Boys' Soccer Game Summaries

by Dave Floyd

Despite an early lead and valiant defensive effort throughout, the North Allegheny boys soccer team fell to top-seeded Upper St. Clair Tuesday night in the WPIAL quarterfinals. The undefeated Panthers scored a goal with less than 10 minutes remaining to secure a 2-1 victory and a spot in Monday’s semifinals.

North Allegheny finished the season with an overall record of 10-8-2 and its appearance in the WPIAL quarters since 2005.

The eighth-seeded Tigers started the contest about as well as they could have hoped, notching the game’s first goal in only the eighth minute. A Panthers defender pulled down Tigers freshman Josh Luchini about 30 yards from the Upper St. Clair goal, but because North Allegheny senior Steve Binnig possessed the ball with a clear advantage, the referee allowed play to continue. Binnig capitalized, rifling a shot from just outside the top left corner of the 18-yard box into the top right corner of the net.

Just 6:01 later, however, Upper St. Clair responded, showing why it is the top seed in Class AAA. Panthers senior Garrett Blake took the ball near the top left corner of the 18-yard box, beat two North Allegheny defenders and buried a shot in the bottom right corner of the net to tie the game at one.

Throughout the rest of the first half and much of the second, North Allegheny faced an unrelenting Upper St. Clair attack. Unofficially for the game, the Panthers held a 28-5 advantage in shots, yet the Tigers defense and senior goalkeeper Luke Nolan stood tall. For his stellar performance in net, Nolan earned the honor of Wright Automotive Player of the Game.

For a moment, it seemed as if the Tigers were going to be rewarded for their effort on the defensive end. With just over 10 minutes remaining, Luchini somehow found himself behind the Panthers defense. Luchini, who scored two goals in North Allegheny’s first-round win over Allderdice, angled in on the Upper St. Clair goalkeeper from the right side. When he reached the edge of the six-yard box, he took a shot, but it skipped just inches wide to the left of the net.

Then, with 7:29 left to play in regulation, Upper St. Clair sophomore Stefano Paolina played a cross into senior Doug Hapeman who headed it in to give the Panthers a lead they would never relinquish.

Upper St. Clair now moves on to face 12^th-seeded Butler, who upset fourth-seeded and Section 2 foe Seneca Valley in overtime.

Boys Soccer Summary vs. Upper St. Clair, 10-23-14

GAME SUMMARY
SCORE BY HALVES	1	2	FINAL
North Allegheny	1	0	1
Upper St. Clair	1	1	2

For the first time in nine years the North Allegheny Boys’ Soccer Team has advanced to the WPIAL quarterfinals. Not since 2005 had the Tigers won an opening round playoff game, but that changed thanks to a 3-0 triumph over the Taylor Allerdice Dragons on Monday night. NA’s previous opening round win was a 1-0 upset victory over Bethel Park in 2005.

On a damp night at Newman Stadium, the Tigers matched up with the ninth-seeded Dragons who were vying for their first ever WPIAL playoff win. The former City League school went toe to toe with the Tigers in the first half, but fell behind on a phenomenal play by NA in the game’s 13^th minute.  Junior Nate Hall delivered a beautiful crossing pass from the left corner to freshman Josh Luchini who headed the ball past Allderdice goalie Dane Jacomen for a 1-0 Tigers lead.

The Dragons, who seemed to be breathing fire in the early moments of the game, were slowed to a screeching halt by the Tigers defense following the Luchini goal. North Allegheny yielded only two shots on net in the second half, both requiring terrific saves by Tigers goalie Luke Nolan.  With Allderdice held at bay, North Allegheny added on to the lead on another marker by Luchini with 10:24 left in the game to bring the score to 2-0, Tigers. The goal by Luchini, his sixth of the season and second of the night, was assisted by Bobby Upton. For his two-goal effort, Luchini was named the Wright Automotive Player of the Game by the North Allegheny Sports Network.

With 3:48 remaining, senior Kevin Daugherty fed a pass to junior Michael Peters on the doorstep for a goal and a 3-0 Tigers advantage.  The goal by Peters ensured the Tigers a trip to the quarterfinals to face the reigning PIAA champion Upper St. Clair Panthers on Thursday night.  The top-seeded and undefeated Panthers toppled North Hills on Monday night, 2-0, in the WPIAL first round.

