North Allegheny Sports Network - Girls' Varsity Lacrosse Game Summaries

On Tuesday night, the North Allegheny Tigers faced the Butler Golden Tornadoes in their second section contest. The Golden Tornadoes were pounded by the Tigers as seven different scorers wrapped up eight goals to Butler’s two. The game pitted NA coach Harry Datz against his first former high school player to coach in Butler’s Annie Succop.

Starting off the scoring drive was senior attack player Alexa Jennings, followed by senior defense wing Megan Litterini, and sophomore attacker Emma Luitgaarden. Senior captain Chelsea Cameron was then able to score off of a free position shot to make it 4-0. Senior attacker Connor Willard then finished off the scoring for the first half and a score of 5-0. Senior goaltender Ang Smarto stopped five first half shots without allowing a goal from the Butler team.

The second half saw the Tiger team play more patiently and again spread the wealth with two different scorers. Senior captain Strealy Clark recorded an early goal and senior captain Dana Spellman recorded two goals. Spellman’s goals were both from free position shots sfter being fouled inside the eight meter mark.

The Golden Tornadoes managed to score two goals inside of the last ten minutes of the final half. Smarto allowed one goal from the field and another off of a free position shot. Smarto finished the game with 10 saves from 12 shots and a needed section victory.

The win places the Tigers at 1-1 in the section and in third place behind Pine Richland and Seneca Valley. The Tigers next face the Seneca Valley Raiders on Tuesday night at 7:30.

Notes: Clark and Dana Spellman each finished with an assist. This is not the first time coach Datz has faced a former player. There have been two of his former college players who have come through the coaching ranks. Thursday's previously scheduled game has been canceled as Taylor Allderdice has not been able to produce a team and have dropped out of the league.

JV UPDATE: The JV girls beat Butler in a low scoring contest, 5-2. Goalie Allison Schwer allowed no goals in a 5 save first half effort. Butler scored 2 goals to start the second half before NA closed out the scoring with 3 unanswered goals. Liz Wiese and Talia Waskowicz had 2 goals each and Shelby Roehre had one goal. Schwer finished the game with 9 saves total. Also strong for NA was Maddie Saldana, who helped transition into the attacking zone with several good pass receptions and rushes down field.

The NA Tigers Varsity squad lost their first section contest by a close score of 6-5 to the Fighting Rams of Pine Richland. The Tigers were attempting to avenge their overtime loss from last season that saw their chances at the WPIAL Section title fall to Seneca Valley. The Tiger record now falls to 2-3 overall, 0-1 in section play.

The NA squad got off to another slow start and allowed the Rams to enter the halftime with a 5-1 advantage. The Rams consistently ran pick plays to afford them the opportunity to shoot 10 times at senior goalie Ang Smarto. Scoring the only goal for NA in the half was senior defense wing Megan Litterini.

At the halftime huddle, the Tigers decided to go up against the multiple picks of the Ram offense by playing more aggressively and not allowing the Rams to set a stationary pick. These tactics proved effective as the defense corps of seniors Emily Rosenzweig, Christy Sisko, and Nicole Orlosky battled the offensive threats of the Rams to create turnovers.

Scoring in the half was started early by senior center Dana Spellman and followed by sophomore Emma Luitgaarden. Dana Spellman would then notch her second goal from a free position shot to make it a one goal game with 16:07 remaining. Four scoreless minutes later, the Rams would notch the game winner behind Smarto. The scoring in the half was completed by senior Alexa Jennings with 9:17 left in the game. The remainder of the game proved to be a transition game as both teams played back and forth with a high level of excitement for everyone involved. The Rams would finish out the final 1:17 playing keep away from the NA defense. With about 16 seconds left the aggressive play of the defense caused a turnover and afforded the Tigers one final chance at knotting the game at 6. A midfield turnover ended the game with the Tigers on the downside of their first section game.

The Tigers next face Butler at home on Tuesday, April 10. The game pits Coach Harry Datz against one of the first girls he coached at Shady Side Academy in Butler Head Coach Annie Succop. Game times are set for 6:00 (JV) and 7:30 (V).

