Field Hockey Game Summaries

by: Bob Orkwis

For the fourth time this season, and for the third time in five years in the WPIAL title game, North Allegheny met up with Pine-Richland. Once again, the Rams had the Tigers number, as they captured their seventh straight WPIAL 3A Field Hockey championship with a 2-0 victory at Newman Stadium.

The game was scoreless until late in the third quarter, with Pine-Richland denying North Allegheny any space in the offensive zone.

The Rams had three first half penalty corners, but the Tigers defense and goalie Alaina Roth stood tall.

With under two minutes left in the 3^rd quarter, Pine-Richland took a shot from outside the circle that went into the net untouched, which resulted in no goal.

But to the Rams credit, they did not take long to find a goal that counted. They put the ball back into the circle and on goal, Roth made a save but, in a scramble, Claire Mill found the ball at the near post and slid the rebound over the line for a 1-0 Rams lead with 1:49 left in the quarter.

The Rams got an insurance goal at 4:23 of the fourth quarter, and again it was Mill. She came up the middle on the rush, stopped and moved into the circle on the right side before firing a shot home for the 2-0 lead.

Pine-Richland, as they do, played a smothering game all over the field, with goalie Maddie Merlack only having to touch the ball once, on a shot from outside the circle.

Pine-Richland (17-3) now has 15-game winning streak, with eleven straight shutouts. The Rams have also won eight of the last nine 3A titles. They advance to the PIAA playoffs where they will play the 3^rd place finisher from District 3.

Congratulations to North Allegheny coach Michelle Kessler on the runner-up finish for the Tigers, who end the season (8-9-3).

More congratulations go out to the Tigers four seniors on their careers at North Allegheny.

Emi Bareiro, Alexis Solomon, Fiola Ragan, and Alaina Roth were chosen as the final Wright Automotive Players of the Game of 2025.

Field Hockey Summary vs. Pine-Richland, 10-28-25

by: Bob Orkwis

In a field hockey semifinal between Mt. Lebanon and North Allegheny that marked the fourth matchup of the season, the stakes were quite higher in a rematch of last season’s semifinal that the Blue Devils won 1-0.

Mt. Lebanon held a 1-0 lead for much of this year’s semifinal, before North Allegheny struck late to tie the game, then the Tigers struck again in overtime for the 2-1 victory.

Sophomore Aubrey Betler scored from just inside the top of the circle at 12:15 of the first quarter for the lead for Mt. Lebanon.

North Allegheny did not have many offensive chances in the opening quarter, but found some opportunities in the second, but could not dent the scoreboard.

The Blue Devils also could not solve senior goalie Alaina Roth and the Tigers defense through regulation and the overtime period.

The game-tying goal came from a penalty corner late in regulation. The insert found Addison Burns at the top of the circle, and the junior swept a bouncing shot inside the far post to tie the game with her team leading 12^th goal with 5:21 left in regulation.

The teams play 7 v. 7 in overtime. It was North Allegheny that took advantage of the extra space.

The Tigers had the ball on the right wing, and Burns’ pass into the circle found its way to the stick of a wide-open Alexa Pealer in front of the net. The freshman tucked the ball home just 2:45 into overtime to give North Allegheny the 2-1 win.

Thriller OT goal scored by Alexa Pealer!!! pic.twitter.com/lBmBYeyyc5

— North Allegheny Field Hockey (@NAtigersfhockey) October 23, 2025

Mt. Lebanon’s season ends at (9-7-1). The win for North Allegheny evens their record at (8-8-3) and sends the Tigers to the championship game for the first time since 2022, the second of back-to-back runner up finishes to Pine-Richland in 3A.

When your first career goal is the tally that puts your team into the title game, it was an easy choice to pick freshman Alexa Pealer as the Wright Automotive Player of the Game in the semifinal road victory.

North Allegheny led in penalty corners 4-3, and Roth finished with a pair of saves to earn the win.

The other semifinal featured top seeded Pine-Richland hosting #4 Norwin, with the winner of that contest advancing to face North Allegheny next Tuesday night in the championship game.

Field Hockey Summary at Mt. Lebanon, 10-22-25

North Allegheny traveled to Norwin High School to take on the Knights in their regular season finale. The Tigers outscored Norwin 16-0 in their first two matchups and kept that theme going taking down the Knights 5-0 on Thursday night.

Davia Gross got the scoring going 90 seconds into the contest on an assist from Emi Barriero to make the score 1-0. Gross would strike again three minutes later to double up the NA lead. Barriero found the back of the net three minutes later assisted by Tessie Nalducci and North Allegheny led 3-0 after a quarter of play.

The scoring slowed down in the second period until Addison Burns scored with 45 seconds left in the half and the Tigers led 4-0 at halftime. Gia Gross got on the score sheet with an assist from Nalducci in the third quarter and NA coasted from there for a 5-0 victory.

North Allegheny improves to 7-8-3 overall and finishes section play with a 6-5-1 record. The Tigers now await their playoff fate. The WPIAL Field Hockey brackets will be released on Monday.

Field Hockey Summary at Norwin, 10-16-25

North Allegheny took the short trip to Pine-Richland High School to take on the Rams in a Section 1-3A contest. The Rams got the majority of their goals in the middle two quarters to defeat the Tigers by a score of 5-0.

Sydney Bragumek made seven saves in net for NA.

North Allegheny falls to 6-8-3 overall and 5-5-1 in section play. The Tigers return to action on Thursday when they travel to Norwin to take on the Knights at 6 p.m. in their regular season finale.

Field Hockey Summary at Pine-Richland, 10-14-25

North Allegheny traveled to Hempfield High School on Thursday night to take on the Spartans in a Section 1-3A contest. Playing the second of a back-to-back, the Tigers avenged their loss from Wednesday with a 6-1 victory over Hempfield.

NA got off to a great start scoring 90 seconds into the game when Gia Gross collected a rebound and found the back of the net to give North Allegheny a 1-0 after a quarter of play. The Tigers doubled their lead in the second quarter off the stick of Ema Barrero to give NA the 2-0 lead at halftime.

Kaylee Volk got the scoring going in the second half scoring less than two minutes into the third quarter to make the score 3-0. Hempfield had a response two minutes later to cut the North Allegheny lead to 3-1. The Tigers exploded for three goals in the fourth period to put the game away. Gia Gross had the first two goals of the quarter, both assisted by Volk before Davia Gross had the game’s final tally to make the score 6-1.

North Allegheny improves to 6-7-3 overall and 5-4-1 in the section. The Tigers return to action on Tuesday when they travel to Pine-Richland to take on the Rams at 7:30 p.m.

Field Hockey Summary at Hempfield, 10-9-25