NA Knocks Off Reigning WPIAL Champion Pine-Richland, 3-1
The North Allegheny boys’ soccer team earned an impressive road victory against reigning WPIAL Class 4A champion, Pine-Richland, on Thursday night with a 3-1 triumph in Section 1-4A action. After falling to Pine-Richland last season by a pair of narrow 1-0 defeats, junior Nathan Katari made sure there wouldn’t be a repeat performance with his first career hat trick.
The first of Katari’s goals came in the 19th minute off a rebound from a Zach Nash shot and the Tigers led, 1-0. Pine-Richland, the preseason No. 1-ranked team, managed to tie the game at 1-1 in the 51st minute when Mark Cashman scored on a throw-in from Sam Larson.
North Allegheny threatened to score nearly the entire game but Pine-Richland goalie Cadan Bennett, who made eight saves on the night, continually turned the Tigers away. However, just when it appeared the game would go to overtime, the persistence by the Tigers ultimately paid off as Katari scored on a rebound opportunity in the 79th minute to vault NA in front, 2-1.
As time was expiring, a Pine-Richland foul in the box earned Katari a penalty kick, which he promptly cashed in with no time remaining to put an exclamation point on a 3-1 victory.
Senior goalie Dante Accamando made two saves and earned the win in net.
North Allegheny remains unbeaten on the season with a 4-0 overall record and 2-0 mark in Section 1-4A. Pine-Richland dips to 1-3 overall and 0-2 in the section.
Boys Soccer Summary vs. Pine-Richland, 8-31-23
| GAME SUMMARY | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| SCORE BY HALVES | 1 | 2 | FINAL |
| North Allegheny | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| Pine-Richland | 0 | 1 | 1 |