Notes: Smarto stopped 8 of 14 shots in the game. Sophomores Katie Rossier and Emma Luitgaarden each recorded an assist for the Tigers. The first half saw the Tigers take 10 fouls and commit 10 turnovers, while the second half saw 4 fouls and 6 turnovers. Leading scorer Strealy Clark was absent from the game having prior family commitments over the spring break.

JV UPDATE: The JV squad took a hard loss to Pine Richland, 10-3. A balanced attack from the Rams combined with cold temperatures to cause the Tigers to lose their grip on a game that was close through the first half. Shelby Roehre opened the scoring for NA. Talia Waskowicz also netted a goal, while seeing limited playing time in her first game back from injury. The 3rd and final NA goal was scored by Hannah Weiers with an assist going to Liz Wiese.

North Allegheny took their 2-1 record to Murrysville last night to face the Franklin Regional Panthers in a non-section game. The Tigers lost to a very good FR team by a score of 12-5. The loss evens the Tiger’s record at 2-2 with all games in non-section play. The Tigers begin section play on Wednesday at Pine Richland and follow up with three more section games.

Coach Datz says, “It was good to get a good string of non-section games in before facing our section opponents. It allows us to get our feet wet and know what we need to accomplish to succeed in a tough section. We faced some tough opponents in Orlando and it’s always a good contest with Franklin Regional, every year.”

FR jumped out to a quick lead, controlling the ball and scoring in the first 1:18 of the game. Senior midfielder Chelsea Cameron tied it up, playing a controlled offense and scoring her only goal of the night at 6:50. Both teams would go scoreless for the next 7:11 with NA dominating the attack zone playing their motion offense and keeping the ball settled. At times the Tigers played too cautious and hanging on to the ball for a half second too long. The Panther defense played tight, not allowing many scoring opportunities inside their own 12 meters.

The game opened up for Franklin Regional as they took advantage of seven Tiger turnovers and scored four goals in four minutes. The Tigers then held on for the next six minutes and scored their own goal with 1:20 remaining by Sophomore Emma Luitgaarden. The NA transition could not hang on for the remainder of the half as they allowed the last goal in the final minute of the first half. The Tigers’ were down by a score of 6-2 at the half.

The second half began much the same way of the first half. The NA defense allowed the Panthers to score at 1:22 as the Panther offense put a little bit of a scramble on the NA defense. The Panthers then continued to use a fast break offense to unsettle the midfield defense of North Allegheny. The Panthers would rack the score up to a commanding 11-2 before senior attacker Strealy Clark notched her first of two on the night. FR came right back and scored their final goal of the night 49 seconds later. Clark would score another goal on a tremendous one handed run down the sideline, blowing through four Panther defenders. Luitgaarden would complete the scoring with her second of the night beating the buzzer in the last second of the game.

“We had some issues catching and throwing in the game and turned the ball over way too much. I felt that we really controlled the game when we were not turning the ball over. Franklin is a team that you do not want to afford many opportunities to come down on the attack transition. They beat us with a good team but we beat ourselves with some lapses in fundamentals,” reiterates Coach Datz.

Alexa Jennings, Nicole Spellman, and Luitgaarden tallied an assist each on the five NA goals. Senior goalie Ang Smarto had an even keel game stopping six shots in each half and allowing six goals in each half. JV defense player Jill Reilly had some good playing time as many NA players were missing from the game for various reasons including injury. Lost in the first minute of the game was freshman attacker Brenna Curti with a quadriceps injury. Many of the Tiger players were injured and banged up in the game. “Franklin is always the nicest of hosts and we have a really good relationship with their players, parents, and coaches, but we always step it up a notch when we play them and the games get a little rough. At the end of each game it’s always a pleasure to leave that on the field and shake each others hand and know that we had a good game. We did that tonight,” mentions Coach Datz.

The Tigers face Pine Richland in a section contest on Wednesday at Pine Richland. JV draws at 6:00 while Varsity goes at 7:30. The Tigers split the series last year with each team winning the home game and Pine Richland needing overtime to win theirs. NA will then have four days off to rest over the spring break weekend which is much needed.

