Field Hockey News

by: Bob Orkwis

The Pine-Richland Rams came to Newman Stadium carrying a perfect (11-0) record, and leading Class 3A with a (6-0) mark.

The Rams, who have captured five straight WPIAL Championships, used a hat trick from Indiana commit Georgia Rottinghaus to shut out North Allegheny 5-0.

Rottinghaus scored on a penalty corner at 4:54 of the first quarter with a strong shot from just inside the top of the circle. The other goals she scored on the night were creative, as she lifted a well-placed shot inside the far post on a corner in the second quarter, and two and a half minutes later, she scored her third goal on a reverse chip.

Anna Merlack and Maddie Mill also scored goals for the Rams.

The Tigers did not have much offense until a nice spurt midway through the fourth quarter.

North Allegheny got all three of their penalty corners in succession, the second of which created their best scoring opportunity.

Mia Brinkley took the insert from Addison Burns and rifled a shot from 15-yards that was ticketed for the right corner, but Kaelin Koehler made a kick save to deny the opportunity. A goal in that sequence would have been noteworthy, because Pine-Richland has yet to allow a goal in 2024.

The major highlight for North Allegheny came early in the second quarter, when senior goalie Kayla Joyce made three saves in a flurry around the net. Those saves gave her over 500 stops for her career. Coach Michelle Kessler called a timeout and her staff, and the entire team celebrated the moment with the Northwestern recruit.

That milestone stop was enough to earn Joyce the Wright Automotive Player of the Game. 

The Tigers dropped to (5-8, 3-4) with the loss. North Allegheny heads to Norwin next Tuesday to take on the Knights in a 3A Section 1 clash before returning home to host Hempfield the following Monday.

Field Hockey Summary vs. Pine-Richland, 9-26-24

GAME SUMMARY
SCORE BY QUARTERS	1	2	3	4	FINAL
Pine-Richland	1	3	0	1	5
North Allegheny	0	0	0	0	0