Boys' Lacrosse Game Summaries

The North Allegheny boys’ lacrosse team fell in the opening round of the PIAA playoffs on Tuesday night at Penn Manor High School with a 14-5 defeat to District 3 champion Manheim Township.

In the early going, the North Allegheny defense slowed down the Blue Streaks allowing the Tigers to own a 2-1 lead late in the first period. The Tigers received a strong effort from Antonio O’Barto who led the defensive unit of Judd Powell, Kole Ludwig, Mitch Arnold, Luke Rafferty and Zach Chick. The defensive midfielder unit of Jake Williams, Alex Raketich, Mike Egnaczyk and Ben Rohan added to the defensive effort.

While NA flustered Manheim Township early on, the Blue Streaks began to hit their stride when Bryce Hutchinson evened the score at 2-2 before the end of the first period. From there, Manheim Township gained control of the game and pulled away for the PIAA first round win. Junior attack Tre Freeman led all scorers with four goals and senior Tommy Mann tallied a hat trick for the Blue Streaks.

Offensively for the Tigers, Isaiah Davis led with two goals, while Wes Powell, Kyler Byerly and Chris Eck posted goals as well.

Despite facing a bombardment of shot attempts from Manheim Township, freshman goalie Aiden Miller made 10 saves for NA, while multiple defenders added several blocked shots. At the X, senior Alex Hays won close to 50-percent of the draws.

Manheim Township improves to 23-1 overall and will face Pine-Richland in the PIAA quarterfinals. North Allegheny’s season comes to a conclusion with a 13-9 record. Congratulations to North Allegheny head coach John Rullan and the entire boys’ lacrosse team for an outstanding 2018 season.

Boys Lacrosse Summary vs. Manheim Township, 5-29-18

Peters Township broke a 7-7 tie in the fourth quarter with back-to-back goals from Aiden Stopperich and Daniel Bacchiochi to propel the Indians to a 9-7 victory over North Allegheny and a second straight WPIAL Class AAA boys’ lacrosse championship. The Tigers were making their third appearance in four years in the title game with one WPIAL championship in 2016.

The Indians received a hat trick from senior and Wheeling Jesuit commit Colton Abate. The Tigers’ Kyler Byerly and Matt Osten each notched a hat trick.

North Allegheny and Peters Township traded goals in the opening stanza to the tune of a 2-2 tie. The Tigers received goals from Byerly and sophomore Nick Kairys while the Indians’ Aiden McCall and Abate tallied markers.

The reigning WPIAL champions began to dictate the pace of the game in the second period and struck for three straight goals for a 5-2 lead with 4:40 to play in the half. Abate, senior Benjamin Delaney and senior Nicky Phelps scored during the three-goal spurt. Phelps, a U.S. Lacrosse All-American, spearheaded the effort by consistently winning draws at the faceoff X throughout the afternoon.

Osten gave the Tigers some brief momentum with back-to-back goals, the second of which coming with 2:30 left in the first half, to trim the score to 5-4, Indians. Peters Township regained its two-goal edge on a man-up goal by Abate with 49 seconds before intermission. The Indians were 1-for-2 on man-up situations while the Tigers were 0-for-3.

Peters Township continued to dominate time of possession in the third quarter before Byerly managed to muscle his way in for a short-range North Allegheny goal with 4:53 on the clock to bring the score to 6-5, Indians.

Bacchiochi answered with a goal a little over a minute later and the Peters Township lead swelled back to two at 7-5.

With eight seconds remaining in the third period, Peters Township turned the ball over deep in the NA zone. North Allegheny sophomore Judd Powell heaved an 80-yard pass to Byerly who beat the buzzer with a shot and the Peters Township lead was cut to 7-6. For his stunning play at the end of the third, and posting a hat trick, Byerly was named the Wright Automotive Player of the Game.

Osten found the equalizer for North Allegheny with 8:21 to play for a 7-7 deadlock. That set the stage for Stopperich and Bacchiochi who put Peters Township ahead to stay, 9-7. The two Peters Township goals came within 31 seconds of each other, the second of which with 6:08 to play.

With the win, Peters Township improves to 19-3 overall. North Allegheny falls to 13-8 on the season. Both teams qualify for the PIAA playoffs next week.

Boys Lacrosse Summary vs. Peters Township, 5-25-18

By Jared Barton

For the second time in a week, the North Allegheny boys’ lacrosse team came from behind to win, beating Pine Richland 7-6 in overtime of the Class 3A WPIAL Semifinal at Moon Area High School Wednesday night.

The first half was an offensive challenge for both teams with limited shots and opportunities. Pine-Richland struck first on a goal by junior Sam Skirpan with 9:27 left in the first quarter. With 2:20 left in the first, junior Kyler Byerly tied the game at 1-1.