Senior attack Strealy Clark scored five straight goals to lead the Lady Tigers to an 11-7 comeback victory over Vincentian at Newman Stadium on Thursday night. NA trailed, 5-1, near the end of the first half when Clark took over. Senior Megan Litterini and senior captain Chelsea Cameron added two goals each for the winning Lady Tigers.

Vincentian came into the game unbeaten with a 4-0 record and showed why early. Sara Jean Byce put the Royals on top, 1-0, just 2:08 into the game. Julie Samenina scored the first of five goals at the 19:58 mark to make it 2-0. After an NA time out, Mary Ladrikowski stole the ball at midfield and sent Samenina in alone to score again to make it 3-0. The Lady Tigers finally got on the board when freshman Brenna Curti set up Litterini in front of the net for a quick goal that cut the lead to 3-1. Neither team could score over the next ten minutes, but Samenina came alive again to score two goals within fifteen seconds to extend the Royal lead to 5-1 with 6:01 remaining in the half. Senior Michele Wetzel gave NA some life with a long run after the draw and a strong shot that beat Vincentian goal Katie Devore to cut the lead to 5-2. Senior Dana Spellman followed with a nice stop and go move and strong shot to cut the margin to 5-3 with 2:15 left in the half. Clark then took over. Taking advantage of a free run, Clark scored with 1:26 left to make it a one-goal game. Vincentian was called for another foul giving Clark a second free run and she converted again to tie the game with just 25 seconds left. Taking the ball after the draw, Clark then raced down the middle and put NA ahead, 6-5, with six seconds left. Clark's heroics sent the Lady Tigers to the intermission with a 6-5 advantage.

After neither team could score during the first five minutes of the second half, Clark did it again. The NA senior attack finished off a long run with a strong left handed shot to push the lead to 7-5 at the 20:17 mark. Less than two minutes later, Clark came out from behind the Royal goal, raced across the middle, and scored her fifth consecutive goal to extend the lead to 8-5. Litterini came back to score her second on a nice pass from Dana Spellman as the lead went to 9-5. The NA captain then added a pair of goals. Cameron made a quick move around the defense to score her first of the game with 9:55 remaining to make it a 10-5 game. Cameron followed with her second goal after she beat the Vincentian defense across the middle. NA took a commanding 11-5 lead with 7:43 remaining. The Royals picked up a pair of consolation goals late in the game, the first coming on a deflection in front of the net. Samenina added her fifth of the game ona free run to finish off the scoring. The Lady Tigers had completed the comeback and took home the 11-7 victory.

It was a great comeback win for NA just when it appeared that they were out of the game. Senior Angela Smarto turned up her game a notch and kept the Royals off the board for a stretch of over 27 minutes. For her strong offensive performance, the North Allegheny Sports Network named Strealy Clark as the Player of the Game.

With the win, NA improved their record to 2-1 on the season. Next up for the Lady Tigers is a trip to Franklin Regional on Monday night for a 7:30 pm non-section contest against the Panthers.

JV UPDATE: The JV girls beat Vincentian 8-1 on Thursday night. The Tigers played a balanced game, with strong defense and took advantage of opportunities on offense when they arose. Sophomore goalie Allison Schwer held a shut out for the first 35 minutes of play before allowing the visiting Royals their lone goal of the game. The Tigers D was led by strong play from freshman Michelle Cotter. Kim Davis led the offense with 2 goals and 1 assist. Shelby Roehre also had 2 goals. Also strong on offense were Liz Wiese and Claire Pilarski, who netted one goal each.

LADY TIGERS DOWN KNOCH, 14-3, IN HOME OPENER

by Coach Harry Datz

The Lady Tigers returned home to Newman Stadium on Tuesday to draw against second year team Knoch. The game pitted the 0-1 Tigers against the Knights in their first game of the season. The Knights did manage to complete their allowed scrimmages prior to this contest and the Tigers were able to manage a game and scrimmage in Florida.

The Lady Tigers played a settled offense to beat the Knights by a score of 14-3. Again, senior attack Strealy Clark started the game off by scoring the first 4 goals of the game. Senior captain Chelsea Cameron then popped in the next 2 as senior Dana Spellman finished the NA scoring in the first half. The half time score ended with NA's 7 goals to a lone Knoch goal.