The win improves North Allegheny’s record to 10-7-2 on the season, while Allderdice’s season ends with a mark of 10-5-3. Thursday night’s quarterfinal game against Upper St. Clair, at a site and time to be determined as of the time of this article, will be broadcast live via the internet on the North Allegheny Sports Network.

Boys Soccer Summary vs. Allderdice, 10-20-14

GAME SUMMARY
SCORE BY HALVES	1	2	FINAL
Taylor Allderdice	0	0	0
North Allegheny	1	2	3

Boys Soccer Individual Scoring vs. Allderdice

INDIVIDUAL STATS
FIRST HALF
North Allegheny	Josh Luchini (Nate Hall)	27:50
SECOND HALF
North Allegheny	Luchini (Bobby Upton)	10:24
North Allegheny	Michael Peters (Kevin Daugherty)	3:48

On Monday, the North Allegheny Boys’ Soccer Team hosted a playoff-bound Norwin Knights squad that came in with an impressive 12-3-1 record and ranked sixth in the MSA Sports Top Ten. The Tigers came away with a hard-fought 1-1 tie in tough tune-up game ahead of the postseason.

The Tigers came out offensively with both Kevin Dougherty and Nate Hall getting shots off in the first five minutes, but were wide of the Norwin keeper. At 32:52, after a giveaway at midfield, the Knights countered and on a perfect tic-tac-toe play as Cameron Eckburg found the net past a sprawling Luke Nolan to take a 1-0 lead.

The Tigers continued their pressure and were awarded three corners and three free kicks in the next ten minutes, but just couldn’t break the ice off shots from Steve Binnig, Josh Luchini and Hall.  At 18:50, Michael Peters entered the game at forward, and as he did in the past game, generated instant offense with a dish to Hall that was on frame and at 17:40 Luchini passed to Peters in the box who, with his left foot, rolled one into the corner of the net to tie the game at 1-1.

Nolan made a save from 15 yards out from an open Norwin forward that kept the game in check and the Tigers finished the half with two more free kicks and a corner.  North Allegheny outshot Norwin, 10-3, though many shots were wide or high of the net, and as usual, the Tigers had four corners to Norwin’s none.

The second half started with the Tigers taking two quick shots by both Peters and Luchini, but both again traveled wide of the net.  Yosef Ulomi, at 14:20, off a cross from Seth Mancuso, sent a ball high over the crossbar from short range off a header. Minutes later, Mancusco and Binning both put shots on frame that were saved while Norwin could offer very little resistance or offensive chances. Binning, at 3:25, had another opportunity that was saved, and at 1:50, Norwin put a shot on Nolan that was kept out of the net as well. North Allegheny ended the half with eight shots compared to Norwin’s three.

Overtime ensued and at 9:09, Sebastian Vasquez had a chance to end the match from close range, but his shot was saved by the Knights keeper.  With 50 seconds left in the match Ben Cinker found Peters in front who put a blast on goal but right into the Norwin keeper to end the game at a 1-1 draw.

The Tigers finish the regular season with an overall record of 9-7-2 and alone in second place in Section 2 with a 7-4-1 record.  They await the WPIAL AAA playoff pairings that will be unveiled on Wednesday night.

With playoff implications abound, North Allegheny paid a visit to neighborhood rival North Hills with the host Indians edging the Tigers by a 1-0 decision in Section 2-AAA play on Thursday night.

The Tigers began the game strong as Steve Binnig, on a free kick, found Josh Luchini at 38:22 in front of the North Hills net, but his header attempt went high.  At 36:40, Binnig found Bobby Upton whose shot went wide of the net. A 34:55, Nate Hall juked the Indian defense with some crafty moves and put a shot on goal that was saved. Luke Nolan at 33:40 made a save off a long North Hills throw-in, one of approximately 12 throws that led to potential scoring attempts all night.  At 24:50, North Hills gained momentum and had three shots towards the Tiger net with two being on goal and saved by Nolan from close range.

The balance of the half saw limited possession from both teams on the narrow and short North Hills turf with each team having quite a few fouls and free kicks awarded along with North Hills receiving a yellow card.  The half ended with shots even at four for each squad and North Allegheny awarded two corners over zero for the Indians.

