North Allegheny Plays to Draw Against Pine-Richland in Section Finale
By: Bob Orkwis
In the final 4A (3) section match, and the second-to-last home game, the Tigers took a late 1-0 lead, but Pine-Richland answered for a 1-1 tie at Newman Stadium.
North Allegheny had at least three chances off throw-ins from Francis Randiga but could not find the net. The Tigers’ best chance in the first half came in the 21st minute, but Harper Boles shot went just over the bar and the contest was scoreless at halftime.
More chances came for the Tigers in the second half. Aniketh Ghosh and Owen Lopresti had great chances in the 45th minute, and Ghosh added a pair of opportunities in the 52nd minute, including a goal that was waived off for being offside. Randiga had another shot go just over the bar in the 62nd minute, before the Tigers opened the scoring four minutes later.
Randiga’s through ball found Caiden Sowa, who made a great stop and turn to send a right-footer into the net for a 1-0 lead. North Allegheny could have had more goals, but Rams senior keeper Jackson Dutton made several good stops to keep Pine-Richland in the match, and his
teammates rewarded his efforts.
After North Allegheny earned the game’s first six corners, the Rams got their first in the 73rd minute to tie the game. Kason Straub’s service found Ethan Hiserodt in traffic, and he slid the ball into the net past Jaxon Cowger for the equalizer in the 1-1 draw.
Pine-Richland (7-4-3, 3-4-2) now has 11 points, and the Rams need a victory on Saturday at Butler to leapfrog Moon and qualify for the 4A playoffs.
North Allegheny (9-3-3, 6-2-2) had already locked up second place in the section behind Seneca Valley despite the disappointing result in the contest.
The Tigers honored their ten senior footballers before the match, and one of those seniors, Sowa, was chosen as the Wright Automotive Player of the Game. His goal on the night was his 6th of the year, which ranks second on the team.
One final match remains on the docket for North Allegheny as they host Fox Chapel next Wednesday at 7:30 pm in the season finale, which will be broadcast on the North Allegheny Sports Network. Next Wednesday is also the day the WPIAL soccer pairings will be released. You can tune into our sister network, Trib Live HSSN, for a breakdown of all the soccer brackets once they are released.
BOYS SOCCER SUMMARY VS PINE-RICHLAND, 10-15-26
| SCORE BY HALVES | 1st | 2nd | FINAL |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pine-Richland | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| North Allegheny | 0 | 1 | 1 |
