their first victory.  On Saturday, the Tigers stayed even with last year's state champion North Penn until the final moments before losing by a 10-6 score.  In the final game, NA fell behind Wissahicken, 5-2, but roared back in the second half to take a 7-6 victory.  Junior goalie Cameron Illes led NA with 37 saves in the four games.  Junior driver Luis Rodriguez led the Tigers in scoring with 9 goals followed closely by senior Kyle Bradshaw with eight.

The Lady Tigers gained some valuable experience against some of the highly ranked Eastern Pennsylvania opponents although they were unable to garner a victory.  The girls' squad will benefit from playing some of the top teams when they begin play in the Western Division this weekend.  Senior captain Ginny Thistle led all scorers with seven tallies while junior Mackenzie Minear added five goals during the two-day tournament.

The Tigers will host some of the best teams in the state this weekend at the Western Tiger Classic on Friday and Saturday.  Games will held at the Senior High pool.  We will post the schedule as soon as it is available.

(Thanks to Coach Semler for the information in this report!)

SCREAMIN' EAGLE TOURNAMENT
Cumberland Valley High School
September 7-8, 2007

RESULTS - NA only

Any questions or comments should be directed to Athletic Director Bob Bozzuto at:  bbozzuto@northallegheny.org