The second half started again with the Tigers having an early chance with Jason Earle crossing to Luchini at 38:30, but again his header went high.  Nolan made a another close range save at 37:40 to keep the game scoreless and North Hills ensued with four straight long throw-ins that seemed to cause problems for the Tigers. At 33:54, North Hills was awarded a controversial penalty kick and converted for a 1-0 lead.

With plenty of time left on the clock North Allegheny brought the line up some and Michael Peters and Kevin Dougherty gave the Tigers some momentum with Peters having three quality shots towards the Indian net, and at 19:23, the North Hills goalie made a game tying save from 15 yards out.

The balance of the game was played with high drama as there was much on the line, but North Hills prevailed with the 1-0 victory.  The Tigers finish their Section 2 season with a 7-4-1 record, currently sitting alone in second place.  With the win, North Hills locks up a playoff berth with a 6-4-1 section record and sits in third place. The Indians play first place Seneca Valley on Monday, determining the Tigers position in the section and playoff seeding.

The last home and regular season game will be held this Monday, October 13 in the Tigers Den at 7:30pm versus a very talented Norwin Knight team that presently has a 12-3 overall record.  The Tigers will use this game against good competition to work on getting back on track and moving forward towards the playoffs.  The boys would welcome the fan base to attend and root them on in this last home game of the season.

On a rainy evening in Wexford, the Shaler Titans put a damper on senior night at Newman Stadium and dealt the North Allegheny Boys Soccer Team a 3-1 defeat on Tuesday night. With the win, the Titans snapped a six-game losing streak to North Allegheny that dated back to 2011, and also claimed their first section win of the season. Shaler’s win, coupled with a Seneca Valley victory over Hampton, allowed the Raiders to clinch their second straight Section 2-AAA crown.

North Allegheny controlled the pace of play for the vast majority of the game, but the Titans capitalized on their minimal opportunities to take a 2-0 lead by halftime. Ryan Landry fed a pass to Grant Lacey who broke behind the Tigers defense and scored with 20:05 on the first half clock to give Shaler a 1-0 lead. The North Allegheny defense argued that Lacey was offsides on the play, but the officials upheld the Shaler goal.

Less than seven minutes later, Landry set up another Shaler tally by weaving through the right side of the Tigers defense and dribbled a pass to Michael Bagwell on the NA doorstep. Bagwell’s initial shot was blocked by an NA defensemen, but the Shaler sophomore banged home the rebound to bring the score to 2-0, Titans.

In the second half, Shaler took a commanding lead when a shot from the left side snuck through the arms of NA goalie Luke Nolan.  With the ball laying just feet away from the Tigers net minder, Shaler’s Joe Lazzaro booted the ball into the NA net for a 3-0 advantage with 22:34 remaining in the contest.

Despite the deficit, the Tigers continued their all-out assault on the Shaler net and finally broke through with 2:11 to play on a goal by senior Steve Binnig to cut the score to 3-1, Titans. Binnig, who will continue his soccer career at Division III Hope College in Holland, Michigan, was a catalyst for NA’s offense throughout much of the game on senior night.  For his efforts, Binnig was named the Wright Automotive Player of the Game.

Following Binnig’s goal, the Tigers were still in need of two more quick strikes for a miraculous rally to force overtime. Just 20 seconds later, the Tigers almost had their second goal when senior Kevin Dougherty broke through for an open shot from 25-yards out.  However, Shaler goalie Josh Bents denied Dougherty and the Tigers’ last gasp was thwarted as the Titans held on for a 3-1 triumph.

The loss drops North Allegheny’s overall record to 9-6-1 and section mark to 7-3-1. The playoff-bound Tigers hope to bounce back on Thursday night with a road match against the North Hills Indians.  Shaler improves to 4-9-2 overall and 1-7-2 in Section 2-AAA.  The Titans visit Hampton tonight.

Boys Soccer Summary vs. Shaler, 10-7-14

GAME SUMMARY
SCORE BY HALVES	1	2	FINAL
Shaler	2	1	3
North Allegheny	0	1	1

Boys Soccer Individual Scoring vs. Shaler

INDIVIDUAL STATS
FIRST HALF
Shaler	Grant Lacey (Ryan Landry)	20:05
Shaler	Michael Bagwell	13:45
SECOND HALF
Shaler	Joe Lazzaro	22:34
North Allegheny	Steve Binnig	2:11