NA Water Polo Sweeps McDowell On Senior Night
by Randy Gore
The North Allegheny water polo teams earned a convincing senior night sweep over the McDowell Trojans on Tuesday night. The Lady Tigers opened the night with a 14-0 shutout, and the NA Boys followed with an 18-7 triumph.
In the opener, the NA Girls got off to a slow start, leading only 1-0 after one period of play. However, a four-goal second period and a six-goal avalanche in the third period buried the visiting Trojans. Leading 5-0 coming out of halftime, junior Bella Spino scored four consecutive goals on her way to an eight-goal performance and Wright Automotive Player of the Game honors. Senior Ava Sharar tallied back-to-back goals to cap the third-period scoring, and NA held an 11-0 lead at the end of three quarters.
Senior Lily Tang netted a pair of goals to contribute to the blowout, while junior Mikaela Dassanaike and senior May Coffman each chipped in with a goal. In net, junior Katherine Vales earned the shutout and the victory.
In the nightcap, the NA boys’ water polo team jumped out to a 6-0 lead in the first period before coach Damir Matanovic took the starters out of the game with 3:00 remaining in the opening stanza. McDowell chipped away against the NA reserves and cut the deficit to 9-6 by the end of the third period. Porter Austin, Noah Post and Sam Beilharz scored two apiece to lead the McDowell comeback bid.
Coach Matanovic reinserted the starters into the pool in the fourth quarter, and the scoreboard reflected it. NA scored nine of the final ten goals to pull away for an 18-7 victory. Three players netted hat tricks for the Tigers, including seniors Caden Currykosky and Grant Regule, and junior Callan Bunger. Freshman Tabari Morgan and sophomore Bryce Miller tallied two goals each. Junior Siddh Kapil, senior Sravan Sukhavasi, junior Logan Purnell, junior Mason Shantz, and freshman Filip Malezanov also touched the scoresheet in the landslide victory. Junior goalie Michael Stefanko picked up the victory in net.
In a well-balanced performance, the senior class of Currykosky, Regule, Sukhavasi and Anthony Spino were named the Wright Automotive Players of the Game.
With the win, the North Allegheny boys’ water polo team improved to 13-5 overall, while the Lady Tigers climbed back to .500 with an 8-8 record. Both teams will return to the pool this weekend at the Screaming Eagle Tournament at Cumberland Valley.
