2024-2025 Game Summaries
Tigers season ends in semifinal loss to Mt. Lebanon
by: Bob Orkwis
It was the fourth matchup of the season between North Allegheny and Mt. Lebanon and obviously the most important, as the winner of the 3A semifinal would advance to the title game next Saturday.
Unfortunately for the Tigers, this game ended the same as the first three, with Mt. Lebanon grabbing the win, this time a 1-0 Blue Devils victory.
Mt. Lebanon senior Ava Pesacreta scored the game’s only goal at 4:04 of the second quarter.
The Tigers best offensive chance came later in the quarter, when North Allegheny tried to find Addison Burns in front, which led to the Tigers only penalty corner of the contest. The Blue Devils defended and held on to their lead.
The North Allegheny defense and goalie Kayla Joyce were forced to be at their best due to the relentless pressure from Mt. Lebanon. Despite the territorial disadvantage and possession disparity, that unit and the entire Tigers team defended valiantly and kept North Allegheny within a goal until the final whistle sounded.
For one final time in her stellar career, Northwestern recruit Joyce was awarded the Wright Automotive Player of the Game honors. Joyce had her typical stellar performance, making 19 saves. She was huge in the second half, when Mt. Lebanon pushed for the insurance marker that never came.
The loss ends the Tigers season at 8-11. With that, we wish the seniors, Gabby Hazzard, Mia Brinkley, Josie Schomberg, Eliana Jones, Bailey Yatcko, Ryann Snowden, Biz Petschke, and Kayla Joyce good luck as they move on. Congratulations to head coach Michelle Kessler, the coaching staff and entire team for another outstanding season of North Allegheny field hockey.
Field Hockey Summary at Mt. Lebanon, 10-24-24
GAME SUMMARY | |||||
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SCORE BY QUARTERS | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | FINAL |
North Allegheny | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Mt. Lebanon | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
Tigers finish regular season on high note with 7-0 win over Norwin
North Allegheny hosted Norwin on Thursday night at Newman Stadium in a Class 3A contest. Even though both teams were already locked into their playoff seeds, the Tigers have a good feeling heading into the postseason as they dominated the Knights winning the match 7-0.
Addison Burns got the Tigers going early when she received a pass from Mia Brinkley and found the back of the net four minutes into the match and NA led 1-0 after a quarter of play. Burns got the scoring going in the second quarter and North Allegheny led 2-0. It looked like Norwin was going to shift momentum and cut the Tiger lead in half five minutes into the second quarter but Kayla Joyce made a couple of great saves to keep the Knights scoreless. Josie Schomburg would get in on the act with 7:43 left in the half before Burns finished her first half hat trick less than a minute later and the Tigers led 4-0 at halftime.
Alexis Solomon got on the score sheet five minutes into the third quarter to trigger the running clock with a 5-0 lead. Solomon would score again less than two minutes later before Bailey Yatcho put the finishing touches on a 7-0 victory. Joyce and Alaina Roth combined for the shutout.
With three goals in the first half, Burns was named the Wright Automotive Player of the Game.
North Allegheny finishes the regular season with an 8-10 record overall and 6-6 in the section. Norwin falls to 3-12 overall and 2-9 in section play. The WPIAL Field Hockey brackets will be released on Monday. North Allegheny knows they will play Mt. Lebanon but the date, site and time are still to be determined.
Field Hockey Summary vs. Norwin, 10-17-24
GAME SUMMARY | |||||
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SCORE BY QUARTERS | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | FINAL |
Norwin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
North Allegheny | 1 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 7 |
NA tripped up by Pine-Richland, 3-0
North Allegheny traveled to Pine-Richland High School to take on the undefeated Rams on Tuesday night. Pine-Richland would stay unbeaten defeating the Tigers 3-0 in a Class 3A contest.
The Rams got on the board quickly scoring 90 seconds into the match. They would also get a goal late in the quarter to lead 2-0 after a quarter of play. After a scoreless second period, the Rams got one more in the third quarter to take down North Allegheny 3-0. Kayla Joyce made 28 saves in net.
North Allegheny falls to 7-10 overall and 5-6 in the section. Pine-Richland improves to 17-0 overall and 11-0 in the section. The Tigers finish the regular season on Thursday when they host Norwin at 7:00 p.m. at Newman Stadium. This game will be broadcasted on the North Allegheny Sports Network.
Field Hockey Summary at Pine-Richland, 10-15-24
GAME SUMMARY | |||||
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SCORE BY QUARTERS | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | FINAL |
North Allegheny | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Pine-Richland | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
Tigers fall to Mt. Lebanon, 2-1
North Allegheny traveled to Mt. Lebanon High School on Tuesday night to take on the Blue Devils in a Class 3A matchup between the second and third place teams. It was a tight contest but Mt. Lebanon would score late and the Tigers fell 2-1.
After a scoreless first period, Eliana Jones took advantage of a penalty corner late in the second quarter to give North Allegheny the 1-0 lead at halftime. The Tigers defense held strong in the third quarter and NA still had the lead heading to the final frame. Mt. Lebanon would break through and score two goals in the fourth quarter to defeat the Tigers 2-1.
Kayla Joyce made 13 saves.
North Allegheny falls to 7-9 overall and 5-5 in section play for 15 points. Mt. Lebanon improves to 9-2 overall and 7-2 in the section for 21 points. After playing back-to-back days, the Tigers will return to action next Tuesday when they travel to Pine-Richland to take on the Rams at 7:30 p.m.
Field Hockey Summary at Mt. Lebanon, 10-8-24
GAME SUMMARY | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
SCORE BY QUARTERS | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | FINAL |
North Allegheny | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
Mt. Lebanon | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
Tigers celebrate senior night with 9-1 win over Hempfield
by: Bob Orkwis
On the night when North Allegheny celebrated its eight 12th graders, the senior class figured heavily in a 9-1 win over the Hempfield Spartans.
Seniors Mia Brinkley, Biz Petschke (2nd) and Josie Schomburg (10th) each scored goals in the first quarter, with senior Ryann Snowden picking up an assist.
Addison Burns, who was on point for almost all the Tigers inserts on their 17 penalty corners, scored the only goal of the second quarter to give North Allegheny a 4-0 halftime lead.
Brinkley added her second goal of the game in the third quarter and then senior Eliana Jones got involved in the fun.
Jones, normally a defender, moved up front, and scored her first two career goals in a minute span to build the Tigers lead to 7-0 after three quarters.
More senior night switches ensued, as Kayla Joyce moved from goal to the forward line, while Petschke donned the pads. Joyce, who got the win, did not get a goal and unfortunately, Petchske was beaten on a penalty corner by Abby Wynert to break the shutout.
Alexis Solomon picked up her second goal of the season, and Brinkley completed her first hat trick of the year, by getting her team leading 11th goal to make the final score 9-1.
Seniors Bailey Yatcko and Gabby Hazard were also honored pregame.
Brinkley, who scored the hat trick and with the ball seemingly on her stick all night leading the rush for North Allegheny was chosen as the Wright Automotive Player of the Game. Brinkley has now scored goals in four of the last five games for North Allegheny (7-8, 5-4).
Should North Allegheny have any hope for jumping into second place in the 3A standings, it would start with a road victory tomorrow night at second place Mt. Lebanon. As it stands, with three regular season games remaining, it looks like the Tigers and the Blue Devils would be one of the semifinal matchups when the playoffs start later this month.
Field Hockey Summary vs. Hempfield, 10-7-24
GAME SUMMARY | |||||
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SCORE BY QUARTERS | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | FINAL |
Hempfield | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
North Allegheny | 3 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 9 |