Isaiah Davis kept the NA offense going in the second quarter that gave the Tigers its first lead of the night. The Rams responded with back-to-back goals from Ben Barnes with two minutes left in the half and Will Harnick who scored with 1.9 seconds remaining, making the score 3-2.

The scoring opened up for both teams in the second half. With roughly six minutes left in the third, Dane Dowiak and Brendan Hein scored for Pine Richland to extend the lead to 5-2. North Allegheny netted three straight goals from Davis, Matt Osten and Byerly to tie the game at 5-5 with 10:55 left in the contest. The Rams responded with a go-ahead goal from Ben Barnes with 9:31 remaining. In desperation mode, the Tigers took advantage of a man-up opportunity on a second goal from Osten to even the score at 6-6 with 1:50 left in regulation.

In overtime, Osten completed his hat trick with 2:13 left in the extra frame to take the win and lift the Tigers to the WPIAL Championship Game. Osten’s three goal night was good enough to earn him Wright Automotive Player of the Game Honors.

North Allegheny faces Peters Township on Friday at Robert Morris for the WPIAL Championship. The start time is to be determined. Pine-Richland faces Mt. Lebanon in the third place consolation match Friday, where the winner will join the Tigers and Indians in the PIAA Tournament next week.

By Jared Barton

A slow start did not keep the Tigers from a second half comeback as North Allegheny beat Upper St. Clair, 7-5, at Seneca Valley in the quarterfinals of the WPIAL Class 3A Boys Lacrosse Playoffs.

In the first quarter, freshman goalie Aiden Miller made a few critical saves to keep the game scoreless. After a few long possessions, USC attacker Thomas Boyd would break the tie with a goal around the seven-minute mark.

The scoring started to open up in the second quarter as Panther midfielder James Wilkinson added to the lead with 10:08 remaining in the half. The Tigers would get on the board via midfielder Ben Maenza who scored with 3:48 left in the quarter cutting the USC lead to 2-1. Two minutes later, the Panthers added another score from David Strain, but the Tigers would have the last laugh as senior Wes Powell scored a wrap around, one-handed goal with 1:05 left in the second.

This critical stick check penalty by USC opened the door for a North Allegheny comeback.

The Powell goal started a run of six consecutive goals for North Allegheny. With less than 10 minutes left in the third quarter, USC midfielder Grant Evans was called for a stick to the head on NA junior Antonio O’Barto. The penalty was unreleasable for two minutes and the Tigers took full advantage. Kyler Byerly and Matt Osten scored on the man up opportunity, while Isaiah Davis and Maenza scored to round out the quarter, extending the NA lead to 6-3.

In the fourth quarter, Powell scored his second of the night with seven minutes left and the Tigers led 7-3. The Tigers shut out the Panthers with strong defense for nearly a 20-minute stretch in the second half. A late push by Upper St. Clair trimmed the lead, as Grant Evans scored on a man up opportunity and Logan Tobias netted a goal with 2:51 left to make the score 7-5.

Senior Wes Powell earned Wright Automotive Player of the Game Honors for his performance.

With the loss, Upper St. Clair ends the season with a 10-7 overall record. North Allegheny advances to the Class 3A WPIAL Semi-Final game where the Tigers will face the Pine-Richland Rams at a time and place to be determined. Pine-Richland defeated Bethel Park, 13-2, Wednesday night at Seneca Valley.

For the second time this season, the North Allegheny Tigers won in a blowout over the Franklin Regional Panthers. Monday night’s 16-1 triumph over the Panthers in the opening round of the WPIAL Class AAA playoffs propelled the Tigers to the quarterfinal round where they’ll take on Upper St. Clair on Wednesday night.

North Allegheny has won five in a row against Franklin Regional, including an 18-1 road win on April 24. In their last three meetings, the Tigers have outscored the Panthers by a combined score of 49-3.

North Allegheny bombarded Franklin Regional from the start with a barrage of goals and held a 14-0 lead by halftime. Sophomore Isaiah Davis and junior Kyler Byerly led the way and netted a hat trick each. Junior Chris Eck added a pair of goals.

In all, 11 different Tigers scored goals in the victory including Matt Osten, Maurice Lipscomb, Alex Hays, Jake Williams, Tyler Lamark, Ben Maenza, Ryan Leonard and Nick Eck. For his efforts in winning every draw on the night, Hays was named the Wright Automotive Player of the Game.

Franklin Regional’s only goal came with 35 seconds remaining in the third period on a marker by Bradley Brncic.

With the win, North Allegheny improves to 11-7 overall on the season and will face Upper St. Clair on Wednesday night. Franklin Regional’s season comes to an end with a 6-8 record.

Boys Lacrosse Summary vs. Franklin Regional, 5-14-18