NA Upended By Mt. Lebanon, 4-2
by Randy Gore
The North Allegheny field hockey team faced off against Mt. Lebanon in the Section 1-AAA opener on Tuesday night and dropped a 4-2 decision at Newman Stadium.
In a battle between two playoff teams from the year before, the visiting Blue Devils dictated the pace in the first period and earned five penalty corners in the opening stanza. Mt. Lebanon senior Ava Pesacreta converted one of those corners into the game’s first goal on a deflection in front of the net with 6:10 to play in the quarter for a 1-0 lead.
The Tigers began to find a spark in the second quarter and capitalized on their first penalty corner of the evening when senior Mia Brinkley scored on a rocket shot from the top of the circle to even the score at 1-1 with 6:21 left in the period. The goal for Brinkley was her second of the season and 19th of her career. Mt. Lebanon, however, gained the momentum back with a goal by Sadie Bell with just 49 seconds left before halftime to grab a 2-1 lead.
The Blue Devils stretched their lead to 3-1 early in the third period on a marker by Meredith Reisinger with 10:42 on the clock. While it appeared that ML might pull away, North Allegheny sophomore Addison Burns fed a long pass to senior Josie Schomburg in the circle, and she scored on her own rebound to trim the deficit to 3-2 with 8:11 remaining in the third quarter. It was Schomburg’s first goal of the season and 22nd of her career.
North Allegheny stayed on the hunt in the remaining minutes but was dealt a crucial blow with 7:25 left in the fourth quarter when Hannah Markowitz was tripped up in the circle and Mt. Lebanon was awarded a penalty stroke. Senior Addison Evan capitalized on the penalty stroke to give the Blue Devils an insurmountable 4-2 lead and victory.
Senior goalie Kayla Joyce, a Northwestern University commit, made 12 saves on the night and was awarded the Wright Automotive Player of the Game. Many of her saves were of the spectacular variety and kept NA in the contest.
Following the loss, North Allegheny falls to 1-2 overall and 0-1 in Section 1-AAA. Mt. Lebanon improves to 3-0 overall and 2-0 in the section. The Tigers will host Hempfield on Friday at 3:30 pm at Newman Stadium.
Field Hockey Summary vs. Mt. Lebanon, 9-3-24
| GAME SUMMARY | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SCORE BY QUARTERS | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | FINAL |
| Mt. Lebanon | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| North Allegheny | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