The second half produced similar results...another 7 goals to Knoch's 2. Chelsea Cameron scored again and senior Megan Litterini had 2 in the half, Nicole Spellman matched her twins goal count with one, sophomore Emma Luitgaarden notched her first 2 varsity goals as sophomore Katie Rossier also scored her first off of a tipped pass. The offensive production was well balanced with effective passing around the Knight's defense. Four NA girls picked up assists, Nicole Spellman had 2, Clark had one, Cameron had one, as did Michelle Spearman.

The defense had a tremendous game with senior defender Emily Rosenzweig leading the way with an interception and three ground ball pick ups. The defense played tight denying the Knights chances of scoring by holding them to just 8 shots. Ang Smarto played well in goal stopping 5 of the 8 Knoch shots.

The Tigers next face the undefeated Royals of Vincentian on Thursday. The North Allegheny Sports Network will be there to broadcast the game LIVE on the internet beginning with the pre-game show at 7:15 pm. Game time is scheduled for 7:30 pm. The game will also be taped by NATV for showing at a later date.

JV UPDATE: The JV team managed to beat the Knights by a score of 9-3 as first year Coach Chris Omasits guided an attack strong campaign against Knoch. The Tigers managed to post a first half shut out with sophomore goalie Ali Schwer in the net.

Photo Gallery

GAME SUMMARY
NORTH ALLEGHENY - 14 KNOCH - 3

SCORE BY HALVES	1	2	FINAL
Knoch	1	2	3
NORTH ALLEGHENY	7	7	14

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SPRING TRAINING IN FLORIDA

by Coach Harry Datz

The Lady Tigers started the 2007 season off in sunny Orlando, Florida against another northeast team in Milton Academy from Massachusetts. The Tigers were in Orlando for five days of spring training and two games at Disney's Wide World of Sports complex. On the first day of the WPIAL season, NA dropped a tough 10-3 contest against the Mustangs. The Tigers went down 6-1 at the half wth senior captain Strealy Clark scoring the lone goal. The second half saw two more NA seniors score in Megan Litterini and Chelsea Cameron. Senior goalie Ang Smarto played 45 minutes of the game, stopping 8 of 16 shots faced. Freshman goalie Drea Winghart finished the game, allowing 2 goals from 3 shots.

Due to a Disney scheduling snafu, the Tigers second game against Regis Jesuit from Denver, CO was played as a scrimmage. The Raiders are only permitted to play 15 games as opposed to the WPIAL 20 that North Allegheny plays. Both of North Allegheny's scrimmages were cancelled because of weather, so the Tigers took advantage of Florida's climate to accomodate the Raiders in a scrimmage. It was agreed upon with both coaches, officials, and Disney representatives to play the scrimmage by WPIAL standards which exceed those of Colorado. The contest saw the Tigers perform exceptionally well against a very physical team from the midwest. The scrimmage allowed the Tigers to get their legs under them as they faced a high powered offense and a fierce defense.

GAME SUMMARY
MILTON ACADEMY - 10 NORTH ALLEGHENY - 3

SCORE BY HALVES	1	2	FINAL
NORTH ALLEGHENY	1	2	3
Milton Academy	6	4	10

Coach Harry Datz's Lady Tigers will begin play in the 2007 season in Florida as part of the Disney Wide World of Sports' Lacrosse Spring Training. The captain for the new season is senior Chelsea Cameron assisted by seniors Dana Spellman and Strealy Clark. Joining the coaching staff this year are Chris Omasists, a science teacher at NAI and an NA graduate, Gary Neft, head coach of the women's club team at the University of Pittsburgh, and Whitney Wilson, current player at the University of Pittsburgh and former standout player for North Allegheny.

The Lady Tigers will face two tough opponents in Florida. In the first game, NA will meet Milton Academy from Massachusetts today at 2:30 pm. Tomorrow night, NA will face Regis Jesuit from Colorado in an 8:00 pm contest. The girls will also get some quality practice time in sunny Orlando where the temperatures are slated to be in the mid 80s.

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